Mixed bag of styles at Ryerson Dances takes show to new limits

Kelsey Rolfe

On November 22, Ryerson Dances 2011 opened at the Ryerson Theatre, with four performance pieces created by well-known choreographers: Intricate Freedom by Valerie Calam, Arsenio Andrade Calderon’s Encounters, Allen Kaeja’s Axon, and Indigo Moods by Vicki St. Denys.

The program, which lacked any identifiable theme, was a mixed bag of styles, ranging from Calam’s wildly chaotic individual-focused performance to St. Denys’s sensual, jazzy piece.

Intricate Freedom, the first performance of the night, was described in Calam’s choreographer’s notes as a piece that “shows the dancers performing as themselves within a group.” It certainly did that — it was incredibly rare to see the dancers moving in unison.

Though they may have danced at the same time, it was almost never the same choreography. The result was an almost stressful test for the audience: you could never truly see everything, and – using a technique reminiscent of Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room – it forced you to try to look everywhere at once.

However, when the dancers were brought together to perform the same choreography, the result was almost breathtaking.

Arseno Andrade Calderon’s Encounters, the second piece, was what stole the show for me. The very bold, unapologetic sensuality of it was impressive, demonstrated best by the two dancers who spent a good portion of the performance in the middle of the stage, on the verge of kissing.

The costumes — nude body suits — served to drive the audience to distraction, while heightening the attention to dancers’ extensions (more elaborate costumes can, occasionally, detract from the cleanness of a dancer’s lines). The camera that filmed them from behind and projected the image onto the back screen only added to the somewhat taboo feeling of the entire piece — it was like looking in on something private and beautiful.

The best part of the performance may have been when the three male dancers leapt off the stage and sat down in the audience, and then managed to remain straight-faced while the little girl beside me kept sneaking sideways glances at them until they returned to the stage.

Axon stood out because of its interesting use of partnering. In the other three pieces, lifts and throws were generally relegated to the male dancers, whereas in Axon, female dancers were lifting and throwing each other; as well, the guys were being tossed and lifted by their female counterparts. It was quite impressive, and showcased the strength of each dancer. I also liked how fast-paced the routine was, and the techno music that Kaeja used.

Indigo Moods by Vicki St. Denys was actually choreographed at Ryerson in 1998 for a cast of nine dancers, and was performed again in 2003. Since then, the final section of the piece has been presented at the Banff Centre for the Arts by the Dance Program. Ballet Kelowna also featured the work as the closing piece to their 2006 and 2010 seasons, and it was re-worked this year for Ryerson Dances.

It was a piece that felt like it had been taken right from the New Orleans jazz scene. They used props to make the stage look like a speakeasy, and the costumes — tailored pants, pencil skirts, corset tops and button-ups, in shades of blue — were very sophisticated. I loved the theatricality of the performance, and the obvious enjoyment the dancers brought to the stage. Pieces like Indigo Moods are a perfect illustration of why I love dance.

Gourmet Food and Wine Expo offers full-bodied treats for foodies

Theresa Do

If I’d known that an event dedicated to boozing and schmoozing held over a weekend would most definitely draw in a lot of people, I wouldn’t have chosen Saturday as the day to attend the seventeenth annual Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Not unless I was in the mood to “excuse me, pardon me, I need to get by” through the hundreds of pink-cheeked 20- or 30-somethings drinking, eating and even dancing (an inevitable consequence of crowds and alcohol) in the name of Epicureanism.

With its nearly 400 exhibitors, the expo was entirely overwhelming, especially to a first-timer. The set-up: pay an admission fee and then buy “sample tickets” in exchange for food and wine samples (think of how a carnival operates).

I decided to go the adventurous route and limit myself to only international offerings/things I’ve never tried. With that, I marched on with confidence towards my first booth: Wines of South Africa. When I asked the exhibitor what she recommended, she answered, “Well, what do you like?” My first important lesson of the day: despite what I thought about connoisseurs who understand things about tannins, or the different bouquets, or how an oak barrel will affect the taste of a wine, at the end of the day, it really just boils down to preference. And as a complete wine newbie, that worked for me.

