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This article was published 27/02/2020 (1129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chinese history and art takes centre stage

Shen Yun — a saturated, synchronized dance spectacle inspired by Chinese history — returns to Winnipeg for two shows at the Centennial Concert Hall on Tuesday, March 3, and Wednesday, March 4. It has been a decade since the New York-based dance troupe and orchestra has performed locally.

The two-hour performance is billed as an attempt to “revive the best of China’s cultural heritage,” through traditional dance, music and singing that has been suppressed by the Communist Party of China.

The show is presented by the Falun Dafa Association of Winnipeg and, according to Shen Yun’s website, the religion, also known as Falun Gong, is a source of inspiration for performances and is practised by company members.

The organization has seven international touring groups with 80 artists and crew members. The show format includes 15 dance pieces interspersed with instrumental and operatic vocal solos. Performers are dressed in colourful traditional costumes and dances set against an animated backdrop.

Tickets range from $100 to $195 and are available at shenyun.com. Children under four are not admitted and business or evening wear is recommended.

— Eva Wasney

 

Slow Leaves gets ready to release sixth album

A leap year happens every four years. A Slow Leaves album, apparently, happens every three.

You can celebrate both events on Saturday, Feb. 29, when Slow Leaves, a.k.a. Winnipeg songsmith Grant Davidson, performs a leap-day show on at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club with Micah Erenberg.

Davidson is gearing up for the April 3 release of Shelf Life, his third studio album under the Slow Leaves name (and sixth overall). Recorded mostly live, Shelf Life follows Enough About Me (2017) and Beauty Is So Common (2014), and features a trio of Winnipeg music-scene luminaries: Rusty Matyas (Weakerthans), Damon Mitchell (New Meanies) and Rejean Ricard (Telepathic Butterflies). The album will be supported by a 13-date Canadian tour this spring.

Erenberg, who released his sophomore album, Love Is Gonna Find You, last year, will be performing at Saturday night’s show with a full band. Slow Leaves will be playing as a duo with Ricard.

Doors for Saturday night’s show are at 8 p.m.; tickets are $15 at Eventbrite.ca.

— Jen Zoratti

 

The Burt welcomes Bill Nye

Bill Nye, also known as “the Science Guy,” will be in Winnipeg Tuesday, March 3, to offer up an evening of science, education and discovery, as well as an audience-led Q&A.

Nye, an American science communicator, television host, author and mechanical engineer, is best known for his syndicated PBS children’s science program, Bill Nye the Science Guy, which ran from 1993 to 1998 and was the most-watched educational television show in the United States.

Nye returned to the small screen most recently in 2017, to host a Netflix show, Bill Nye Saves the World, and has been heavily involved in science advocacy in various forms for more than 20 years, which includes assisting in the development of a sundial included in the Mars Exploration Rover missions.

Nye is also the recipient of several honourary doctorates, including from institutions such as Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., and Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Bill Nye Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg is almost sold out; only single seats remain and those range in price from $57.50 to $67.75 at Ticketmaster. The evening kicks off at 7 p.m.

— Erin Lebar

 

Get Cronenberged

If you’re a Rick and Morty fan who never understood why the term “Cronenberg” is used as a verb to describe grotesque mutation… have we got a double bill for you.

A David Cronenberg horror double feature is happening in a theatre space that was still active when Cronenberg was making horror movies. What’s even more special about the screening at the Garrick on the evening of Friday, Feb. 28, is that the movies are free.

Things get off to a rollicking start at 7 p.m. with The Brood, a 1979 shocker that well and truly connected the Canadian filmmaker to the “body horror” genre. Oliver Reed stars as a radical physician who experiments in a field called “psychoplasmics” wherein psychologically damaged patients are encouraged to manifest their mental disturbances physically. In the case of Samantha Eggar’s character, Nola Carveth, that means effectively giving birth to homicidal offspring intent on attacking Nola’s estranged husband (Art Hindle).

Cronenberg has said the film was inspired by his own acrimonious divorce.

At 9:15 p.m. comes Cronenberg’s earlier film Rabid (1977), starring Marilyn Chambers as a woman who again suffers the attentions of another radical doctor, this time experimenting with “morphologically neutral” skin grafts. This results in Chambers being infected with a phallic stinger that protrudes from under her arm, sucking the blood of her victims, and causing a sexual plague in the city of Montreal.

Both films are discussed in panel discussions featuring Olivia Norquay and Gwen Trutnau (of the radio show Bikini Drive-In) and Cinematheque programmer David Knipe.

The event is licensed. And after The Brood in particular, you may need a drink.

— Randall King

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