Dance Gathering
“A dance gathering?” you ask. Yes, that is exactly what it is: people gathering together to dance. I attended the Yukon’s first dance gathering on […]
The return of jazz dance
Kimberley Cooper retraced the rise and descent of North American jazz dance: It is primarily a folk dance mixed by African slaves and the Europeans
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From dress rehearsal to final performance
Jerome recounts his experiences with The Soul Menders, highlighting the transformation from rehearsal to performance.
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Play makers: Get your craft on
Hockey players can craft, too. That is the message from Arlin McFarlane, artistic director for Yukon Educational Theatre’s Inzanity Wing, the backbone behind this year’s
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‘Jill’ of the Dance
What makes dance such a passion for some that, despite the journeys of life and the different roads taken, it remains in the heart of
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Queer Coffee is a community saying hello
I don’t know what I was looking for when I walked into Baked Café for the Queer Coffee, advertised on ArtsNet. I knew I was
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The stories behind Nutcracker
As audience members at the Yukon Arts Centre allow the Christmas tradition of Nutcracker to wash over them – joined, for the first time, by
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A Contemporary Aboriginal-Dance Passion
I have known Andrameda Hunter since she was a youngster, but when I recently met her for coffee, I was immediately taken by her radiant
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Whose life is it anyway?
Finders, keepers. Right? Well, adults will likely respond with, “It depends.” OK. This is something that was obviously discarded … but it was seven meticulously
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A rollicking story of Cape Breton
Sheldon Currie wrote a short story about a family in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, that echoed his message in the acclaimed Margaret’s Museum. Lauchie, Liza
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Claire Ness Camps it Up in New Solo Show
I confess: as a child I was terrified of clowns. Met with the combination of red nose, garish wig and oversized shoes, I would silently
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Gallant Talent
At 17, Calvin Laveck is a remarkable singer, dancer and musician. All these gifts, however, have not gone to his head, and his attitude is
Just a big wacky musical about corruption
”It’s a huge show,” Todd Duckworth the director tells me. Twenty people in the cast, four in the band. “When you see 20 people stretched
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The Many Worlds; and Faces; of Charles Ross
He’s a hobbit and an Ewok, Princess Leia and Gandalf — plus about 80 other denizens of deep space and Middle Earth. In a more
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Can Can Becky
You’ve seen her photo in countless tourist brochures and flyers as the saucy cancan dancer. You know her as a dance teacher, but Rebecca (Becky)
Walker’s Laramie Project shows the triumph of community
Clinton Walker, the director brought up from Toronto for The Laramie Project, has made me chili. Little triangles of toasted bread sit next to the
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Nakai’s “Buffet of Theatre”
The Nakai Theatre is revving up for its biannual Homegrown Theatre, a self-described fringe-type series of performances geared toward randomness, the unique, and getting theatre
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The 3rd annual Pivot Festival: Floating, swimming, flying
The Pivot Festival is upon us — and with it comes a huge ton of theatre. You have six shows you can see at multiple
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Giant Rat finally treated as honoured citizen (psst … go see this musical)
Everyone loves a “lovable rogue”. In the Guild Society’s musical comedy, The Man From the Capital, you get 20 rogues to pick from. The plot
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Don Juan has come to save us
“Don Juan? I love Don Juan,” said my fiancée when I asked her if she wanted to see The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan at
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Youth Empowered Through Dance
ith an eye to creating a national community of breakdancers and urban artists, Sami Elkout is in Whitehorse to organize Cypher for Change. “It’s like
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Playwrights Present at the 24-Hour Cabaret
Earlier this month, 25 playwrights spent 24 hours at the Edgewater Hotel in Whitehorse trying to write plays for Nakai Theatre’s 25th 24-hour Playwriting Competition
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Comedy Explores How the Locking of Lips Can Lead to Swapping of Souls
A swapping of souls complicates what could be the simplest thing we know. “Love,” says director Clinton Walker, “it’s a simple concept.” The play Prelude
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Beloved Nutcracker Ballet draws audience into the seats … and onto the stage
There is no surer sign of the holiday season than the annual staging of The Nutcracker. The Northern Lights School of Dance is presenting the
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Finally, the Slipper Fits
Has it been a year already? It seems like only a few weeks ago the dancers at Northern Lights School of Dance (NLSD) were filling
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The Men Behind The Boys
The Guild will open its season this week with the Canadian premiere of The Boys, written by Kris Elgstrand. Elgstrand and Brad Dryborough, the play’s
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Aboriginal plays featured in Gwaandak’s Summer Reading Series
Gwaandak Theatre is putting on a reading series this summer featuring three plays written by First Nations playwrights, borrowing the skills of some local First
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Epstein leaves, stage right
Eric Epstein and I are sitting in the black box — the creative centre of the Guild Theatre — the room that can become anything,
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The brutal, relentless comedy of The Boys
The Quickie: The Boys is not a feel-good drama, an easy date night play, or a relaxing evening. However, it is outstanding acting and thought-provoking
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A Play in 24 Hours
If you ask Whitehorse resident Justine Davidson if the $50 fee to participate in Nakai Theatre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Competition is worth it, you’ll most
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Gay community sees hope in The Laramie
Then I was at the Big Band Dessert and Dance Saturday night, I saw a handsome man across the crowded room. Fat chance that I
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Laramie Project delivers stunning ensemble work
I gave Justine Davidson, the theatre reviewer for the Whitehorse Star, a long hug at the end of The Laramie Project, the Guild Society/GALA play.