So I told her I liked reds, something full-bodied with a rounded flavour. She poured me a shiraz/cabernet sauvignon blend by The Pavillion (two tickets) and sent me merrily on my way. The sweet, fruity notes accompanied me as I glided along the merlot-coloured carpet, sampling the best the world had to offer. One of my favourites was Lenz Moser Prestige Trockenbeerenauslese, an Austrian dessert wine that was heavenly in combination with a chocolate praline macaron (I nearly melted onto the floor).

And in the centre of it all, an acoustic cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” was being performed on stage; the singer crooned with his eyes closed, almost unaware of the massive crowds around him. Breathing into the microphone, his words dripped sensuality as he took a small step back and then seamlessly transitioned into U2’s “One Love.” And all around on the leather seats and cocktail tables, friends were laughing and couples were cuddling, rubies swirling in their glasses and sparkling under the lights.

For the next six hours, I drank and ate to my heart’s content, crossing a variety of things off my list. Bordeaux wine, Russian black caviar, Japanese sake and plum liqueur, to name a few. Despite the buzzing excitement and lack of breathing room, it was a very comfortable  environment. Loveseats strategically placed around the exhibition hall slowed the pace down, if the heavy wine consumption didn’t.

After a dozen samples, when I decided I had had a thorough taste of the event, I left—completely and utterly satisfied. Slightly inebriated, but satisfied. ­

Keepin’ it Reel

Samantha Lui

The Reel Asian International Film Festival took place at venues across Toronto from Nov. 8 to 13. Now in its fifteenth year, the festival continues to present works of contemporary Asian cinema and narratives from the Asian diaspora, making it Canada’s largest Asian film festival. Our own Samantha Lui was on hand to review two stand-out presentations from the festival.

Trailblazers

Trailblazers is a programme of short films surrounding the injustices and hardships faced by elders. Quirky and eccentric, these shorts tell stories of seniors who bravely take different paths and continue to celebrate their unique identities.

In Totte Mitsu, Let’s Go to Russia, director Brian Lye follows two women who fight over a camera in a spontaneous film made with his Japanese host mother and her friend.

Granny’s Rock (Babah No Rock) is about a 68-year-old artist named Miya Yumemi who is often seen as a “crazy” person on the streets of Tokyo.  The documentary-style film directed by Satoru Yasuda captures Yumemi’s unique marker drawings and unusual yet endearing personality.

Then there’s Grandpa’s Wet Dream.  Directed by Chihiro Amemiya, it follows a 75-year-old Japanese man who has been acting in adult movies for 15 years without telling his family.

And lastly, there’s Sugar Bowl. Directed by Ryerson grad Shasha Nakhai, this film – winner of the 2010 Reel Asian So You Think You Can Pitch? Award – takes the audience through the rise and fall of the sugar cane industry in the Philippines.

The films in Trailblazers may seem low-budget, but the content and characters are what draws the audience in. Filled with charming seniors marching to the beat of their own drums, their lives and personalities shine through in the end.

Surrogate Valentine

Those who take pleasure in simple things like good music and charming humour will enjoy Dave Boyle’s Surrogate Valentine.

The film follows musician Goh Nakamara (playing himself) as he struggles to make a living playing live gigs and teaching guitar. But when a filmmaker friend asks him to give guitar lessons to TV star Danny Turner (Chadd Stoops) for an upcoming movie role, Goh reluctantly takes the job.

Because Danny will be playing a “burned out, sad sack musician,” the two end up going on tour together.  To the annoyance of Goh, Danny models his research on him, and as the two get to know one another better, it becomes clear that the character Danny is supposed to play rings a bit too true to Goh’s life.

Things get more complicated when Goh’s unrequited crush, Rachel (Lynn Chen), shows up at one of his shows.  As Goh tours from his home in San Francisco to gigs in Seattle and Los Angeles, Rachel is always on his mind.

Shot in black and white, the characters and their charm shine through.  While the introverted Goh wants nothing more than to sing and write songs, Danny is annoying but funny, often bragging about his former roles.

What’s also impressive is Goh’s performance as a musician. Penning the song that inspired the film’s title, his emotional and soulful tunes are what stand out.

