Why I left Vancouver....

This is what they came up with for the "Cultural Olympiad" to coincide with the Olympics
(courtesy of the Globe and Mail) :

"A forest walk featuring sculpture and trombone music, a huge screen projecting cutting-edge videos and films by some of the world’s best visual artists, and DJs spinning electronic music into the early morning hours will aim to turn the city of Vancouver into a giant cultural installation during the 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced a number of new acts and programs on Monday for the upcoming Cultural Olympiad, which will run during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

One of the highlights is certain to be a tribute to Canadian icon Neil Young, brought together by American music producer Hal Willner. Broken Social Scene, Ron Sexsmith, Joan as Policewoman and Iron and Wine will take part.

Other musical acts announced on Monday include Steve Earle (with Joel Plaskett opening); the Hilario Duran Latin Jazz Band performing with Jane Bunnett; and a double bill of Somali-born Toronto rapper K’Naan and Tinariwen, a collective of poet-guitarists from the south Saharan.

The Spirit of Uganda, a company of 22 young artists orphaned by AIDS or civil war, will perform in Canada for the first time. And Spain’s Maria Pagés will unveil Flamenco Republic at the Orpheum theatre.

A large screen will be set up outside the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Robson side to project video and film work by various artists.

In Metcalfe/Lewis: Ikons, Vancouver sculptor Eric Metcalfe will provide the visuals and New York-based trombonist George Lewis the audio for what’s promised to be a forest walk like no other. The forest and music are meant to respond to the actions of the people taking part.

Toronto-based sculptor Ed Pien will use fanciful creatures pulled from Chinese and Inuit mythology to create a maze-like installation.

Other cultural organizations participating include the National Arts Centre with a show called Made in Canada; Taiwan’s Chai Found Music Workshop; and Daniel Janke’s Whitehorse-based ensemble will play a live score for a series of short films, including vignettes from the animated classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Alice and Other Heroes.

The Cultural Olympiad will run from January 22 to March 21. The program will include more than 600 performances and exhibitions in Metro Vancouver and the Sea to Sky corridor.

For a full list of projects announced to date and to purchase tickets, visit www.vancouver2010.com/culturalolympiad ."

Um yeah....

Okay...let's play their game:

Soula P. (soprano) and Ben S.(tenor) , along with Pantelis the Pug and a host of invented animal puppets create an improvised children's opera that draws freely on Plato's Republic, the Talmud, Joni Mitchell and First Nations Imagery to create an intriguing soundscape that is at once new and rooted in ancient traditions. Drawing on the extensive history of madness in both of their families, Soula and Ben channel primordial emotions and project these "sound memories" using their own "classically" trained voices, but also augmented by the "other" voices of "found" characters.

Pantelis - a pug - is the mirror. He responds to the work and in the process adds a spontaneous dimension to the work, giving it freshness and at the same time depth.

Reviews:

"A highly compelling, if unusual piece. Perhaps there would have been more order if some German artists were involved" - Cottbus Review of Art & Performance (CRAP)
"I have not seen something so shattering in Dresden since the Allies blew up my house" - Dresden Review: Arts Tagespiegel (DRAT)
"The contrast of Parassidis' luscious soprano with the pug's haunting cries was, in a word, spellbinding. The U-Bahn setting added a nice echo..." - Schwerin/Halle Inter-Arts Today (SHIAT)
"Really, the apogee of improvised post-modern children's opera. A triumph of the genre."
- Weimar Art News Kultur (WANK)