Middle
According to my calendar, I've been to 118 events in the past six months and only written 15 blog posts. Perhaps I should go to fewer events and write more, but for the moment, here are six highlights from the first six months:
West of Mabou
West of Mabou
In January, I took my parents to see West of Mabou at the Creative City Centre. It was the second of two sold out performances for their CD release and delighted me and the rest of the crowd. Lots of toe tapping and foot stomping and great Celtic music. (When I saw them again at the highland games, they even got a 102 year old up and dancing.)
Ballet in the Studio
Ballet Jorgen was in town in February prior to their presentation of Swan Lake and one of the things they did while they were here was present a number of small pieces at the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan studio. Going to this was out of my comfort zone as it wasn't really a normal performance. When I got to the venue, it wasn't obvious where you were supposed to go and it turned out to be just a couple of rows of temporary seats in one of the studios. The crowd was mostly mothers and their ballet dancing daughters so I was completely out of place, but it was quite interesting. The most impressive part was actually hearing the dancers. In a typical performance venue, you hear just the music and sometimes the impact of pointe shoes hitting the stage, but this was essentially like being right on the stage and you could hear the labored breathing of the dancers as the pieces progressed. I knew ballet was physically demanding, but I hadn't really felt that effort before.
Ballet Jorgen was in town in February prior to their presentation of Swan Lake and one of the things they did while they were here was present a number of small pieces at the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan studio. Going to this was out of my comfort zone as it wasn't really a normal performance. When I got to the venue, it wasn't obvious where you were supposed to go and it turned out to be just a couple of rows of temporary seats in one of the studios. The crowd was mostly mothers and their ballet dancing daughters so I was completely out of place, but it was quite interesting. The most impressive part was actually hearing the dancers. In a typical performance venue, you hear just the music and sometimes the impact of pointe shoes hitting the stage, but this was essentially like being right on the stage and you could hear the labored breathing of the dancers as the pieces progressed. I knew ballet was physically demanding, but I hadn't really felt that effort before.
Thunderstick
The Globe's Sandbox series is often more interesting to me than their main stage performances. In March, they were performing Thunderstick. Set in the northern woods, two cousins who are reporters are lost, on the run from the police, and in pursuit of the hottest story in the country. Both funny and troubling, it dealt with difficult issues of family and reconciliation.
The Globe's Sandbox series is often more interesting to me than their main stage performances. In March, they were performing Thunderstick. Set in the northern woods, two cousins who are reporters are lost, on the run from the police, and in pursuit of the hottest story in the country. Both funny and troubling, it dealt with difficult issues of family and reconciliation.
The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer
I had heard a lot of good things about The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer for quite some time, but I finally got the chance to see them in April. Originally a duo, at this show they brought along a backup vocalist and a drummer. Since one of the original duo also plays drums there were two drum kits on the stage and when both were being played at the same time, the result was magical.
Word up
I went to two Word Up poetry slams in May. These consist of two rounds of shortish (3 minute) poems with rapid fire judging and general hilarity in between. Lots of fun and even more fun if you get to be a judge. (If you aren't a poet, the odds of being a judge seem to be good.) I kept hoping someone would pay me off to give their poem a higher score, but apparently competitive poetry is less corrupt than figure skating.
Serena Ryder
I don't often go to events on Sundays as I usually visit my parents that night and I don't consider myself a huge Serena Ryder fan, but then I discovered that two of my friends, Ava Wild and Scott Pettigrew, were opening for her and had to adjust my schedule. Seeing Ava and Scott on the big stage in front of a large and appreciative audience was incredible even if their set was too short. The surprise though was that I knew far more of Serena's material than I thought. Perhaps I'm more of a fan than I thought.