Although the performances of each actor are justified, things are left too open-ended by film’s end.  There’s no sense of growth for the lead, leaving the audience wanting more.

Nonetheless, Surrogate Valentine is a pleasure to watch.  For once, it is nice to see an Asian lead playing a non-stereotypical role.

Miss Representation

Meaghan Yuen

Appropriately presented by the Ryerson Women’s Centre, Miss Representation packs as much fervour as the cat fights it condemns. Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom challenges the demeaning representations of women in the media, holding it responsible for the self-doubt in females today. The documentary exposes the media as though it were run by oversexed teenage boys – with lots of boobs. (Boobs pushed up, boobs in bikinis and boobs with implants.)

With the similar in-your-face style as Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, Miss Representation takes examples from the media to argue against it. In combining shocking statistics with even more shocking instances of blatant sexism – from the everyday Barbie to the sexualization of Sarah Palin – it points to a capitalist media, not only exploiting the self-consciousness of girls and women, but creating it.

The actress-turned-filmmaker frames the documentary by recounting her dark experiences in the public eye, describing the menacing ideals of beauty. The real motivation, however, is her determination to protect her daughter from the brainwashing effects of the objectified women who are often seen on reality T.V., Disney movies and even the evening news.

Katie Couric, Jean Kilbourne, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice and Lisa Ling are among the many feminist activists like Newsom. Through personal experiences, they share expert insights as well as stories in which they were discouraged from ambition and, despite their success, were discredited because of their appearance.

Margaret Cho, for example, relays a time when her producers for the show All American Girl pressured her to lose weight, which lead to her anorexia. While she lost the weight, the show was cancelled and replaced by Drew Carey of the Drew Carey Show, a man who’s much larger than her.

Not only has Miss Representation made its way to the Sundance Film Festival, but the documentary has also garnered the attention of one of the most powerful women in media, Oprah Winfrey. In fact, it’s been added to the Oprah Winfrey Network Documentary Club, a group gaining as much recognition and as many followers as her prestigious book club.

Miss Representation certainly drives the message home – again and again. Although it was made clear that the message is relevant and crucial to the understanding of media, it resonated the most during the first five minutes of the film, as the pounding music of Metric (a band most notable for its female lead) causes hearts to pound just as hard in anticipation.

However, it’s not to say that the latter majority of the documentary is boring, but it does lack the drive it evokes in the beginning, perhaps due to the repetitive blue writing of facts and figures or the unchanging white background. Regardless, it takes away from the energy that’s invested at the start.

As for the interviews, not all of them are humdrum. High school students, who are as articulate as graduate students and as wise as their professors, speak with profound brilliance, proving that there’s a hopeful generation for the future, which is where the documentary is truly successful.

Miss Representation doesn’t just point fingers; it points out where to go from here. With a passionate sense of urgency, the feminist documentary emphasizes the power of the voice for a full-out media makeover.

Music review: ASAP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP

By Max Mertens

While the majority of rappers making headlines this year were either luxury-celebrating veterans (Jay-Z, Kanye, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross), or social media-savvy, controversy-baiting up-and-comers (Kreayshawn, Lil B, Odd Future), there was another generation of underground talent coming out of New York. There’s recent SPIN cover boys and jokers Das Racist, Detroit import Danny Brown and several other left field names including Action Bronson, Despot and Mr. Muthaf–king Esquire. The most buzzed-about of this new wave of rappers, however, has been ASAP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, a 23-year-old Harlem emcee making gritty hip-hop that ranges from spaced-out ambient rap to Cam’ron streetwise rhymes to Houston codeine syrup-sipping screw music. Rocky’s not-so-secret weapon is New Jersey-based producer Clams Casino, who creates dreamy, new age pop soundscapes on the mixtape’s three best songs, “Palace,” “Bass” and “Wassup.” And while you won’t hear any of his songs on the radio any time soon, the rapper is no longer New York’s little secret. Not only did Rocky sign to Sony/RCA Records subdivision Polo Grounds Music for a hefty $3 million, he was also handpicked as the opening act by Drake for the Canadian rapper’s current tour. As one of Brooklyn’s finest, Biggie Smalls, once put it, “Mo money, mo problems.” Here’s hoping major label attention doesn’t change him.

