When a last minute e-mail alerted me to a change in curtain time for the opening night of Robert Lepage’s 887, I grabbed my iPhone and called a taxi. The immigrant cabbie who arrived spoke…
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Hadani Ditmars
American Dreams, Canadian Realities: A Night at the Oscars
So then … the Oscars are guilty of being a tad too monochromatic and a chorus of notables from Spike Lee to Michael Moore are threatening to boycott the whole event. Now even Donald Trump…
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Invisible Screens And New Horizons in Palm Springs
As the Palm Springs International Film Festival wraps up and Thursday’s Oscar nominations loom, I remember the words of my old friend Paolo Consigilio. The expert Italian mask maker fused his commedia del arte style…
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Winter Solstice Rituals Break New Ground
As a Vancouverite, I have always been particularly obsessed with winter solstice. I blame this on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the fact that, in addition to our incredibly short winter days (we are at a…
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Our Huge Cultural Blindspot
Donald Trump is the bogeyman. I get it. He’s also the Grinch, Darth Vader and Hitler. In fact, he was once on an episode of the Simpsons as an imagined future president in a dystopian…
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Dark Sisters Unite from Utah to Baghdad
Watching Dark Sisters, the opera by American composer Nico Muhly inspired by breakaway polygamous Mormon cult leader Warren Jeffs, was eerily resonant. In the wake of yet another American massacre, as a nation pondered its…
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Paris Attacks: Requiem for the Nameless
As friends in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad reach out to tell me they are safe after recent attacks by Islamic State (IS), a myriad of thoughts and images run through my mind. Huge obscenities and small graces alike. I…
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Saving Vancouver from Silo Culture
A woman moves her hand in a delicate arabesque, as a Spanish guitar plays distinctive chords that can only be flamenco. A husky voiced alto sings heartfelt, serpentine melodies that express the very soul of…
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Syrian Sea Change in Election Campaign
As I walked along a Vancouver beach near my home this morning, I reflected on the extraordinary sea change in the Canadian election campaign. From the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the blue Pacific…
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Stand Up to Fear
Dictators famously lack a sense of humour. Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein – none were known for being the life of the party, or for being able to take a joke – especially about themselves…
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