L'Univers d'Astérix au Musée Grévin 21.02. > 16.04.2017

Photos © Lena Ghio, 2017

Je me suis rendue à l'ouverture de l'exposition L'Univers d'Astérix au Musée Grévin la semaine passée. Cette exposition est une sortie familiale accommodée autant pour les parents que les enfants. Vous commencez la visite avec des magnifiques statues de cire de vos célébrités favorites: Jean Béliveau et Maurice Richard du Canadien; Dr House; Brad Pitt; Marilyn Monroe pour en nommer quelques-uns. Ensuite nous arrivons dans une petite forêt où Astérix et Obélix nous attendent avec un gros sanglier dans la rôtissoire, des jeux de tous genres, même Cléopâtre!

Je dois avouer, en route vers la Gaule j'ai croisé Le Petit Prince, La Rose et Le Renard et j'ai été séduite par les belles sculptures pleines de vie!

À ne pas manquer!

-LENA GHIO

Teresa Margoles & Emanuel Licha @ MAC > 14.05.2017

Details of works by Teresa Margoles who is on the right. / • Détails des oeuvres de Teresa Margoles qui est à  droite. Photos © Lena Ghio, 2017

MUNDOS

FRANÇAIS • 

Dressed in black jeans, wearing a black leather jacket, bangs and braids, the serious Mexican artist is soft spoken as she describes the horrific undercurrents of her practice. Teresa Margoles is standing up for the missing and murdered people caught in Mexico's gang wars and neglect from officials who should be protecting them. She has lost personal friends, like her friend Carla who is wearing a red dress in the detail above. Each of her work addresses this human violence and the rituals of forensic autopsy. She studied to get a degree as a forensic pathologist around the same time she was going to art school. She is socially and politically engaged and has said: " To me the morgue is the thermostat of a society. "

Although many of her works appear simple, they are imbued with death and violence. She has produced many installations where the water that has washed the body of a murder victim is recycled to make bubbles. You can smell death as the bubbles flow out of the ceiling and explode, "each represent a body" she says. ( In the air, 2003)

• Vêtue en jeans noirs, accoutrée d'une veste en cuir noire, frange et tresses l'artiste Mexicaine sombre parle doucement alors qu'elle décrit les courants sous-jacents horrifiques de sa pratique. Teresa Margoles représente les gens disparus ou assassinés piégés par les violences des guerres de gangs et la négligence d'officiels qui devraient les protéger. Elle y a perdu des amis personnels tels Carla qui porte la robe rouge dans le détail plus haut. Chacune de ses oeuvres adresse cette violence humaine et les rituels de l'autopsie médico-légales. Elle a obtenu ses diplômes  comme pathologiste médico-légale autour de la même époque où elle étudiait les beaux-arts. Elle est socialement et politiquement engagée et a dit: " pour moi la morgue est le thermostat d'une société. "

Quoique plusieurs de ses oeuvres semblent simples, elles sont imprégnées de la mort et de la violence. Elle a produit plusieurs installations où l'eau qui a lavé les corps des victimes est recyclé pour faire des bulles. On peut sentir la mort alors que les bulles flottent doucement du plafond et explosent, "chacune représente un corps" dit-elle.  ( In the air, 2003)

Emanuel Licha describing his work. /• Emanuel Licha décrit son travail. Photos © Lena Ghio, 2017 

ET MAINTENANT REGARDEZ CETTE MACHINE

As a counterpoint to Margoles's closeness to the victims and her proximity to violence and death, Emanuel Licha takes us at the "war" hotel, the place where journalists retire to safety to complete their reporting, a place away from combat. He recreates the hotel through a 60 minutes + HD video that draws us in the lulling mundanity of the daily routine of the staff and visitors. Around there are installations, media stations, where you can experience the results of the journalist's work in the field.

• En contrepoint à l'intimité de Margoles auprès des victimes et sa proximité à la violence et la mort,  Emanuel Licha nous transporte à l'hôtel de "guerre", ce lieu où les journalistes se retirent en sécurité pour compléter leurs reportages loin du combat.  Il recrée cet hôtel par le biais d'un film HD de 60 minutes qui nous attire vers la banalité anesthésiante  des routines quotidiennes du personnel et des visiteurs. Autour de l'espace de visionnement il y a des  installations, des stations médiatiques, où vous pouvez voir le résulta du travail des journalistes sur le terrain. 

