Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration. | Photo by Rolline Laporte
With spring arriving in B.C. on March 20, a vibrant array of cultural experiences begins to unfold. From stimulating conversations to mesmerizing performances, this season encourages us to explore fresh viewpoints and savour artistic treasures. Whether you are captivated by the rhythm of dance, the emotion of music or the allure of theatre, there’s something for everyone. As the days stretch longer and excitement fills the air, why not take the opportunity to dive into the exciting events that await you?
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Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration
March 20–23
Inspired by the aerial choreography of birds, Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration transposes the swoops, swirls and configurations of mass flight to the ice. To fully embody this phenomenon, Le Patin Libre sought out the world’s most highly skilled skaters through a series of international auditions. Complex algorithms, infused and emboldened with meticulous choreography, become an aeriform ballet, embedded with risk, but mesmerizing in its beauty and razored precision. As the performers mimic the movements of creatures fully in sync, the line between individuals and the collective blurs, then disappears. This group of virtuoso performers becomes a living plurality, moving together with instinctual ease – the very incarnation of grouped flight and epic grace.
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UNIVERSUS
March 21–22, 8 p.m.
Worlds are born and worlds collide in this double-bill of new work. Internationally celebrated choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan and Belle Spirale directors Alexis Fletcher and Sylvain Senez reach for questions of cosmic significance: is connection to earth achievable on a chaotically changing planet? Will human resilience be enough for our uncertain future? Brought to life by a company of eight powerful dancers, choreography, spoken word and technical design interweave on an adventurous, interdisciplinary journey into purpose, creation and our place among the stars.
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Home Deliveries
March 21–April 13
www.unitedplayers.com/deliveries
Playwright Catherine Léger’s play Home Deliveries will be put on by the United Players of Vancouver at the Jericho Arts Centre from March 21 to April 13. Violette is on mat leave. Florence is on sick leave. Both of them are moms, tied to their young children by invisible wires of steel… while their spouses barely notice they’re alive. One day these two bored, abandoned and dissatisfied women join forces to fight back in the most hilarious way possible: by going on a mission to seduce a string of lovers… all without walking out the front door. Check out the website for tickets and more information.
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Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
March 26–April 28
For centuries, the cherry blossom has been a source of inspiration for poets, visual artists and performers worldwide. The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival has grown this artistic tradition over the past two decades by inviting local and international talent to engage with the blossoms through music, dance, theatre, film, visual and digital arts, poetry, photography and cuisine. Visit the festival website for more information.
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Behind the Moon
March 27–April 6
In a Mughlai restaurant in Toronto, Ayub cooks and cleans. When a mysterious cab driver walks in one night and shatters his peace, Ayub must face reality, the family he’s left behind and the dreams he’s abandoned, all while keeping the restaurant clean to a mirror shine. From award-winning playwright and novelist Anosh Irani, Behind the Moon is an achingly beautiful story of love and loss, freedom and faith, the meaning of brotherhood and how we begin a new life. For tickets and more information, please check out the theatre’s website.
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Burning Mom
March 27–April 20
The Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Burning Mom is coming to the Granville Island Stage. Written and directed by Mieko Ouchi, Burning Mom is an inspiring comedy, and 99 per cent true story, about not delaying your aspirations. After suddenly losing her husband, Dorothy makes an unusual decision that shocks her family. She decides to take their RV on a road trip no one sees coming: from Calgary to Burning Man, in Nevada. After all, it’s only a 21-hour drive to a weeklong culture festival and party with no plumbing in the middle of a desert – how hard can it be? Burning Mom is a stirring odyssey of self-discovery and tale of how art, everlasting roads and human connection propel her along the way.
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Dmitry Ablogin in Concert
March 29, 7:30 p.m.
www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/dmitry-ablogin-in-concert
Dmitry Ablogin is regarded as one of the most brilliant and creative keyboard artists of his generation. His marked interest in historical pianos led him to Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, where he studied fortepiano and historically informed performance with Jesper Bøje Christensen. In 2021, he received the German Piano Award. This programme pairs Beethoven’s masterful Six Bagatelles with Mendelssohn’s E Major Sonata, his homage to Beethoven. John Field, the first composer to coin the phrase “Nocturne,” later taken to new heights by Chopin, and Hummel’s virtuosic music, with foreshadowing of Chopin, rounds out what will surely be a memorable performance. Check out the Early Music website for more information.
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Honouring Our Grandmothers Healing Journey
March 30–April 17
The Vancouver Maritime Museum will be hosting a community chest in collaboration with Honouring Our Grandmothers Healing Journey. Arriving on Sunday, March 30 by canoe, the chest will be carried from the beach and displayed in the museum for visitors to see. Honouring Our Grandmothers Healing Journey is a movement that brings together generations of Indigenous people with other nationalities along the pacific northwest that focuses on the Fraser and Thompson river watersheds with its mountains, salmon and ocean. The heart of this journey are the stories told by the thirteen Indigenous artists who, through the visual artwork they place on their cedar bentwood traveling message chests, share their relationships with their grandmothers, families, nations, ancestors and Mother Earth.
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Third Worldism and its Discontents with Cindy Ewing
April 3, 3–5 p.m.
https://sppga.ubc.ca/events/event/third-worldism-and-its-discontents
This talk, titled Third Worldism and Its Discontents: The Asian Relations Conferences of 1947 and 1949, explores the circulation of postcolonial ideas in Asia during the early postwar era through the Asian Relations Conferences of 1947 and 1949. Under the auspices of the Indian Council of World Affairs, the Asian Relations Conferences held in New Delhi became a site of transnational connection and anti-colonial critique, contributing to an emerging articulation of Third World possibility beyond an imperial frame. In both conferences, delegations celebrated political independence, discussed issues of economic development, education and women’s rights, and also called for greater closeness among Asian peoples. However, the conferences also revealed different theories of anti-colonial struggle at work in the Third World. In particular, the Burmese, Vietnamese and Indonesian delegations to the conferences challenged the globalist vision promoted by Indian leaders, highlighting the promises and tensions of inter-Asian connections and Afro-Asian internationalism often traced to the post-1945 era.
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Vancouver Comic and Toy Show
April 5–6
Featuring many large tables of high end pop culture collectibles and many different types of talented fan art on display, the Vancouver Comic and Toy Show has steadily grown over the past decade to become one of the largest independently run shows of its kind on the planet. The show also features professional Star Wars cosplay groups along with industry talent such as comic book and film artists and writers, and a little bit of everything in between – including a selection of food trucks and the Forum Cafe. The Vancouver Comic and Toy Show is sure to be an action packed weekend of fun for everyone!
