Cultural Olympiad at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

Vancouver 2010 - Cultural Olympiad

Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad is one of the most exciting things about living in the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Working in close partnership with the creative community, this amazing showcase of Canadian and international arts and popular culture will feature a huge variety of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, outdoor spectaculars and digital media experiences. With 600 performances over the course of 60 days, the Cultural Olympiad has something for everyone.

Get your free copy of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Program Guide while supplies last. Guides are available at the Cultural Olympiad Info Centre in the lobby of the CTV building at 750 Burrard Street, and from Bell stores, Tickets.com outlets, Tourism BC Visitor Centres, public libraries, community centres and Cultural Olympiad venues throughout Metro Vancouver and the Sea to Sky corridor.

If I could go to any and all of the performances during the 60 day event, these would be my top picks. They are listed only in order of date.

Tea, one of China's great contributions to world culture, has travelled far and evolved in many ways, but regardless of tradition, language and race, the sharing of this aromatic beverage celebrates both diversity and humanity. The World Tea Party will temporarily transform an art gallery into a teahouse and performance space, engaging a diverse array of communities in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in collective art production.

Tea parties will be presented in the Centre A gallery, in local parks and community gathering places, and online. Projects include participatory Japanese tea ceremonies organized by the Urasenke Tea Foundation, and Squamish Nation herbal tea events featuring artist and herbalist Cease Wyss. Singers, dancers and a mobile tea trolley will acknowledge the ancient Luk Luk-i campsite and recognize and involve First Nations people living in the neighbourhood today.

Lead artist Bryan Mulvihill is a veteran creator known for an inimitable style that combines the role of tea master, calligrapher and facilitator of artistic encounters. Along with Su Schnee and Daniel Dion, Mulvihill is co-originator of The World Tea Party, a seminal exploration of .relational. art launched as an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in 1993.

Discipline: Visual Arts, Digital/Film/Video , Music

Principal Artist(s): Lead Artist: Bryan Mulvihill (aka Trolley Bus), Executive Director: Hank Bull, Curator: Makiko Hara

When: 2/12/2010 to 2/ 28/2010 and 3/12/2010 to 3/21/2010, 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm., Entrance fee after 6:00 pm.

Where: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A), 2 West Hastings, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s):  2:00 pm to 6:00 pm: Free, 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm: $5 adults, $3 students. Tickets available at the door. Telephone: 604 683 8326    centrea.org

CITY AND COLOUR
With special guests The Rural Alberta Advantage

Not long ago, Dallas Green was best known for his role in the popular Juno Award-winning band Alexisonfire. Green had been writing quieter, acoustic-oriented music for years and recorded a set of personal songs using only an acoustic guitar and his dulcet voice. The solo project, titled City and Colour, found an ever-growing list of admirers, relying on word of mouth and the connective qualities of the internet.  Now City and Colour is a phenomenon all its own. The band's sophomore album, Bring Me Your Love, features Gordon Downie (The Tragically Hip) as guest vocalist, and earned Green the 2009 Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year.

With special guests The Rural Alberta Advantage. The Toronto-based indie pop trio plays songs about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, many of them inspired by formative time spent in central and northern Alberta. The group's debut album, Hometowns, earned glowing reviews from Spin magazine and the influential website Pitchfork.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): City and Colour, The Rural Alberta Advantage

When: Monday, 2/15/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre , Hamilton Street at West Georgia, Vancouver

Ticket information: All ages event, Price(s): $32.50 SOLD OUT, $37.50, $39.50 SOLD OUT

Spirit of Uganda

Invigorating the stage with that elusive thing called joy. (New York Times), Spirit of Uganda presents riveting music and dance programs for audiences of all ages. To the melodic tones of standing drums, with dramatic choreography and gorgeous call-and-response vocals, a vibrant cast of young performers - orphaned by either AIDS or civil war - bring to life the sounds and movements of East Africa and raise awareness and funds to support the displaced in their homeland.