For all the details on the programming and special events: Montreal Museum of contemporary art.

• Pour tous les détails sur la programmation et les événements spéciaux: Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

-LENA GHIO

DONALD TRUMP'S HIDDEN AGENDA

Manifestations in water on October 30th 2016 before US election. For more images made by water on subject of elections  go to A + B  Photo © Lena Ghio, 2017

Like many people around the world I feel distrust about the new American President Donald Trump. Many Americans have told me on Twitter or Facebook that my Canadian citizenship meant I had nothing to say about their choice of government. Except that for many years, decades actually, the United States has assumed the role of "Leader of the Free World". From this perspective I have a right to comment.

I have made an astrological study because this lunar eclipse is accompanied by very violent alignments and they have special meaning for the USA and the rest of the world. I have used the birth charts of Donald Trump, his closest ally Stephen Bannon, and that of the country, the USA.

Basically the stars support what the majority of people are sensing about this administration: there has been election tampering from a foreign entity; there are many hidden agendas that make the administration attack the press; they work for Big Industry; their actions will destroy the environment of their own country; Bannon pulls the strings; they are setting up foreigners as enemies just like Hitler set up the Jewish people as an enemy to be destroyed so he could gather the funds to create a war machine; they are getting ready for war as a means of making huge financial profits with absolutely no regards for anything that is in their way: children, nature, truth, justice, and forget about mercy or compassion!

Here is the analysis of the planetary structure that reveals their hidden plan:

Today the Lunar Return of USA is on  February 25 2017 at 2:20 PM EST. It places a Grand Cross design over Steve Bannon’s Uranus in Cancer that is square his Mars in Libra. This falls in Donald Trump's 11^th house, Mars Uranus in 9^th- rules foreigners. Jupiter in 3^rd rules the press. Great aggression towards the press, these men want to operate their secret agendas away from public scrutiny.

Jupiter in Libra thus afflicted is in house 10 of USA chart representing POTUS, a fat effeminate man with tiny hands. The Mars Uranus conjunction is in the 4^th house, home, the country. Pluto has entered the 2^nd house of USA, the money house, the resources of the country. Bannon’s Uranus is in the 8^th, he wants to bring about huge reforms no matter the cost. These are unfortunate because the aggression level (Mars conjunct Uranus opposite Jupiter T square Pluto occurring now ) is enormous and hits right into the country’s capacity to earn a living! Trump’s Pluto is in USA’s 8^th, he too wants this reform. Combined Trump and Bannon produce devastating aggressive energy.

Bannon’s Moon conjunct Pluto falls into Trump’s 12^th house of secrets, conjunct Trump’s Mars in house 12 and his ascendant. Bannon knows exactly how to press Trump’s buttons. They share vile secrets. Mars in 12^th, like POTUS, means the person prefers working in secret to avoid opposition. Pluto (Bannon) and Mars (Trump) combined is the signature of criminal activity carried out in secret (house 12).

In the USA chart, Mars is in Gemini house 7 and means aggressiveness. Interestingly, Mars in Gemini represents the press. We cannot deny that the press has mocked Trump at the expense of the real important stories of espionage and intrigue by foreign influence that were going on during the presidential campaigns. They are paying the price for this as Trump and Bannon will do everything in their power to ruin them, to change the dialog.

In the Lunar return the aggressiveness of Mars and Uranus is in house 10, while the president / Jupiter are in house 4, the land. His greed will scorch the land.

America’s Neptune square Mars is conjunct to Trump’s Sun conjunct Uranus. Trump is authoritarian, he has awakened old demons in the hearts of a certain groups of people who had been kept in check for many years as the desires for evolution expressed by the majority made it unacceptable to be racist, sexist, or fascist. Trump is very happy about that because he doesn’t understand the cost of these aberrations. While haters can feel a high as they torture others, their own energies are being consumed by their thoughts and actions. Beating down on others or denying them dignity does not mean you will not grow old, ill or die.

It is popular for Trump supporters to call decent people bleeding hearts. They obviously do not know much about history because being a decent person does not mean you will not defend yourself, it means you will not attack the weak, who do not deserve it, to make yourself feel superior for a moment.

In the Lunar Return of the USA, POTUS is seriously challenged to be honest. He has never done that in his life. The public pressure for him to be truthful causes him inner disorientations that are heavy to bear. Saturn in the same house is well aspected and in good aspect to Trump’s Mars conjunct Bannon’s Pluto conjunct Moon in POTUS’s 12^th house, they move forward amid opposition and their point of release is foreigners. Or are these foreigners secret allies like Russia?

