Antigona: Greek tragedy merges with Spanish flamenco.| Photo courtesy of the Chan Centre.
Take out your four-leaf clovers, put on your green suit and celebrate with the Irish! There will be many Celtic-themed concerts, events and festivities happening in downtown Vancouver leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. Also happening this month, International Women’s Day and the vernal equinox, signifying the first official day of spring. So go out, catch a film, watch a play, listen to music and enjoy the outdoors. Afterwards, why not head over to your favourite pub to down some Irish ale?
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Howie Tsui: Retainers of Anarchy
Mar. 4–May 28
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery is currently hosting artist Howie Tsui’s Retainers of Anarchy, a solo exhibition examining the traditional martial arts form wuxia as a narrative tool for dissidence and resistance. Wuxia created narratives from the stories of people from lower classes upholding chivalric ideals against oppressive forces. Wuxia prospered in Hong Kong after it was censored by the People’s Republic of China for potential anti-government sentiment. For more information, visit the art gallery’s website.
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Vancouver International Women in Film Festival
Mar. 8–12
Vancity Theatre, Vancouver
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Vancity Theatre will be hosting the International Women in Film Festival for the 12th time. The festival will showcase a lineup of shorts and feature films by established and emerging female filmmakers from around the world. Films range from abstract cinema and biting satire to inspirational tales of courage and historical drama. Please visit their website for tickets and showtimes.
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From Riot to Resistance: The Origins of the Fenians in Canada
Mar. 9, 7 p.m.
SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver
The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish-American republican nationalist movement founded to undermine British rule and to promote Irish independence from the United Kingdom. On St. Patrick’s Day in 1858 in Toronto, a riot between Irish Catholics and Protestants triggered a series of events that produced a Fenian underground in Canada. History professor Dr. David Wilson will explore the origins of this particular Irish diasporic group at the Fletcher Challenge Theatre at SFU Harbour Centre. For further information, please visit the SFU website.
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The Pipeline Project
Mar. 9–18
Gateway Theatre, Richmond
This month, the Gateway Theatre in Richmond will present a provocative and comedic take on an environmental issue in The Pipeline Project by playwrights Sebastien Archibald, Kevin Loring and Quelemia Sparrow. Pipelines, peak oil, climate change and other political ecology topics are explored with humour, wit and empathy in this meta-theatrical piece. The play’s first act is an hour long, the second act features an open forum with the creators of the play and with a different invited guest expert every performance. Please visit the theatre’s website for tickets and showtimes.
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Dairakudakan
Mar. 10–11, 8 p.m.
Vancouver Playhouse
The otherworldly Japan-based butoh-theatre ensemble Dairakudakan returns to the city as part of the month-long Vancouver International Dance Festival. Butoh is a form of Japanese dance and theatre encompassing a wide range of activities and techniques in the expression of form and movement. Director Akaji Maro has advanced butoh with dramatic choreography and theatrics and will be presenting Paradise at the Vancouver Playhouse for two days on March 10 and 11. For tickets and further information, check out the VIDF website.
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CelticFest
Mar. 10–18
Various venues in Vancouver
Western Canada’s biggest annual Celtic festival happens in mid-March leading up to St. Patrick’s Day weekend. There will be plenty of Celtic themed activities for people of all ages in activities ranging from music to dance to film. In addition, there will be a Celtic Village at Robson Square on the St. Patrick’s Day weekend featuring free concerts and a street market. For a full schedule and lineup, check out their website.
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Noche Flamenca’s Antigona
Mar. 12, 7 p.m.
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, University of British Columbia
Director Martin Santangelo will present Noche Flamenca’s adaptation of Sophocles’ play Antigona at the Chan Centre on Mar. 12. Antigona tells the story of one woman’s principled defiance of authority and quest to honour her late brother with a proper burial, regardless of the consequences. Santangelo merges the Spanish dance flamenco with Greek tragedy to produce a theatrical blend of visual artistry and poetic storytelling. For tickets and further information, please visit the Chan Centre website.
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Women’s Empowerment, Leadership, and Challenges in Greater Central Asia
Mar. 13, 12–2 p.m.
C.K. Choi Building, University of British Columbia
The Institute for Asian Research will host the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada Her Excellency Shinkai Karokhail to address fostering gender equality in Greater Central Asia on Mar. 13. Karokhail will speak on the challenges, shortcomings and opportunities for implementing empowerment and leadership for women, and ensuring boys and girls have access to quality education in the region. Please visit the IAR website to RSVP and for more information.
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Ballet BC Presents: Program 2
Mar. 16–18, 8 p.m.
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver
Program 2 by Ballet BC presents four unique groups in contemporary dance honouring and celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Company 605 presents a fresh, urban approach to movement. Crystal Pite’s Solo Echo describes the balancing point between the exuberant and sometimes reckless states of our ambition and fortitude in the prime of life. Lesley Telford and Wen Wei Wang bring exceptional drive, fragility and power to their unique performances, honouring diversity, style and elegance. Please visit Ballet BC for tickets, showtimes and more information.
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Don Hutchinson’s Artist Tour: From Form to Fantasy
Mar. 19, 2–3:30 p.m.
Surrey Art Gallery
www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/21493.aspx
Examine the works of Surrey artist and potter Don Hutchinson at his exhibition, From Form to Fantasy, currently running at the Surrey Art Gallery until Mar. 19. Hutchinson has been making pottery for over 50 years and has been inspiring emerging young artists as a college instructor. On the last day of the exhibit, join Hutchinson for an exhibition tour of his various pottery and sculptural pieces of birds, animals and imaginary creatures. For more information, please visit the Surrey website.