.For those of us who have lost our parents, our elders and neighbours, who witness the daily struggle to carry on, these rhythms and patterns are a comfort, they are our teachers and tools of survival.. - Peter Kasule, Spirit of Uganda artistic director.

Discipline: Music, Dance

Principal Artist(s): Spirit of Uganda

When: Monday, 2/15/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum, Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s):  $38, $33, $28

María Pagés: Flamenco Republic

One of Spain's leading dancers and choreographers, Pagés has shaped modern flamenco largely in her own image. Her masterpiece, Flamenco Republic, opens with the most primitive and genuine rhythm - the sound of a heartbeat - and through rigour, elegance, irony and even comedy, bridges the gap between joy, passion and despair.

"Neither air nor earth are the same after María Pagés has danced." - José Saramago.

Discipline: Dance

Principal Artist(s): Compañía María Pagés

When: Tuesday, 2/16/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum, Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s) : $55, $48, $38

Place de la Francophonie 2010: Karkwa

An indie-rock sensation from Montreal, Karkwa makes feisty yet introspective music, earning favourable comparisons with Radiohead. The band burst onto the music scene in 2001, reaching the final round of the Francouvertes competition, and won four Félix Awards in Quebec for its third album, Le volume du vent, which was released in 2008 to glowing reviews across Canada and Europe.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Karkwa

When: Wednesday, 2/17/2010 at 6:00 pm

Where: Place de la Francophonie , M ain Stage, Granville Island, 1286 Cartwright Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: Free (no reservations required), all ages event.

Place de la Francophonie 2010: Porn Flakes

This Montreal classic rock group is at its best live, taking apart familiar songs - from AC/DC and Metallica to Elvis Presley and Serge Gainsbourg - and putting them back together again with a Quebec twist.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Porn Flakes

When: Wednesday, 2/17/2010 at 7:30 pm

Where: Place de la Francophonie, M ain Stage, Granville Island, 1286 Cartwright Street, Vancouver

Ticket Type: Free (no reservations required) , a ll ages event.

FEIST
With special guest Gonzales "Piano Talk Show"

Feist is pop music's new one-name wonder, a mercurial talent with best-selling solo records and a proven track record as a collaborative free agent, teaming up with Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and Wilco, among many others.

Her 2004 solo album, Let it Die, contained original songs and covers, including a rendition of the Bee Gees' 1979 No. 1 hit Love You Inside Out, and established Feist as a songwriter and innovative musical interpreter. In 2008, her album The Reminder, a million-copy seller worldwide, won a Juno as Album of the Year.

The Canadian singer-songwriter brings her emotionally charged live show to Vancouver 2010 for an Olympic homecoming: At the age of 12, she performed as an Opening Ceremony dancer for the Calgary 1988 Winter Games.

With special guest Gonzales .Piano Talk Show..

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Feist, Gonzales "Piano Talk Show"

When: Wednesday, 2/17/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum , Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: All ages event, Price(s): $37.50, $44.50, $49.50 Sold Out

Hal Willner's Neil Young Project

A host of special guest performers - Lou Reed, Ron Sexsmith, Iron and Wine and many more - and an all-star band led by members of Broken Social Scene and Joan as Police Woman will celebrate Canadian rock icon Neil Young in a concert for the ages. Visionary music producer Hal Willner presides over the proceedings with his signature off-kilter genius for curating live shows, digging deep into Young's massive catalogue to illuminate hits and obscurities alike with magical pairings of song and singer. Surprises are in store. A certain amount of mayhem is inevitable. Musical nirvana is guaranteed.