POTUS’s Neptune in USA’s 10^th house squares his Mercury in USA’s 7^th, there is fraud and deceit towards the American people, house 7 plus Sun Jupiter and Venus in Cancer house 7 squared by Trump’s Neptune.

What is their motivation? We know power, money and sex are the universal and historical motivators of political men. These are in force here too with a willingness to lie and cheat on a massive scale to obtain them. The motivator that is under greatest pressure is Pluto in house 2 of USA’s chart. Trump has talked for decades about the way he feels USA’s coffers are being bled by bad deals with foreigners, by foreigners being in the country. For those many decades he was often asked what he would do if he were president. The ideas are now manifesting that he must subdue these “foreign” forces and his means are Martian, war, weapons, the army.

America’s great wealth or rather the great wealth of a number of Americans was built on very reprehensible practices like slavery, war and hidden criminality.

The hidden agenda is well resumed by the words of renowned astrologer Dane Rudhyar below.

-LENA GHIO

NEWS / NOUVELLES 20.02.2017

CCA - 02.02. > 14.05.2017

FRANÇAIS •

With the exhibition What About Happiness on the Building Site?  the Canadian Center for Architecture has some insights on how to improve the work environment. In this case, we are presented with a 70s project conducted by Cedric Price for the Sir McAlpine & Sons construction company. During the those years Britain's construction industry was plagued by worker strikes over the dangerous or unhealthy working conditions, as evidenced by the images above. Curated by André Tavares, director of Dafne Editoria since 2006 and Giovanna Borasi, curator in chief at CCA, the exhibition takes us point by point through the process employed by the architects to clean up the construction work site as presented by the Cedric Price report entitled McAppy. I enjoyed the expression used by Giovanna Borasi "to design the process" where the architect designed before hand his methodology to tackle the site. The information is well organized in multimedia to make it even more compelling.

• Avec l'exposition Et si on parlait de bonheur sur le chantier?  le Centre Canadien d'Architecture  révèle les connaissances sur comment on peut améliorer l'environnement de travail. Dans le cas à l'étude, on nous présente un projet des années 70 mener par Cedric Price pour la Sir McAlpine & Sons compagnie de construction. Durant ces années en Bretagne l'industrie de la construction était tracassée par des grèves d'employés à propos des conditions de travail dangereuses et insalubres, comme on peut voir par les images plus haut. Les commissaires de l'exposition André Tavares, directeur de Dafne Editoria depuis 2006 et Giovanna Borasi, commissaire en chef au CCA, nous transporte point par point au travers le processus employé par les architectes pour nettoyer le site de construction tel que présenté par Cedric Price dans son rapport intitulé McAppy. J'ai aimé l'expression employée par  Giovanna Borasi "le design du processus" où l'architecte fait l'ébauche de sa méthode de travail avant d'attaquer le site. L'information est bien organisée en multimédia ce qui rend la visite encore plus percutante.

MUSÉE McCORD MUSEUM

VIDEO 

You can now access many historical archives via the Museum's website. This access will last until June 2018. This is totally fascinating and I hope you will take a look at the families that are bedrock of our society. So many amazing men and women set the stage for us to be a city of love and peace!

• Vous pouvez maintenant accéder à plusieurs archives historiques par le site Web du Musée. Cet accès durera jusqu'en juin 2018. C'est totalement fascinant et j'espère que vous irez voir ce site pour prendre connaissance des familles qui sont la fondation de notre société. Il y a plusieurs hommes et femmes extraordinaires qui ont préparé la scène pour que nous puissions vivre dans notre ville d'amour et de paix!

C2 MONTRÉAL & AI 24.05 - 26.05.2017

Jean-François Gagné & Yoshua Bengio

C2 Montreal is a unique event on our planet. It breaks all boundaries to take us to our creative and financial heights! This year the event is going all out to celebrate the 350th of Montreal. But also this year there will be an in depth look at Artificial Intelligence ( The AI Forum ) and its increasing role in our daily lives and what that will mean for the workforces and industries of the future. Visit Element AI, a platform for your company's AI needs! Here is the list of speakers and the exciting new guest speakers.