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On His Own, With Lots of Company
Raoul Bhaneja is his own uncle. Which means he’s also his own stepfather. Not to mention his mother, his sort-of girlfriend, the ghost of his
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Dancer Has Found Her Home
The’s a dancer, she’s a teacher, she’s a choreographer, actor, singer and performance artist. She is dancing all over this town. At the age of
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Artistic transitions: McCallum enters, stage left
Katherine McCallum is sitting on the couches of the Guild Hall, the place the audience gathers before a show begins, that place of anticipation. She’s
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Healing and Hope
What is the nature of faith, and what is the nature of duty in wartime? Those are two of the profound questions at the heart
A Memorable Friendship
It happened on the dance floor November 1, 1985. “I don’t want to spoil the story of how we met,” Brooke Johnson says of her
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Turning Hollywood Upside Down
It’s 6:05 on a Sunday morning, and she has a play opening in only six days. So why is Sarah Rodgers sitting in the airport
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Breaking Out
Two days after Ju Hyun Seo got married last November, he flew to the Yukon to teach breakdancing for a month at Leaping Feats Creative
Fragments of Belonging
What is it like to hear your own story told in your own words by a total stranger? Several Whitehorse residents will find out next
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Let’s Get Physical
You don’t need to be an actor, a dancer, or an acrobat to take part in physical theatre workshops with nationally acclaimed theatre creator, Ker
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New Crew
An energetic new dance group will make its debut this weekend in an unusual locale. Instead of a formal stage or a black-box theatre, the
Seriously Hilarious
Margaret Thatcher. Genocide. Venereal disease. Personal betrayal. These are not the standard fare of romantic comedy. But in the deft hands of Whitehorse playwright Peter
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Stepping Out
For most students, summer school may be a drag. For Odessa Beatty and Sadie Segriff, though, it’s a golden opportunity. Beatty and Segriff [shown on
Noh Comes to Town
Whitehorse rare opportunity to experience Noh Theatre, a form of classical Japanese theatre that dates back almost 700 years.
Homegrown and Growing
Zombies, controversial dogs, Death and an apocalypse. All this and more will appear at the Guild Hall next week—and it’s partly David Skelton’s fault. As
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Victorian-era Monty Python
Kindhearted pirates, timorous policemen, pretty maidens, star-crossed lovers and a thoroughly modern Major-General. All these are onstage this week at Wood Street School as the
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Orderly Chaos
”Hello, everybody. Welcome to mayhem and madness.” It’s precisely 7 pm and Anton Solomon is just kicking off a rehearsal for the Moving Parts Theatre
Musical Sorts Out the Craziness of Craigslist
Inheriting her grandmother’s hymn-book — stuffed with press clippings, flowers and a nuclear disarmament card from the 1960s — took Veda Hille on a journey
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Venality vs Purity in Tinseltown
The strength of most plays by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet lies in his characters, the moral murk in which they often exist and, above all,
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Ballet With Brawn
You may not immediately think of strength, endurance and muscled male torsos when you think of ballet, but all of that will change if Northern
A Different Face of Mamet
In graduate school, Stephen Drover “dabbled” with the work of American playwright David Mamet, but he had never directed a full Mamet play. So when
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Honest Talk Cafe
How can one person transform herself into many people? How can one location turn into several without changing a thing? Go and see Café Daughter and you’ll
Getting the Message
Editor’s Note: Amber Church’s assignment was to gather some impressions of Yukon Educational Theatre’s latest production from a few young audience members who saw it
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Wit and Film Noir
When Betty Beemer needs a health pamphlet written, she turns to Vaughn Fischer, a freelancer whose career is going nowhere. But Vaughn quickly becomes obsessed
Wolves, Words & French Press
Not everyone who enters Nakai Theatre‘s 24-hour playwriting competition is as prolific as Eva van Loon. Some writers manage to eke out nine pages or
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Stories you’ve never heard, brilliantly told
I went Saturday night to The River, a Nakai production, with Michael Greyeyes directing a play written by David Skelton, Judith Rudakoff and Joseph Tisiga.