Praise for previous Hal Willner events:

.More than three hours of stunning, gripping, beautiful music, the sheer emotional force of which had me pinned to my chair for much of the show.. - Telegraph (UK)

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Featuring: Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Chris Brown, Vashti Bunyan, Robert Burger, Brendan Canning, Fred Cash, Jason Collett, Julie Doiron, Kevin Drew, Sam Goldberg, Shahzad Ismaily, Eric Mingus, Sun Kil Moon, Jenni Muldaur, Ambrosia Parsley, Justin Peroff, Ben Perowsky, Joan as Policewoman, Elizabeth Powell, Bill Priddle, Lou Reed, Alasdair Roberts, Ron Sexsmith, Teddy Thompson, James Blood Ulmer, Andrew Whiteman, Doug Wieselman

When: Thursday, 2/18/2010 at 8:00 pm, Friday, 2/19/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Hamilton Street at West Georgia, Vancouver

Ticket information: Ticket Price(s): $74.50, $67.50, $59.00

Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project

The Garinagu or Garifuna people, descendents of shipwrecked African slaves who joined Carib and Arawak communities in the Caribbean, live primarily in small towns and villages on the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project expands on the story of this fascinating community, which is struggling to retain its unique language, music and traditions in the face of globalization. It blends the rich vocal textures of women from the Garifuna communities of Central America with echoes of rock, blues, funk, African, Latin and Caribbean music, carrying listeners along on an entrancing journey into the heart and soul of a unique and inspiring culture.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): The Garifuna Collective

When: Saturday, 2/20/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price: $30, cumbancha.com

Arts Umbrella: Kinesphere

Arts Umbrella is a non-profit education centre that provides visual and performing arts programs for Vancouver children and youth, regardless of their financial circumstances. In Kinesphere, students from two programs, the Arts Umbrella Dance Company and Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach - An Arts Umbrella project, will join forces for the first time in the centre's history. The 15 dancers and 15 musicians will create a vibrant new work - and two memorable afternoons.

Discipline: Dance, Music

Principal Artist(s): Arts Umbrella Dance Company and students of Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach - An Arts Umbrella Project
Artistic directors: Artemis Gordon and Ann de la Hey
Choreographer: Shawn Hounsell
Composer: Gordon Cobb

When:
Saturday, 2/20/2010 at 2:00 pm
Sunday, 2/21/2010 at 2:00 pm

Where: Place de la Francophonie, Main Stage, Granville Island, 1286 Cartwright Street, Vancouver

Ticket Type: Free (no reservations required)

Raven Stole the Sun

Raven, a magical creature of impulse and curiosity, hatches a scheme for stealing the stars, the moon and the sun - and ends up bringing light to the people of the world. In Raven Stole the Sun, Red Sky Performance blends theatre, dance and humour to tell the family-friendly tale of a delightfully mischievous bird that plays a central role in the Aboriginal view of our natural world.

Discipline: Theatre , Dance

Principal Artist(s): Play by Drew Hayden Taylor
Based on a traditional Tlingit story as recounted by Sháa Tláa Maria Williams
Directed by Sandra Laronde
Music by Donald Quan
Starring: Carlos Rivera and Jonathan Fisher

When: Winterruption Festival, Granville Island
Saturday, 2/20/2010 at 11:00 am and 12:30 pm
Sunday, 2/21/2010 at 11:00 am and 12:30 pm

Where: Winterruption Festival, Picnic Pavillion Granville Island

Ticket Type: Free (no reservations required)

K'NAAN & Tinariwen

Some artists build up more than fan clubs - they create or define communities. That is increasingly the case with K'NAAN, a Somali-Canadian rapper, poet and musician who delivers his "urgent music with a message" in songs rooted in traditional African melodies and classic hip-hop. The self-proclaimed .visual stenographer. is a storyteller with a sharp eye for detail and an ear for the voices of the underprivileged.

Tinariwen, a collective of poet guitarists formed in the late 1970s in the south Sahara, write and perform blues-rock songs about the Tuareg people and their nomadic way of life. With beautiful melodies from Africa and the Middle East and themes ranging from the intimate and personal to the universal, the band has become the focal point of a movement and a people.

