KODO: One Earth Tour

I longed to see a world beyond this one, so I searched for the door that would take me there. Until I open the door, I have no idea what awaits me on the other side. For now I simply dream about the unknown.

I just got back from Kodo's One Earth Tour, it was, in a word, AWESOME! I've been a fan of Kodo ever since I picked up a couple of their CDs a few years ago after Mystère piqued my interest in Taiko drumming.

Having only heard the music on CD I was surprised at how visual the show was, it really is a blend of both music and dance and I loved watching the troupe's precise movements when playing synchronously. I was amazed at the sheer physicality of the performance, the drummers' stances and the movements that they use to play exude grace and power. The performance ran the gamut between intricate, densely layered pieces involving dozens of drums to simple but masterful solos.

In between the major pieces when they were setting up the drums they had little interludes, during one they were playing these Japanese chimes and bells and it sounded exactly like the Mystère opening. I was sitting there waiting to hear the crying babies! Three of the drummers also do these little subtle comedic interludes while performing percussion and choreography, they reminded me a lot of the Blue Man Group or Les Cons from La Nouba the audience loved them and it really served to show that the group doesn't take itself too seriously. At the beginning of the first encore these guys even lead the audience in a call and response banging out rhythm patterns that the audience would clap back (Stomp does this for audience-participation at the end of their show as well).

My favourite piece was O-Daiko. It's a huge two-sided drum (pictured above) and the drummer on one side beats out a basic rhythm and the soloist on the other side freely improvises. It was amazing the soloist was giving it hard for about ten minutes non-stop. It was intense.

I'm glad they chose to perform in the Opera House because the acoustics were awesome, these drums are huge and when they play the bigger ones you can feel the sound resonate in your chest cavity. It also meant that the quieter drum pieces and the vocal solos could be performed un-amplified. There was one song performed by an amazing female vocalist who would modulate and trill the notes brilliantly, she was accompanied by wood flute and Chinese violin it sounded gorgeous.

Anyway, I highly recommend catching the show if you're a fan of music, dance or performance art, it's a thrilling night of theatre.

Leaving Traces . . .

I had the chance to catch Traces, the sophomore show by 7 doigts de la main a couple times this week.

The show is performed by five fresh, young graduates of École nationale de cirque; Héloïse Bourgeois, Brad Henderson, Will Underwood and brothers Francisco and Raphaël Cruz. These artists seem to have a limitless supply of energy; the performances are explosive, fast-paced and action-packed. The 90-minute show seems to zoom by in an instant.

Traces has a darker tone and a faster pace than Loft did. Whereas Loft had more existential overtones Traces is more Fatalistic. The theme is some sort of impending catastrophe and the set is a kind of make-shift fall-out shelter that the artists have constructed. There's a countdown/ticking clock motif throughout the show that really gives the show a sense of urgency and sets an ominous tone. The artists are basically racing against time to create something by which they can be remembered, to leave their "traces" on the world.

Though the backdrop is sort of bleak it really serves to contrast the actual performances in the show which have an energetic, youthful, rebellious and often whimsical quality to them. Though the performers are young (all in their early 20s) they are extremely talented and multi-disciplinary. Their style is really fresh and hip, even compared to 7 doigts' first show.

The soundtrack is mostly progressive rock and hip hop with some old school jazz and classical piano (performed by the artists themselves since four of them are classically trained pianists as well). The choreography is contemporary and urban. The two standout acts in the show are ancient Chinese circus disciplines, Chinese Poles and Hoop Diving, but the presentation in Traces is so fresh and creative it's like watching these acts for the first time. I loved the Chinese poles number performed to a Radiohead song and the gorgeous and graceful Roue Cyr solo performed to a hip hop song.

The choreography is inventive and often stunning. There's an amazing group dance and manipulation number using a basketball and another sequence where the artists use skateboards to produce a whimsical old-school Hollywood musical number that would make Fred Astaire proud. The show also had moments of beauty, showcasing the depth and range of these young artists performance abilities. There are two gorgeous hand to hand numbers (one by a Will and a Héloïse the other by the Cruz brothers) and a stunning solo aerial strap number performed by Héloïse.

The 7 fingers' style is omni-present in the show but Traces also creates it's own signature style; it doesn't have the same distinctly sexual undertones that Loft did but really emphasizes youthful energy and it's absolutely exhilarating to watch. Every time I come out of a 7 doigts show I can't help but think how the sheer creativity, inventiveness and resourcefulness of this small troupe makes Cirque du Soleil look stale and old in comparison.

The show is still new (less than a year old) so it's still a little bit rough in some places but I loved it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

I went to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tonight, I've been wanting to see them perform for a while and was not disappointed, they are absolutely spectacular. It was definitely one of the most exhilarating dance performances I've ever seen.

I love jazz ballet because I find it much more free form and expressive than classical ballet which is too often burdened by its rigid structures. The energy and intensity of the Alvin Ailey dancers was amazing, such power, grace and precision.

The show was sold out tonight, which I rarely see for dance performances in Ottawa (outside of schmaltzy acts like Riverdance).

The troupe performed four pieces from their repertoire; Night Creature, Solo, The River and one of Ailey's signature pieces Revelations. Two of the pieces Night Creature and The River were choreographed to the music of Duke Ellington which was awesome 'cause I love The Duke's music.