• C2 Montréal  est un événement unique sur notre planète. Il brise toutes les limites et nous transporte à nos plus hautes expressions créatives et financières. Cette année l'événement se prépare pour la fête du 350 de Montréal. Mais surtout cette année il y aura un regard en profondeur à l'avancement en Intelligence Artificielle ( Forum Intelligence Artificielle ) et son rôle grandissant dans nos vies quotidiennes et ce que cela représentera sur le marché du travail et les industries du futur. Voici la liste des conférenciers et les nouveaux qui s'ajoutent.

Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert

This spring at Palais des Congrès http://expomangersante.com/en/ / Ce printemps au Palais des Congrès    http://expomangersante.com/

MUSÉE des BEAUX ARTS de MONTRÉAL

On the night of the opening Phan Thị Kim Phúc OOnt was present to tell us of her journey from a wounded child in war thorn Vietnam to subject of internationally iconic photograph to UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She was radiant in her gorgeous embroidered red dress as she spoke of hope and human compassion. We were deeply moved. / • Le soir du vernissage Phan Thị Kim Phúc OOnt était présente pour nous raconter son passage d'enfant blessée lors de la guerre du Vietnam a sujet de la photo icône internationale à Ambassadrice de Bienveillance de l'UNESCO.  Elle était radieuse dans sa somptueuse robe de satin rouge perlée alors qu'elle nous parlait d'espoir et de compassion humaine. Nous étions profondément émus.  Photos © Lena Ghio, 2017

ADEL ABDESSEMED : CONFLICT / CONFLIT 
> 07.05 2017

You can see this moving artistic comment to the madness of war and the tragedy it inflicts on children at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts now:

« The installation by the French-Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed, presented in the Contemporary Art Square, features two ivory sculptures, Cri (2013) and Mon enfant (2014), surrounded by thirty-eight black chalk drawings. His work reminds us of the stories of these two photographic icons of the twentieth century by shining a spotlight on them as allegories of violence. »

• Vous pouvez voir ce commentaire artistique émouvant sur la folie de la guerre et les tragédies qu'elle inflige aux enfants au Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal: 

Phan Thị Kim Phúc OOnt endured 17 operations
to repair the devastating wounds of the napalm
burns on her back. /
• Phan Thị Kim Phúc OOnt a enduré
17 opérations pour réparer les blessures
dévastatrices causées par le napalm. 

« Présentée dans le Carré d’art contemporain, l’installation de l’artiste franco-algérien Adel Abdessemed met en scène deux sculptures d’ivoire, Cri (2013) et Mon enfant (2014), entourées de 38 dessins à la pierre noire. Son œuvre rappelle à la mémoire l’histoire respective de ces deux icônes photographiques du XX^e siècle en braquant les projecteurs sur ces allégories de la violence. »

Check out all the winners and their work HERE 

ART SOUTERRAIN 04.03 > 26.03.2017

A dazzling program of contemporary art I will return to shortly / • Une programmation éclatante d'art contemporain sur laquelle je reviens sous peu.

ENGLISH / FRANÇAIS  

-LENA GHIO

NOSTRADAMUS revisited - revisité

Here are the videos I did in 2011 that illustrate why I believe I am a manifestation of more than ten of Nostradamus's famous quatrains. The image above was taken December 12 2013 and shows the process used by the prophet to "see" the future. He saw what I am showing you about how water speaks to us.

FRANÇAIS

Voici les vidéos que j'ai réalisé en 2011 qui illustrent pourquoi je crois être la manifestation de plus d'une dizaine des quatrains célèbres de Nostradamus. L'image en haut a été prise le 12 décembre 2013 et illustre si bien la méthode par laquelle le prophète a "vu" l'avenir. Il voyait ce que je vous montre au sujet de l'eau qui nous parle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfS2ZiHBKeA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXseBxjFn5Q

-LENA GHIO

WATER STORIES a research / creation project for 2017

I took the original photograph on Christmas day 2016. I had no idea
what water would say but I had already begun looking into what
water speaking in images had meant to First Nations if anything
at all. Then I found these extraordinary characters. The images move
from the original image I saw through the various filters I applied
to create an Emerge Art. © Lena Ghio, 2017

This year my family had the confirmation that we have Aboriginal ancestry. Way in our past were our Mi'kmaq ancestors of which we know very little. Except I feel them in my bones. I feel connected to these ancestors especially since water has begun speaking to me so eloquently. I intend to learn from First Nation communities and artists on the Montreal Island to reconnect with my bone people born and died on this land we now call Canada. I remember hearing about our ancestry as a child. It was our maternal great-grand-mother that was the link. Our parents told us to ignore those rumors. Today we know NO ONE can deny their DNA and their fundamental truths.