Together, this double-bill crosses generations and continents, promising an unforgettable evening of music and a flowing exchange of ideas.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): K'NAAN, Tinariwen

When: Thursday, 2/25 / 2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum, Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: All ages event. Prices:  $39, $35, $30

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys

The rollicking enduring spirit of L'Acadie fused with the swampy southern heat of Louisiana fuel the sweet folk ballads and dancehall beats of nouveau Cajun musicians Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. With their accordions and fiddles tipped to their mentors Dewey Balfa and Walter Mouton, the group has won acclaim over the past two decades for their stubborn refusal to let Cajun music die and their embrace of radical unorthodoxy.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys

Presented With: Coastal Jazz and Winterruption on Granville Island

When: Friday, 2/26/2010 at 9:00 pm

Where: Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s): $20 Adults, $18 Students/seniors, 604 872 5200

Free Performance Works Series: François Houle - La valse d'Angele/Because She Hoped: French Canadian Folk Tales

Clarinettist Francois Houle gathered a talented group of musicians, actors and writers to create this magical performance for all ages. Loosely inspired by the legends of French America, it innovatively blends storytelling and music to narrate captivating tales that will touch and amuse modern audiences. Seven musicians and an actress/storyteller, weaving French and English together, give delightful life to the project.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s):
François Houle, clarinet and vocals
Original texts by Christiane Raymond
Lyne Barnabé, narration
Marianne Trudel, piano
René Lussier, guitar and vocals
Quatuor Bozzini, string quartet

When: Saturday, 2/27/2010 at 4:30 pm

Where: Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St., Granville Island, Vancouver

Ticket Type: Free (no reservations required)

U Theatre of Taiwan: Sound of the Ocean

Taiwan's Taoist masters tell the story of .the water of life, which nourishes our souls,. This original work by U Theatre combines extraordinary drumming, martial arts, meditation, modern theatrical training and ancient Chinese opera. Gongs, drums and temple bells trace the journey of a drop of water as it falls from the sky and joins other drops in a fast running stream that flows into the vast ocean.

Discipline: Music, Theatre, Dance

Principal Artist(s): U Theatre of Taiwan
Artistic director: Liu Ruo-Yu   
Music director: Huang Chih-Chun
Set/Lighting designer: Lin Keh-Hua   
Costume designer: Tim Yip
Drum and gong stands design: Rahic Talif

When:
Friday, 3/12/2010 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, 3/13/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, 777 Homer St., Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s): $38 to $48

GOMEZ, With special guests Luke Doucet & The White Falcon

They exploded out of Merseyside, England a decade ago with an eclectic cache of psychedelic and blues-influenced music. Their reputation for delivering jaw-dropping live shows, highlighting the group's three lead vocalists and diverse influences, has been growing ever since. The band's 2009 album A New Tidemarks is a return to its more experimental roots and includes guest vocals by Amy Millan (Stars, Broken Social Scene).

With special guest Luke Doucet. Born in Halifax and raised in Manitoba, this hard-touring musical outlaw is tough to nail down. The singer-songwriter has released four acclaimed solo albums, including 2008's Blood's Too Rich, after early stints with Vancouver punk rockers Veal and Sarah McLachlan's band.

.Doucet is a terrific guitarist, as fluid and as melodic as Mark Knopfler back in the day; but he.s a proper songwriter, too..
- Nick Hornby, The New York Times

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Gomez, Luke Doucet & The White Falcon

When: Friday, 3/12/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum, Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: All ages event, Price(s): $37.50, $35.50, $32.50

The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Project

The Mississippi Sheiks, a country and blues string band, has been called the Radiohead of its era, recording over 60 hugely influential songs between 1930 and 1935. Walter Vinson and Sam Chatmon formed the core of the band, with Sam.s two brothers, Lonnie and Armenter .Bo Carter. Chatmon, dropping in when they were in town. The group had a blockbuster hit with Sittin' On Top of the World, which has since been covered by Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Cream and dozens of others.