Solo was an interesting piece for three male dancers choreographed to a Bach violin concerto, it was an interesting juxtaposition of classical music with modern dance.

Revelations was brilliant, it's performed to African American Spirituals and has such an amazing energy. There was a huge ovation at the end and people even stayed standing and clapped in time to the music throughout the encore which is really rare for audiences in Ottawa since it's such a conservative, uptight, white collar town.

I'd definitely recommend catching AAADT if you can, the talent of this troupe is unbelievable and they give an absolutely exhilarating performance.

The Bellagio Fountains "hijacked"

Have you heard of these "Alternate Reality Games"? Basically they're like adventure/puzzle solving video games but in a real-life setting, players solve a bunch of elaborate puzzles that lead them on a treasure hunt (think Da Vinci Code).

There's a new one that was just launched last month called Vanishing Point some of the prizes are pretty extreme like a sub-orbital space flight and the premiere puzzle was presented at CES in Las Vegas last month.

I guess the premise is the Bellagio Fountains are "hijacked" for a pirate broadcast to present the first puzzle clues, the effect is pretty neat, if they just keep the row of vertical jets



I wonder how much they had to pay Bellagio to basically turn their fountain show into a big, elaborate billboard?

Ice Sculptures

Every year the city of Ottawa holds a winter festival called Winterlude. Now I have a secret to confess . . . I actually hate winter, it's something to be grudgingly tolerated not celebrated with a festival.

But I was downtown tonight so I checked it out. Part of the festival is an ice sculpting competition. I find ice sculpting an interesting art since it deals with a medium that's so ephemeral, the works last only a few weeks or less (depending on the weather) before they melt but I guess that somehow adds to their beauty. I had my camera on me so I snapped some pics of a few of the sculptures.


The entrance to the "Crystal Garden" at Confederation Park where the ice sculptures are on display.


An ice model of the Canadian Vimy Ridge War Memorial.


March of the Penguins


Water Goddess


I love the detail on the water in this one.

The International Walkway:


Moscow, Russia


China


Dome of the US Capitol in Washington, DC


Marvel Comics


Dragon


Mammoth


Mermaid


I peeked into the ice bar but not much was going on in the early-evening.


I didn't bring my skates tonight but this is the Rideau Canal, the world's longest skating rink (almost 5 miles long).

Ugh, they don't make 'em like they used to

Just over a year ago I bought an HP laptop cause it was on sale at Best Buy, I basically just use it as a secondary computer for use on the go, school work, travel, etc.

Anyway, last week it would start randomly switching to battery power even when it was plugged in, I inspected the power cord and saw that the end closest to the power adapter box was frayed, of course it's the part of the cord that gets the most stress when it's packed up. I patched it up with some electrical tape but then yesterday I couldn't get the power to patch through at all.

You'd think they'd make these things more robust but obviously they're designed to break exactly after the one year limited warranty period has passed.

I didn't want to plop down the ridiculous amount of money that the replacement power adapter would cost so I basically just decided to fix it myself.

It took about an hour with the wire strippers and soldering gun and it was a bit of a tricky job since the fray happened at the very end of the wire. I had to cut off the plastic nub that holds the wire to the adapter box with an Xacto knife to get a long enough length of wire. It's not pretty (big globs of solder and lots of electrical tape) but I think I got the job done. I'm just testing it now to make sure it doesn't short out or overheat, the last thing I need right now is an electrical fire.

Lost in Pan's Labyrinth

I saw Pan's Labyrinth tonight. I had heard a lot about the film going into it; I was told that it was a sort of dark fairy tale but I really didn't expect it to be as stark or as gory as it was. Nevertheless the violence definitely served a purpose and the film was generally brilliant.

The film is basically the story of a girl, Ofelia, who conjures up a fantasy world as an escape from the bleak reality of life in rural post-war fascist Spain of the Franco era. I really loved how the director, Guillermo Del Toro, leaves it open to the viewer's interpretation whether the fantasies conjured by the main character were real or completely imaginary. It's akin to the question of faith. He provided evidence to support both conclusions and left it ambiguous. That's exceedingly rare, most moviegoers nowadays are used to being force-fed stories and having to think or decide things for themselves might make them a little uncomfortable (you know the people who just have to know what Bill Murray whispered to Scarlett Johansson's character at the end of Lost in Translation).

I also found the film to be replete with symbolism, similar to The Fountain but the symbolism was more allegorical in Pan rather than self-referential like in The Fountain. I was also fascinated by many religious references, particularly Catholic references. Del Toro references the story of Eve and the expulsion from Eden, the sacrificing of Abraham's son as a test by God, the story of Christ and many of the film's scenes seem almost allegorical to his view of the church (or at least it seems that way from my ex-Catholic point of view). There are also many pagan symbols, fauns and earth-gods. It all leads me to believe that the movie has many more layers than what is presented on the surface.

Although the film wasn't anything like I expected I ended up really enjoying it and found myself thinking a lot about the imagery and the possible messages the director tried to convey through the symbolism. The movie is dark, it's bleak, it's gory but at the end there's a definite beauty to it too, I enjoyed it.