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This article was published 09/06/2022 (1475 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers goes virtual

In Between Here and Now: Online Presentation

Available to view Friday-July 3

Tickets: $15 at eventbrite.ca

If you missed the April première of In Between Here and Now, a dynamic new work from Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers artistic director and choreographer Jolene Bailie, you have another chance to see it — this time in a version created specifically for the camera by Winnipeg filmmaker Landon Lake.

“It’s a lot of fun moving with the dancers on the stage as I film,” Lake says. “What’s exciting about the video is that you can show perspectives and viewpoints that you wouldn’t normally be able to see in the stage version, including close-ups of the dancers’ faces from the side of the stage and overhead shots. It really brings a different kind of immersion. As a videographer, it was both challenging and exciting to film.”

In Between Here and Now uses laughter as an entry point to explore the discomfort inherent in sitting with one’s feelings, or the act of being present — increasingly hard to do in the distracted attention economy, where a typed “lol” often replaces the actual act.

The virtual iteration of In Between Here and Now features dancers Julious Gambalan, Kira Hofmann, Shawn Maclaine, Warren McClelland and Shayla Rudd, as well as visuals and projections by Simon Hughes, lighting by longtime Bailie collaborator Hugh Conacher and original sound by Emma Hendrix.

Ticketholders will receive a link via email to watch the presentation at their convenience until July 3. Visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/in-between-here-and-now-by-jolene-bailie-tickets-332098644987.

— Jen Zoratti

Party down at the Downs

June 10 and 12

Assiniboia Downs

Event listing at asdowns.com

There’s a lineup of live events happening at Assiniboia Downs this weekend — none of which involves galloping horses.

On Friday night, the gaming and event centre at 3975 Portage Ave. is playing host to Summer of Sound, Winnipeg’s largest annual electronic dance music festival. The outdoor event is returning after a two-year pandemic hiatus with musical headliners Alesso, Jauz and Acraze.

There will be a shuttle running partygoers to and from the venue and an afterparty at an undisclosed location. The all-ages event will feature outdoor games, beer gardens and food and drink vendors. Tickets start at $109; visit summerofsound.ca for more details.

Sunday will have slightly less bass and significantly more shopping. The Manitoba Night Market and Festival kicks off on June 12 with more than 100 local artisans, 20 food trucks and live entertainment. Family-friendly fun includes face-painting, balloon-making, a bouncy castle, a fire show and live music.

Festivities run from 3 to 11 p.m. this weekend with future markets scheduled to take place on July 24 and Aug. 28. Admission is $7, kids five and under get in free. Visit facebook.com/mbnightmarket for more information.

— Eva Wasney

Interlake artists open studio doors

WAVE Artists Studio Tour

Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Free admission

For a studio map and artists’ details, visit watchthewave.ca

A blacksmith’s forge and a carver who uses a chainsaw are part of the WAVE Artists Studio Tour that welcomes visitors to 20 different Interlake locations Saturday and Sunday.

The Cloverdale Forge, which is 785 Cloverdale Rd., about 30 kilometres north of Winnipeg, just off Highway 8, returns to the tour for 2022. The blacksmith’s shop is owned by metalworkers Matt Jenkins and Karen Rudolph, and they will show how age-old smithing techniques can be used to make modern-day items, such as business signs, kitchen or bar tools, and home-decor items.

Gary Foidart is a Métis wood carver from Winnipeg Beach who has been involved with the Prairie Canada Carving Championships for more than a quarter-century.

His latest interest is chainsaw carving, and Foidart uses wood burls, antlers and other items to make functional art such as furniture and duck decoys, as well as sculptures and decorative items.

The 20 studios in the June WAVE tour are spread out between St. Andrews and Arborg, but the Winnipeg Beach area, including the communities of Matlock and Ponemah, sports several artists on the tour who welcome visitors and sell arts and crafts.

While painting, sculptures and ceramics go back thousands of years, WAVE artists are adapting to contemporary times to provide information about their artists and a map of studios. A new Interlake WAVE Artist Tour app is available on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, and a link to download it to your smartphone is available at watchthewave.ca, the co-operative’s website.

A fall tour is also is also planned for Sept. 3-4.

— Alan Small

Taking the show on the trail

Bikes and Circuses

Today to Sunday

Lagimodière-Gaboury Park

Tickets $20/$10; full schedule at greenkids.com

Sometimes, a performance moves you. In the case of Bike and Circuses, you move to the performance.

The “outdoor theatre spectacular,” presented by live theatre company Green Kids Inc., is being held not on a stage but at Lagimodière-Gaboury Park, inviting audience members to bike, walk, or roll down the trails, making pitstops to see circus performers, poets, musicians, dancers, and puppeteers do their thing along the way.

It’s the first time Green Kids — normally focused on environmental education at local schools — is producing a piece of public theatre, which the organization hopes will evoke action and thought.

The only place it’s neutral is in the carbon department: eco-friendly materials and transportation are being used; most costume, set pieces, and props are second-hand; after the production, a comprehensive waste audit will be done, and Carbon Credit Capital will calculate the carbon footprint and co-ordinate the carbon offset process.

The shows run June 8-12. Tickets are $20 for adults, and $10 for children 6-17, plus fees. Children under five can attend for free. A full schedule for the shows — including bike shows, physically accessible shows, walking and slow-rolling shows — can be found online at greenkids.com.

— Ben Waldman

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