Music review: Childish Gambino – Camp

By Max Mertens

For those of you who watch NBC’s comedy series Community, you know how funny Donald Glover can be. The actor plays Troy Barnes, a former high school quarterback-turned-nerd, who builds blanket forts, hosts a fictitious talk show called “Troy & Abed in the Morning” with partner-in-crime Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi) and idolizes former Star Trek actor and Reading Rainbow host Levar Burton. There’s plenty of punchlines on Camp, Glover’s first studio album under his rap alias Childish Gambino, however it isn’t exactly G-rated humour. If you haven’t listened to any of his previous free albums and EPs, which have seen the actor rapping over everything from Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” to Sleigh Bell’s “Infinity Guitars,” Glover isn’t afraid of graphic descriptions of girls and sex. After signing on to Glassnote Records, a label that has handled releases by the likes of Mumford & Sons and Phoenix, this is the most ambitious Gambino release to date. But that’s not necessarily a good thing―Camp suffers from being all over the place musically and lyrically. Having the luxury of a studio, Glover has piled on backup choruses, violin solos, layers of synth, acoustic guitars and electro beats. That’s not to say he can’t rap though. “Bonfire” is a worthy successor to last year’s “Freaks and Geeks,” with Glover in full-on braggadocio mode, over a beat that sounds like something a basketball team would play before taking the court. Meanwhile, “Heartbeat” packs references to bin Laden, Keyshia Cole and Super Smash Brothers in the same song. It’s when he talks about his childhood, insecurities and race relations in America―unsuccessfully trying to mirror Kanye West that the album starts to grow boring. It’s too bad that the future of Community is up in the air (NBC recently announced that the show would be pulled from their mid-season schedule, with the remainder of the season’s episodes being shown at an unconfirmed date), as Camp proves that Glover shouldn’t quit his day job.

Music review: Drake – Take Care

Max Mertens

It isn’t easy being Drake. Since the days of his early mixtapes, Toronto’s favourite sweater-wearing rapper has had to answer to critics doubting his toughness, parody Twitter accounts (@DrakeDoinThings, among others) and oh yeah, the fact that he started his career playing a guy in a wheelchair on Degrassi. In the past year, he’s played award shows from the Grammy’s to the Junos, discovered and launched the career of fellow Toronto R&B act The Weeknd and become an honest-to-goodness Canadian rap superstar. So you perhaps can’t blame him for taking a moment to give the finger to haters. “I think I killed everybody in the last year,” boasts the rapper on “Over My Dead Body,” the opening track on his heavily anticipated sophomore album, Take Care. He acknowledges his newfound fame but also makes it clear he still has his demons, many of which are female. While he kept people guessing till the last minute about what songs would make the album— “Club Paradise” and “Dreams Money Can Buy” are two noticeable omissions—he managed to get a who’s who list of guests to appear on Take Care. With the exception of the Rihanna-assisted “Take Care,” which shamelessly rips off the collaboration of the same name between Gil Scott-Heron and U.K. producer Jamie XX, the rapper manages to get the best out of them (I’m sure Chantal Kreviazuk was thrilled to get the call). After a slow start, the album finds its way halfway through. “The Real Her,” the best song on the album, sees Outkast’s Andre 3000 continue his streak of strong guest appearances. Meanwhile on the giddy “H.Y.F.R.,” Lil Wayne delivers one of his sharpest verses since being released from prison. If you’ve driven in or out of Toronto recently, you may have noticed the Take Care billboard over the Gardiner Expressway, with the CN Tower looming in the backyard. Who says you can never go home again?

Second TEDx conference embraces innovation, hopes to set Ryerson apart

By Daniel Viola

On November 20, more than 300 people arrived at CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio to attend the second annual TEDxRyersonU conference. The event featured 15 speakers, all from the Ryerson community, who came together for the simple purpose of sharing ideas.