I am grateful to the Conseil des Arts de Montréal, Diversité Artistique à Montréal, Charles Bender ( you can follow the companie MENUENTAKUAN on Facebook ) who gave a conference at Conseil des Arts de Montréal and then gave me a starting point on my quest.

I want to know about the blanket's role in the First Nation culture but, by extension, the designs they use and or the symbols they embroider on various items of daily life. Below a research composition of Emerge Art and a MicMac blanket. Unlike the GIF below that shows the process of getting to Emerge Art, the juxtaposition with the blanket reveals the complexity of introducing Jesus to an Aboriginal culture who has dealt with the Great Spirit, we call Him God, in their own way for millennia.

Photo © Lena Ghio, 2017 

Here are some of the traditional stories that relate to water:

Tribal affiliation: Micmac Sabawaelnu are Mi'kmaq water spirits. Like European mermaids, they have human upper bodies and fish tails. They have power over storms, but do not harm people who show them proper respect, and Mi'kmaq people who learn to interpret their songs correctly can predict the weather. Their name literally means "water people." They are sometimes also called the Halfway People.

Tribal affiliation: Maliseet, Passamaquoddy Lumpeguins are water sprites or little mermaids of Wabanaki mythology. In some stories lumpeguins have humanoid form, while in others, they have fish tails. As with many nature spirits in Native American folklore, a lumpeguin falls under the power of anybody who steals his or her magical garments, and in some legends lumpeguin women are claimed as wives by people (or animals) who capture their clothing. Lumpeguins are often said to be able to create food, either turning a morsel of food into a large feast, baking bread from snow, or using a magical pot to produce an infinite amount of food.

Tribal affiliation: Paiute, Shoshone, Washo, Achumawi, Cahuilla, Cupeno, Luiseno, Serrano, Yokuts, Salish Water babies are mysterious and dangerous water spirits from the folklore of California and other Western Native American tribes. Water-babies are said to inhabit springs and sometimes ponds or streams. Water babies usually take the form of beautiful human infants (although in some tribes they have fish tails, or appear as reptilian beings that merely make cries resembling human babies.) In many tribal traditions, the cry of a water baby is an omen of death. In others, responding to a water baby's crying by picking it up results in catastrophe.

-LENA GHIO

This sequence is totally amazing to me. I took the photograph in my living room.
We can see the book open to a painting of Jesus preaching to his disciples
while water is creating 2 major images: a female profile on the right and a
man sitting in a field holding onto something. © Lena Ghio, 2017

Dance to Heal! with Dena Davida

Jeff Hall performing FALLING © Anthony McLean

Last September 9 2016, I went to the opening night of the annual event Festival Quartiers Danses. Jeff Hall was a prolific and well known dancer and choreographer when he had a serious accident on stage that put an abrupt stop to his career and life style. He was told he may never walk again. He was presenting his latest creation Falling. He had continued working in dance but not as a dancer. He wanted so much to dance that he fought to regain his strength and flexibility especially with yoga. He began the show by recounting what he had experienced in his life as a dancer who underwent years of therapy until that night where he would perform his triumph over the disability that had stopped him from dancing. I was taken aback by his Spirit and the extraordinary lesson his dance had taught me about the power of the human Spirit. So I wanted to know more about the power of dance. Dena Davida, an anthropologist who wears many hats, among them art director at Tangente, agreed to be interviewed so she could share her deep understanding of dance with us. She has also graciously assisted in the editing of the article.

Choreographer : France Geoffroy
Title : Confort à retardement (2007)
Photographer : Jean-François Déziel 

LG-what is dance?