The Sheiks practically invented the string band concept in blues and roots music, but when the group disbanded, the Chatmon brothers returned to farming. Bo Carter, for one, died blind and destitute in 1964.

Musician and producer Steve Dawson is leading the charge to reintroduce the Mississippi Sheiks to contemporary audiences. In 2009, the Juno Award-winning producer released Things About Comin' My Way, a tribute album with recordings by 17 world-renowned artists, many of whom will play live at this world premiere.

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Steve Dawson, Oh Susanna!, John Hammond, Jim Byrnes, The Sojourners, Geoff Muldaur, Daniel Lapp, Danny Barnes, Van Dyke Parks, Matt Chamberlain, Wayne  Horvitz, Keith Lowe, Alvin Youngblood Hart , Bob Brozman , Dave Alvin, Colin James

When:

Saturday, 3/13/2010 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, 3/14/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: Capilano University Performing Arts Theatre, 2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s): $50, $47, 604 990 7810, capilanou.ca/theatre

Rain is about the magic of nostalgia - moments snatched from time and forever frozen. Combining acrobatic feats with physical poetry, Montreal's Cirque Éloize brings the wonder of childhood to vivid life in this amazing circus arts performance. Full of hope, joy and sweet longing, Rain reminds us that not only rain falls from the sky - signs, promises and unexpected surprises pour down as well.  

Cirque Éloize has been creating magical performances since 1993. The company expresses its innovative nature through theatricality and humanity, combining circus arts with music, dance and theatre.  

Discipline: Circus

Principal Artist(s): Cirque Éloize, Author and director: , Daniele Finzi Pasca, Creative producer:  Julie Hamelin, Artistic director: Jeannot Painchaud, Executive producers:
Jean-Jacques Cesbron, Julie Hamelin

When:
Thursday, 3/18/2010 at 8:00 pm
Friday, 3/19/2010 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, 3/20/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Centre for the Performing Arts, 777 Homer Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: Price(s): $35 to $60, 604 280 3311

Vintage rhythm and blues by potent young artists. India.Arie's Grammy-winning R & B, which recalls such soul masters as Roberta Flack and Stevie Wonder, makes "faith, goodness and positive thinking seductive," according to The New York Times. Raphael Saadiq is a throwback, a retro-soul practitioner who has mined a rich vein of old-school R & B and Motown cool since his days with 80s hit-makers Tony! Toni! Toné!

Discipline: Music

Principal Artist(s): Raphael Saadiq, India.Arie

When: Saturday, 3/20/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: The Orpheum, Smithe Street at Seymour Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: All ages event, Price(s): $42.50, $47.50, $49.50

Fourteen extraordinary women from all across Canada, with no previous acting experience, share stories about life after 45 in this thought-provoking play by award-winning Canadian playwright Judith Thompson. The cast, who auditioned by writing a letter to their bodies, share their personal stories of triumphs, tragedies and life's funny moments, while challenging the audience to look beneath the surface of how society views beauty, aging and women in their second act in life.

Discipline: Theatre

Principal Artist(s): Director: Judith Thompson

Cast and Contributors: Joanna Anaquod, Jeannine Boucher, Polly (Ramkissoon) Clarke, Lois Fine, Francine Robert-Grainger, Glenda Klassen, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Barbara Nichol, Pauline Patten, Ruth Rakoff, Gloria Schmed-Scott, Judy Wark, Rhonda Tepper, Ann Marie Hasley

When:
Thursday, 3/11/2010 at 8:00 pm
Friday, 3/12/2010 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, 3/13/20101 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, 3/14/2010 at 8:00 pm

Tuesday, 3/16/2010 at 8:00 pm
Wednesday, 3/17/2010 at 8:00 pm

Where: Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova Street, Vancouver

Ticket information: firehallartscentre.ca, Price(s): $33 advance seating, $31 at the door

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