TEDx events are independently organized TED (Technology ,Entertainment and Design) conferences. This year’s speakers included a mix of faculty, students and alumni, including Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, ambassador Jeremy Kinsman, and graduate Gwen Elliot, creator and host of Rogers TV program Start Something Big.

Harjas Dogra is the organizer of productions and logistics for the TEDx steering team. Speaking to the sold-out crowd, he said that technology and innovation has allowed us to work together in ways that were not possible in the past.

“However, it’s time to stop thinking with the rules of the past and start thinking outside the box,” Dogra said. “It is amazing what can be done by letting go of those rules and thinking differently, or as we like to call it, [thinking] forward.”

The event was broken into four sections: The Perspective Change, In Other Worlds, Discover Grow Dare, and Re-Think. Technology has always been an essential part of TED talks and played a key role in Ryerson’s event. The entire conference was streamed live to an online audience, and videos of the talks will be posted on the TEDx YouTube Channel. Throughout the day, members of the audience were also able to post questions on Twitter, and at the end of each talk, one question was selected and answered.

The speeches put forward ideas to challenge the audience and encourage critical thinking. “We wanted to force [the audience] to think of ideas, think about their own future, think about how they can make a difference,” said Parvinder Sachdeva, curator of TEDxRyersonU and third-year business management student.

The sold-out talk was not an exclusive Ryerson event. Attendees came from across the province and included entrepreneurs, students and organizers from TEDx events from as far away as Ottawa.

TED conferences are non-profit events held across the world that focus on the sharing of ideas and exploration of diverse topics such as philosophy, engineering and the arts. They first began in 1984 and have featured speakers such as former president Bill Clinton, actor and author John Hodgman, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

A long-time fan of TED, Sachdeva started Ryerson’s event last year after feeling that his business faculty was disconnected from the rest of campus.

“I couldn’t find this one place where everybody connected together. And by everybody I mean not just students, but also professors from different faculties, or alumni,” he said.

Sachdeva said that by focusing on innovation and embracing TEDx, Ryerson will be able to promote itself not only in Canada, but across the world. “I think that’s the only way we can distinguish ourselves against all these established universities such as U of T that are so strong academically,” he said. “But I’ve never doubted that Ryerson is one of the most innovative universities that I’ve ever seen.”

Halifax-based comedy troupe Picnicface is all over the map

By Adriana Rolston

Brian Eldon Macquarrie and Andrew Bush, two members of the comedy group Picnicface, are performing a sketch on the stage of Toronto comedy club, Second City. It starts with a groom and his best man reminiscing before the wedding about the good times they’ve had. They act out flashbacks of playing catch and drinking beers as the nostalgic tune “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies plays in the background.

In the last memory, best man Macquarrie is passed out on a chair as Bush, who stands beside him, slowly undoes the buttons of his shirt (eliciting shocked bursts of laughter from the audience) and places Macquarrie’s mouth against his nipple.

“What was that?! You were breastfeeding me!” Macquarrie shouts, as Bush tries to calm him. “I’ve been breastfeeding you for years,” he reveals, and tries to force Macquarrie’s mouth onto his nipple again. The scene ends with Macquarrie on his knees wailing “No!” as The Hollies song plays.

Welcome to the absurd, twisted and sometimes dark style of Picnicface, a Halifax-based comedy troupe who recently co-headlined the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, which ran from November 8 to 13, alongside Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall.

The eight-person group includes Andrew Bush, Kyle Dooley, Cheryl Hann, Mark Little, Brian Eldon, Macquarrie, Evany Rosen, Scott Vrooman and Bill Wood. The troupe started to form in 2004 when Mark and Kyle met at improv camp, and other members eventually connected through Halifax’s improv and stand-up scene.

With a strong fan base in Halifax, Picnicface has also gained an online following with their YouTube videos, especially their aggressive energy drink advertisement parody, “Powerthirst,” which received a nod from Will Ferrell on funnyordie.com. The video, which guarantees that you will become “uncomfortably energetic” and have 400 babies that can run like “KENYANS,” went viral and has received over 24 million views since 2007.