DD- The largest question that might be asked on this subject is philosophical. I am an anthropologist. That’s my research and training. The simplest possible answer is: Dance is defined by those who do it, and so recognize and name what they do as dance. That is the anthropologist’s eye view. The traditional dictionary definition of dance is unsatisfying. They always have some variations of “rhythmic movement to music” or something that is very old school and only provides partial answer to the question. So what is dance? It could have a variety of definitions depending on the point of view of the person whom you

Choreographer : France Geoffroy
Title : Confort à retardement (2007)
Photographer : Jean-François Déziel 

ask. Philosophers go as far as asking: Do bees dance? Can any kind of movement by any living thing be thought of as dance? When we say: “We are dancing,” in various societies, we might consider different genres of dance. One interesting topology of four genres of dance proposed by anthropologist Andriy Nahachewsky is about the motives for dancing: presentational (we watch others dancing), participatory (we all dance together), dancing for a higher power, and private dancing. In my thesis I made a distinction between those who dance professionally, in other words, those who create and present dance as an art form versus the kind of dancing we do that is social or recreational dancing. I am thinking here of dancing for fitness and well-being or even perhaps traditional dances which are kind of social, a way to socially solidify a community by dancing together for various reasons. Among my favorite answers to “what is dance?” is: when we move expressively, say that we are dancing, recognize that what we are doing is dancing and also understand that we dance for different reasons. Social dancing is often is often a kind of courtship for instance. Recreational dancing is often aimed at self-expression or fitness for instance. My favorite ideas about “what is dance” is that when we move expressively, I would say, I would say if

Choreographer : Marie-Hélène Bellavance
Title : S'ancrer dans la suspension (2007)
Photographer : Adrian Armanca

“we say so” we are dancing, if we recognize that we are dancing, and then we dance for different reasons. There are different reasons and motives for dancing. Social dancing is often a kind of courtship for instance. Recreational dancing is often for purely self-expression or for fitness for instance. In the field of contemporary artistic dance, in which we dance to reflect, critique and to ask questions about society, to shift and change people’s perceptions, it is a very idea driven art form for instance. We wouldn’t only dance to display beauty, to offer a pleasurable experience. We want more than that. We want dancing that

is meaningful.

LG- I would like you to tell us more about physically and mentally challenged dancers some of whom are professionals. 

DD- I worked on a doctorate dissertation in which the research question was “why do we dance in this particular way in our culture?,” in reference to Montreal contemporary dance.  One of the many ideas I nurtured, and I am quite certain of my theory right now, is that some of us are born to dance, that there is a biological imperative; in fact there are some theories that we are born as art-making creatures which Ellen Dissanayake terms homo estheticus that we are art making creatures. You might think of musicians who sit at a piano at 3 years old and produce some form of music before they can barely function in the world. I think some of us are born with a particularly acute kinesthetic sense that really allows us to be more sensitive to the movement of our bodies in space so we have the potential to become professional dancers. Of course everyone dances at some time, in some way. The idea of dedicating one’s life to dance, which I call professional dance, is something we may be born with. It’s embedded in our sensory system and it isn’t part of having two hands and two legs and all of our body parts in place or working a certain way. It is about moving oneself expressively, and that can be done with any body we have. In New York City, it is now possible to see a good number of physically challenged dancers on professional stages. There is Menka Nagrani here  in Montreal who has been working with the mentally  

Choreographer : Menka Nagrani 
Title : Le temps des marguerites à la folie ou pas du tout
Photographer : Mélanie Fordham 

challenged in a school called Les Muses for mentally handicapped artists in training. This idea of being “born to dance” means that one has the potential and that if they are nurtured and encouraged; they can and do become professional dancers. We have a community in the dance world, and particularly in classical ballet, that has been reticent to integrate anything other than the “perfect” body. 

Choreographer : Maïgwenn Desbois
Title : Six pieds sur terre (2013)
Photographer : Frédéric Chais

Working through these prejudices has taken a while. It wasn’t until 15 years ago that the Tangente dance presenting organization, for which I was co-founder and am now curator, offered to the public for the first time a duet with France Geoffroy a paraplegic dancer from Montreal and Kuldip Singh-Barmi from the Candoco Dance Company in Britain a mixed ability or integrated dance company for able bodied and handicapped dancers. My recollection of that time was that the audience was perplexed, wasn’t quite certain whether to admire or to pity. We had a long way to go in terms of looking at expressive dancing by handicapped people. But since that time we have gained a lot of ground and there are several local companies that have been presenting professional work by handicapped dancers and for many years already. Our audiences have moved forward in their thinking, and there are now university researchers thinking about, for instance, deaf and physically challenged performers who have proposed that every body, proposes a certain aesthetic because of whom and how they are. They examine: What is the aesthetic of a paraplegic dancer in a wheelchair? What can she say and do that characterize her particular way of moving in the world? Contemporary dance leaves a lot of room for individual voices. We ask people to develop an original point of view, and a physically challenged person begins with a very singular point of view because of their physical limitations and possibilities.

