Canada’s top ballet companies, international cutting-edge theatre troupes, jazz acts and contemporary artists among 35 new projects joining Cultural Olympiad 2010

Vancouver, BC – The inspiring story of Rick Hansen, whose Man In Motion World Tour is legendary, will take audiences back to the beginning of this remarkable man’s story and make its world premiere as a multi-media stage production — just one of 35 new projects announced today as part of Cultural Olympiad 2010, presented by Bell.

Hailing from Canada and around the world, the new projects, from cutting-edge contemporary works to ancient traditions with a bold new twist, are part of the third and final edition of the Cultural Olympiad festivals. The first 20 projects were announced earlier this spring and many shows have tickets on sale now at www.vancouver2010.com/culturalolympiad.

The extensive program, which starts on January 22, 2010 and runs throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to March 21, 2010 will include more than 600 ticketed and free performances and exhibitions in 50 venues in Metro Vancouver and British Columbia’s Sea to Sky corridor.

Audiences are in for a treat. The works run the gamut from Canadian greats, such as The National Ballet of Canada and Royal Winnipeg Ballet performing on the same stage for the first time in two decades in a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime Olympic gala, to Ahke Theatre, the darlings of the Russian avant-garde arts scene who will bring their darkly comic White Cabin to Canada for the first time.

“These latest projects demonstrate the full range of what the Cultural Olympiad has to offer,” said David Guscott, executive vice president, celebrations and partnerships for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).  “This fall, we’ll announce the remainder of the program, which is presented with the support of the Government of Canada, the home provinces and territories of the performers, as well as arts organizations and festivals large and small.”

Other highlights include a new stage production called Spine from British Columbia’s Realwheels, the deliciously cheesy trio The Lost Fingers from Quebec and a theatrical picture story pitting a modern-day Métis journalist against a famed photographer of Aboriginal peoples in The Edward Curtis Project. The program also includes an exhibit of 12 Canadian and international artists exploring new ways of understanding culture in the 21st century as part of the grand reopening of the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology.

“For the last three years, our team has scoured stages, concert halls and galleries here at home and internationally for the most exciting established and emerging artists to showcase here in 2010,” explained Burke Taylor, VANOC’s vice-president, culture and celebrations. “The theatre troupes, dance companies, artists and musicians we’re bringing here in seven months stand out because they offer something different, stretching beyond the traditions and boundaries of their discipline to create something entirely new.”

“These projects will inspire audiences and challenge their perceptions of what constitutes classical music, what age means, or even what love is, and we’re excited to share them with you,” he added.

The 35 projects, featuring dancers, musicians, playwrights, new media and visual artists are:

Rick: The Rick Hansen Story
The inspiring story of Rick Hansen, whose Man In Motion World Tour changed the lives of millions, makes its world premiere in a multimedia production from playwright Dennis Foon. Presented with Manitoba Theatre for Young People in partnership with Rotary Okanagan International Children’s Festival and the Rick Hansen Foundation. Commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development.

Dance Canada Dance
Take two of Canada’s finest ballet companies and create a once-in-a-lifetime Olympic gala. Presented with The National Ballet of Canada and Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

White Cabin
A surreal and darkly comic work from Russia’s Akhe Theatre, White Cabin is filled with absurd and often touching “events.” The result is a chaotic variety show of fantastic images. Presented with the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. 

Spine
While travelling the online universe, inhabiting various virtual realities and identities, a man discovers the intriguing possibility of reinventing his physical body through cutting-edge technologies and ethically questionable experiments. A Realwheels Society/University of Alberta co-production presented with Simon Fraser University. Co-commissioned by Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. 

The Lost Fingers
This acoustic trio from Quebec City plays the pop hits of the ’80s in a swinging gypsy jazz style inspired by their musical hero, legendary ‘30s guitarist Django Reinhardt. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society and Winterruption on Granville Island. 

The Edward Curtis Project
A theatrical picture story that creates an unlikely dialogue between a controversial photographer of Aboriginal peoples in North America and a modern-day Métis journalist. Presented with Presentation House Theatre and commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development.

Boundary and Translation: New Art Across Cultures
From video installations to traditional community-based art practices, this exhibition of international contemporary art explores new and unexpected ways of understanding culture and its translations in the 21st century. Presented with the UBC Museum of Anthropology. 