Shortly after they started putting up YouTube shorts, Picnicface was approached by Toronto production company Breakthrough Entertainment who then pitched a sketch show to a number of networks. The Comedy Network responded, and Picnicface teamed up with Mark McKinney of Kids in The Hall and Mad TV writer Garry Campbell to create a self-titled, 13-episode sketch comedy show that mixes Pythonesque photoshop techniques with absurd and contemporary humour that resonates with a younger audience.

“It seems like the people that like it, really like it, and there’s people that hate it. But that’s fine, I’d rather have some hardcore fans and some people who really hate it than a bunch of people who are like, ‘It’s ok,’” says Scott Vrooman, who hopes that there are enough hardcore fans for the network to sign them on for a second season.

The group also recently published a satirical book with Harper Collins called Picnicface’s Canada. It examines everything Canadian, with articles that range from favourite Canadian wizards to moments in bear-related news. “They were fantastic at letting us do whatever we wanted and so I’m kind of amazed at some of the stuff we got away with,” says Vrooman. The original version of the cover didn’t fly though. “It was the only part that they put their foot down about because it was a picture of a baby crying with a map of Canada being tattooed on its forehead. Tattooing babies is a common theme with us. Somehow, that’s upsetting. I don’t get it,” says Vrooman.

During development of their show with the Comedy Network, Picnicface was also working on Roller Town, a feature film co-written by Vrooman and Bush. In the film, a town’s popular roller-disco is converted into an arcade by thugs, which turns teens into mindless zombies. But the main character, Leo, played by Mark Little, saves the day. Every member of Picnicface plays at least two roles in the film, which was influenced by ’70s disco rollerskating films, like Skate Town USA, Roller Boogie, and Zanadu. After a great reception at the Atlantic Film Festival in September, Roller Town should be released in some Canadian theatres this spring.

Right now, the group is working on editing the final episodes of their Comedy Network series. One past episode entitled “Premium Membership” got a lot of attention when Picnicface tweeted that the first 100 people to retweet the message would get a free premium membership, complete with VIP footage and perks. The membership program was hammed up the entire episode. But fans were actually directed to a fake website with “under construction” graphics. Some didn’t take it well.

“It was hilarious,” says Vrooman. “One guy who emailed us was like, ‘Hey guys, if you’re going to have a premium membership program, at least make sure the site’s up on time.’ Like, did you watch the show?”

Music review: Wavves - Life Sux E.P.

Max Mertens

To say it’s been quite a year for San Diego’s Wavves would be a huge understatement. Since the release of last year’s King of the Beach, the trio has been a staple at major music festivals in North America and has played with everyone from Fucked Up to Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA. They’ve also kept themselves in music headlines for their various offstage antics. Frontman and lead singer Nathan Williams, who in the past has gotten a bit of a reputation as a hothead, has been featured on the cover of music magazines and in gossip blogs for his relationship with Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino. Last month, the band’s attendance at the MTV Video Music Awards was halted abruptly when bassist Stephen Pope was kicked out for smuggling in booze and weed, their presence at the awards show akin to a bunch of skate kids crashing the popular kids’ party in high school. This bratty-but-lovable attitude is all over their new E.P. Life Sux, a ramshackle six-song collection of live cuts, covers and collaborations, which they released on Williams’ own label Ghost Ramp.

The trio—Williams, Pope and drummer Jacob Cooper—make pop-punk that evokes Dookie-era Green Day and Weezer before they got terrible, while drawing production inspiration from the likes of Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. There’s a lo-fi feel to the E.P. that makes you believe it could’ve easily been recorded in someone’s garage. Wavves shows off their love of ’90s grunge with the Dinosaur Jr.-esque “Bug” (it’s too bad their version of Sonic Youth’s “100%” didn’t make it on here) and the cheekily-titled “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl.” Everyone’s favourite Canadian frontman Damian Abraham (of Fucked Up) also shows up to lend his trademark growling to the rambunctious “Destroy.” The highlight is “Nodding Off” with Cosentino subtly contributing background vocals and Williams defiantly stating his independence. “Don’t call me friend,” he sings and lets us know that he’s doing just fine on his own, thank you. Being young and bored in California never sounded so sweet.

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