 •An update on the dancer France Geoffroy, she is currently collaborating with Marie-Hélène Bellavance on a research project in integrated dance called Quadriptyque. "The web platform Quadriptyque has the mission of documenting the integrated dance practice and we display video / photo from our reasearch but also artcle and historic facts." http://www.quadriptyque.com/

Here are some web sites to inform you on various programs:
Tangente
https://grandsballets.com/en/national-centre-for-dance-therapy/the-centre/  
National Centre for Dance Therapy General information:dansetherapie@grandsballets.com   514-849-8681

https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/creative-arts-therapies.html

http://www.concordia.ca/finearts/creative-arts-therapies/faculty.html?fpid=joanabbey-sack

http://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2016/10/05/research-how-the-performing-arts-can-create-more-developed-brain-pathways.html

http://www.montrealensante.com/en/dance_therapy

https://www.facebook.com/dancetherapyca/

LAST WORD meet Jess Thom

Jess Thom, an artist/super-hero! 

Last February 3rd  the Conseil des Arts de Montréal invited us to a round table conference where the cultural milieu was present to learn more about how the British Council is collaborating with Canada to assist artists with challenges to overcome. Jess Thom was the invited artist-speaker and we fell in love with this bright gifted and daring London artist. Although she battles with the neurological disorder known as Tourettes Syndrome where people have uncontrollable tics that impede regular daily activities and "normal" self-expressions, she is a stage performer. She is witty, eloquent and explosive! She gave me the keenest insight about how to deal with handicapping situations, because, as she said, we all face them sometime. The analogy concerns the dilemma of a person in a wheelchair trying to access a building without a special ramp and common attitudes that person faces:

• The Medical approach would tell the person in a wheelchair "you are handicapped, you cannot access the building."
• The Charity approach would say "let's have a fundraiser and make her walk again!"
• The Creative approach "let's build a special ramp that any handicapped person can come up on and into the building."

She introduced us to a form of theatre that is growing world wide where the shows are presented in Relaxed Performance. That is if you have a special need child that would otherwise disturb other theatre goers you will find yourself at home with families just like yours. SEE!

In this video, she is expressing how humor is part of her coping tools. However she told me she was working on a dramatic piece at this time.

For me discovering the talent and Spirit of the artists who must overcome a panoply of personal challenges has been a great source of joy and inspiration!

-LENA GHIO

NEWS / NOUVELLES 06.02.2017

GALA DYNASTIE  05.03.2017 @ OLYMPIA

Vote for the Personality of the year on Facebook until March 1, 2017 / • Votez pour la Personnalité de l'année sur Facebook jusqu'au 1er mars 2017. Photo © Lena Ghio, 2017

FRANÇAIS •

February is Black History Month with its rich programming of visual arts, ciné-causerie, theatre, music and social actions like the upcoming blood drive.

On this March 5th 2017, there will be a GALA DYNASTIE, an event celebrating the huge cultural contributions of the Black communities in all disciplines: sports, media, music and more: as part of the 375th anniversary of Montreal. Gaël Comtois and Cindy Charles will host the gala where the Hommage Dynastie Prize will be awarded to Paul Fehmiu-Brown and the Prix Hommage Philanthropie will be awarded to Vickie Joseph and Frantz Saintellemy. The doors will open at 7 PM. There will be a Black Carpet to greet the guests and six lucky winners who will get the royal treatment on that night. Find out more HERE.

• Février est le Mois de l'Histoire Noire avec sa riche programmation d'art visuel, de ciné-causerie, de théâtre, de musique et d'actions sociales comme cette collecte de sang plus haut. Ce 5 mars 2017, il y aura le GALA DYNASTIE, un événement célébrant les énormes contributions culturelles des communautés Black dans toutes les disciplines: sports, média, musique et plus: en rapport avec le 375e anniversaire de Montréal. Gaël Comtois et Cindy Charles seront les hôtes du gala où seront remis l'Hommage Dynastie Prize à Paul Fehmiu-Brown et le Prix Hommage Philanthropie ira à Vickie Joseph et Frantz Saintellemy. Les portes ouvrent dès 19h. Il y aura un Black Carpet pour acceuillir les invités et six gagnants chanceux qui recevront le traitement royal ce soir là. Pour en savoir plus ICI.