Adrian Anantawan with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
At age 24, violinist Adrian Anantawan has become one of Canada’s most sought-after young violinists. His extraordinary musicianship has been rewarded with invitations to join the finest orchestras all over the world. Presented with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

An Invitation to an Infiltration
Reflecting on the nature of competitions, An Invitation to an Infiltration makes explicit the rivalry inherent to group exhibitions, showing how it can be a productive state of engagement. Presented with Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery.

Anthony Braxton 12+1 Tet
With his extraordinary 12-piece ensemble, revolutionary American jazz composer Anthony Braxton moves freely between compositions and improvisations, solos and ensemble playing, weaving musical textures full of magic and passionate sparks. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society. 

Anthony Braxton’s Sonic Genome Project
An interactive spectacle by musical visionary Anthony Braxton featuring more than 60 instrumentalists, including international improvisers and local high school students, exploring the sonic universe over eight hours through ensembles that break apart and reform like human cells or societies. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society. 

At Nightfall
Auguste, a shoemaker, discovers a magical water forest in this visually breathtaking dance performance for families by Sursaut Dance Company/Sursaut compagnie de danse. Presented with Surrey Arts Centre and Centennial Theatre. 

BASH’d – A Gay Rap Opera
Irreverent rapping troubadours Feminem and T-Bag tell the tale of star-crossed lovers Jack and Dillon in this “Romeo meets Romeo” tale of revenge gone wrong, by Edmonton-based playwrights and performers Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow. Presented with The Cultch. 

Best Before
Using 200 wireless joysticks connected to one giant screen, the audience will create its own unique virtual city with Germany’s Rimini Protokoll. No two cities/performances will be alike. Presented with The Cultch and PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development. 

Body & Soul
Fourteen extraordinary women from all across Canada, who auditioned by writing a letter to their bodies, share stories about life after 45 in this thought-provoking play by award-winning Canadian playwright Judith Thompson.

China
Part social documentary, part personal observation, photographer-storyteller William Yang’s China is an unforgettable journey of reflection on the meaning of culture and belonging. Presented with the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and Theatre at UBC. 

CrystalMagnets
Longtime friends and musical explorers Andy Milne (Canada) and Benoît Delbecq (France) reunite to perform Crystal Magnets, their sublime new jazz project for two acoustic pianos. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society and Winterruption on Granville Island. 

Dance Marathon
Amateurs, bring your dancing shoes and enter this endurance contest/staged performance event where you’ll go head-to-head with the dancing pros of bluemouth inc. and celebrities to see who can outwit, outlast and out-dance the competition. Presented with Boca del Lupo, a Harbourfront Centre commission. 

DBR with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Reminiscent of Lenny Kravitz, Daniel Bernard Roumain, or DBR, does for amplified violin what Jimi Hendrix did for the electric guitar with his rock and hip hop arrangements of classical music. Presented with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

The Drowning Girls
Opening with a splash, three breathless brides emerge gasping from watery graves — their bathtubs — to relive the tale of serial Edwardian bigamist and murderer George Joseph Smith and how he literally “took their breath away.” Presented with Gateway Theatre/A Bent Out of Shape production. 

The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan
The ghost of the infamous Spanish seducer Don Juan comes back from hell to harangue the audience in the name of cosmic love. Is he a sinner or a saint? With puppets! Presented with Alberta’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. 

FlorenceK
Quebec-born jazz-pop chanteuse and pianist Florence K dazzles the audience with her vocal and songwriting abilities in many languages, including French, English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society and Winterruption on Granville Island. 

High Performance: Evolution and Innovation in Canadian Design
Featuring the work of Canadian designers from across the country, this exhibition focuses on products for work and play inspired by our environment and lifestyle. Presented with Charles H. Scott Gallery.

KAMP
In KAMP, Dutch theatre company Hotel Modern blends theatre, puppetry and film in an attempt to imagine the unimaginable: the greatest mass murder in history, committed in the purpose-built camp of Auschwitz. Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. 

Monster
Nightmare landscapes on acrylic, child-like drawings of ghost figures and beautiful carvings of mythological spirits are part of Monster, an exhibition exploring monstrous sensibilities in contemporary culture. Be afraid. Presented with West Vancouver Museum. 