FOOD / BOUFFE
GROUPE EUROPEA

I have been talking about the delicious food prepared and served by Chef Jérôme Ferrer for many years now. No matter that you eat in one of his snack bars, food trucks, restaurant or buy from his food line products at IGA stores, EXCELLENCE is the word. NOW you can get the team for your personal or corporate events. Stephan Adam who did this type of work for Cirque du Soleil will be in charge of the department.

• Cela fait déjà plusieurs années que je vante la délicieuse bouffe préparée par  Chef Jérôme Ferrer. Qu'importe que vous mangiez dans un de ses snacks bars, camions restaurant, restaurant ou que vous achetiez de sa ligne de produits disponibles dans les magasins IGA, EXCELLENCE est le mot. MAINTENANT vous pouvez obtenir l'équipe pour vos événements personnels ou corporatifs. Stephan Adam anciennement de Cirque du Soleil will où il faisait régulièrement ce type d'activité est en charge de ce département.

UN CHEF À L'ÉRABLE 4e Édition   10.03 > 16.03.2017

Last Year / L'année passée 

Chef Laurent Godbout and his team prepare a succulent sugaring-off party menu for this urban-sugar-shack extravaganza that will occur at the Old-Port in March. RESERVE NOW!

• Chef Laurent Godbout et son équipe vous prépare une succulente expérience de cabane à sucre urbaine dans le Vieux-Port ce mois de mars. RÉSERVEZ MAINTENANT!

ART

MATHIEU LACA > 27.03.2017   

Frida Kahlo III, huile sur lin, 61cmX76cm, 2017, 1400$ + taxes

Tennessee Williams, huile sur lin, 61cmX76cm, 2017, 1400$ + taxes

The Montreal based artist is presenting his latest work at / • L'artiste basé à Montréal présente ses oeuvres récentes à:



 Usine C
1345 avenue Lalonde, Montréal, H2L 5A9. 514-521-4493
L’entrée principale de l’Usine C se trouve au 1345, av. Lalonde. Elle est bordée par les rues de la Visitation et Panet, juste au sud d’Ontario. Métro Beaudry.
Heures d’ouverture: mardi au samedi, de 12h à 18h.
L’exposition est également accessible tant que l’entrée en salle est possible lors des journées de représentations.

Entrevue Radio  Video Opening Night / Vernissage

FOR THE KIDS / POUR LES ENFANTS
ZOO ECOMUSEUM

Photos © Victoria DeMartigny, 2017

On January 31 2017, the Ecomuseum Zoo introduced its latest project the new River Otter habitat:


The Ecomuseum Zoo’s River Otter habitat is unparalleled in Canada: it combines in one place a 250,000 liter water basin, a vast terrestrial space mimicking the most beautiful shorelines of Québec, as well as sophisticated indoor quarters dedicated to veterinary care and husbandry both so important to the animals’ well-being.

“Every effort is made to provide an exceptional level of care. Here at the Ecomuseum Zoo, we make animal welfare our number one priority, and this habitat is a faithful reflection of that choice. Nothing has been neglected to ensure that the River Otters in our care have a safe, soothing and stimulating environment.” – David Rodrigue, Executive Director of the Ecomuseum Zoo.

In Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the zoo is easily accessible and offers a delightful programming for the wintwr season. The kids will love it!

• Ce 31 janvier 2017, le Zoo Ecomuseum a introduit son plus récent projet, le Nouvel habitat des Loutres de rivière:

L’habitat des loutres de rivière du Zoo Ecomuseum est le seul du genre au Canada : il regroupe en un même environnement un bassin de plus de 250 000 litres d’eau, un vaste espace terrestre imitant les plus belles berges du Québec, ainsi que de sophistiquées aires intérieures pour les soins animaliers et vétérinaires, si importants au bien-être de l’animal.

« Tout est mis en œuvre pour assurer un niveau de soins exceptionnel. Ici au Zoo Ecomuseum, nous faisons du bien-être animal notre priorité numéro un, et cet habitat en est un fidèle reflet. Rien n’a été négligé pour assurer que les loutres sous nos soins aient un environnement sécuritaire, stimulant et apaisant. » - David Rodrigue, directeur général du Zoo Ecomuseum

Situé à Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, le zoo est facilement accessible et offre une programmation tout à fait charmante. Les enfants vont adorer!

-LENA GHIO