The Passion of Joan of Arc
Vancouver’s innovative Eye of Newt Ensemble perform a newly commissioned score to accompany Carl Dreyer’s 1928 silent film masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, France’s most famous martyr. Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. 

Poetics: a ballet brut
This is do-it-yourself theatre at its most mischievous by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma. Common gestures and movements are taken to hilarious new heights unhampered by the performers’ complete lack of formal dance training. Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

Quilt of Belonging
Appliquéd butterfly wings, beaded silk, African mud cloth and Salish weaving are a few of the materials and techniques used to make this 36-metre tapestry a masterpiece of textile artistry. Presented with Surrey Art Gallery. 

Son of Chamber Symphony
One night, three intimate chamber symphonies, including Canadian and world premiere performances, played by Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble. The pieces include challenging harmonic works by composers Arnold Schoenberg of Austria, American John Adams and Vancouver-born John Oliver. Mr. Oliver’s composition commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development. 

Sound of the Ocean
U Theatre, Taiwan’s Tao masters of martial arts and percussion, enchant audiences worldwide with a mesmerizing feast of music and movement that traces a drop of water on its journey from the sky to the vast ocean. Presented with the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association. 

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. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society and Winterruption on Granville Island. 

TAO
TAO’s performance isn’t just another Japanese taiko show. It’s an explosive experience with overwhelming power that stimulates the senses through its pounding drum beats. It’s energetic, muscular, artistic, alluring and spectacular! Presented with Global Arts Concerts. 

Tono
Thundering hooves and shamanic visions are conjured by dynamic percussion and the haunting lilt of the morin khuur as leaping dancers take centre stage in Tono. An original production by Red Sky Performance. 

Underneath the Lintel
An uptight Dutch librarian takes off on a globe-trotting pursuit of the anonymous person who audaciously drops an overdue library book into his return slot — 113 years late! Presented with Chutzpah! The Lisa Nemetz International Showcase of Jewish Performing Arts and The Cultch. 

La valse d’Angèle/Because She Hoped: French Canadian Folk Tales
Traditional French-Canadian folk songs, dancing and storytelling fondly revisited and magnificently transformed for the 21st century by a hand-picked ensemble of Canada’s leading creative musicians under the direction of François Houle. Presented with the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society and Winterruption on Granville Island. 

The full slate of Cultural Olympiad 2010 events, along with ticket information, will be available online at www.vancouver2010.com/culturalolympiad as soon as events are announced. 

Background

About the Cultural Olympiad
The Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, presented by Bell, is a series of multidisciplinary festivals and digital programs showcasing the best in Canadian and international arts and popular culture. Launched in 2008, the program culminates in the 60-day Cultural Olympiad 2010 (January 22 to March 21, 2010), which begins before and continues throughout the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 

Partnerships

Bell
Bell is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and the presenting sponsor for the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers and business with solutions to all their communications needs, including Bell Home phone local and long distance services, Bell Mobility and Solo Mobile wireless, high-speed Bell Internet, Bell TV direct-to-home satellite and VDSL television, IP-broadband services and information and communications technology (ICT) services. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). For information on Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca. For corporate information on BCE, please visit www.bce.ca. 

Government
The Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad is grateful for the support of the Government of Canada and the governments of all of Canada’s provinces and territories and their respective cultural agencies: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon. In addition to the Cultural Olympiad’s government and corporate partners, CODE is proudly supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board of Canada. New Media BC and Wavefront Innovation Society are also both active participants in the project. The National Presentation and Touring Program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Arts Partners in Creative Development
Arts Partners in Creative Development (APCD) is a strategic investment partnership to assist BC arts and cultural organizations create and develop new works or further develop existing works, with the intent of producing, presenting or exhibiting them at the highest standard. Organizations can apply for funding to create, commission and develop original work in the performing, visual, media or literary arts. With an initial investment of $6.5 million over three years, APCD facilitates the creation and development of new work to showcase both locally and worldwide. APCD funding partners include VANOC, the Province of British Columbia, 2010 Legacies Now, the City of Vancouver, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Vancouver Foundation.

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Contact
If you are a member of the media, please contact mediarelations@vancouver2010.com
For all other inquiries, please contact info@vancouver2010.com