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Voice for the Voiceless
Nakai Theatre’s newest production, The River, promises to shine an unblinking light on Whitehorse by presenting voices that normally go unheard. The “sprawling, episodic” play,
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Into the Playground
Director Gerald Isaac thinks a playground makes an ideal setting for the Guild Theatre‘s production of the musical comedy Into the Woods, which opens next
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A Little Off the Top: Comedy of Manners
They mean well, and the evening starts on a good footing. But throw in some sumptuous art books and a bottle of rum and, voilà.
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A Blast of Craziness
Rocket ships hanging from strings, tinfoil meteorites and cardboard cutouts… who doesn’t love a good ’60s sci-fi B-movie? They’re low-fi and cheesy, with terrible acting,
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Big Top Dreams
As amusing as Claire Ness is, her commitment to the circus arts is no joke. After spending nearly seven years training in the big smoke
Artrepreneur: Vastly Entertaining
Cruelty makes good comedy. There’s something fascinating and often hilarious about watching one character tear into another. And as the Song of Songs warns us,
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Young man of many parts
It’s not always easy for a 19-year-old to decide what to do next; especially a 19-year-old like Graham Rudge. Should an award-winning year at art
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Loaded for Laughs
It’s the night of the first big snowfall, and that sound you’re hearing is the explosion of standup comedy in Whitehorse. At the Jarvis Street
A Pan-Northern Performance
It may not have the national audience of a CBC-TV True North concert. And it may not cover as much geography as the cultural events
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Cinema Sunday
The Available Light Cinema series returns to the Yukon Arts Centre on Sunday, November 13 with a full day of film entertainment. Leading off at
Inspired by a Face
The portrait of an Inuk woman in a British-style bonnet, looking solemnly from the book cover grabbed Reneltta Arluk’s attention. Her interest only grew after
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Mystery and Good Causes
Galen Ashley of the Root Sellers will present his band’s new music amidst the mystique and mystery of the Yukon Transportation Museum at this weekend’s
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Love Alive: It Ain’t TV
In the simplest terms, it’s a variety show. In real terms, it’s a little more than that. Love Alive is the finale for a Brave
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Review: Bubbles of Self-Delusion
Don’t expect deep truths about the human condition from the Guild Theatre’s latest offering, The Food Chain. Don’t expect a plot that’s more than paper-thin.
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Playwright Sherry MacDonald shares her secrets to the creative process
Sherry MacDonald, the newest writer-in-residence at Dawson City’s Berton House, has a place secured in heaven. “There’s a special place in heaven for single moms
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Peeling the Veneer
Two sets of well-to-do parents meet in a well-appointed living room to discuss a small problem in a civilized manner. One of their sons has
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A Musical From Beyond
“At times it’s felt like trying to build a house with popsicle sticks and paperclips, but we’ve been ridiculously persistent and resourceful,” says Britt Small,
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Nordic Fantasy
The 19th century Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, is best known for the naturalistic dialogue and depth of character in such stage classics as Hedda Gabler,
A Tale in Two Tellings
Ten years after Louis Riel was convicted of high treason and hanged, a young Cree warrior shot a cow near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, where the
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MacHomer Erectus
Somewhere along the line, Rick Miller wandered from Moshe Safdie’s Legoland and the Bauhaus world of Walter Gropius to the raucous playground of William Shakespeare
Anatomy of an Effigy
Brian Oman wants to put the winter blues behind him this weekend. The young baker is now in his fourth Yukon winter. “Just sitting around
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Step this way for hilarity
We meet our Canadian protagonist, Richard Hannay, played by George Maratos, in his West End London flat. It’s the mid-Thirties and he’s bored. So he
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Artrepreneur: Trippy Nordic Odyssey
Peer Gynt tells the life story of an irresponsible young man who grows into an old man adventuring through the world. He returns home and
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A Comedy of Obsession
When the Guild Theatre’s artistic director, Katherine McCallum, was choosing this year’s season, she may not have known playwright Nicky Silver was about to hit
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Showing Their IZM
It all started with a movie. When Yvon Soglo was growing up in Aylmer, Quebec, his preferred method of physical expression was channeled through sports.
Conflicting Concepts of Justice
The discovery of long-buried human remains in Dawson City two years ago shone a public spotlight on a little-known chapter in Yukon history. The four
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A Fresh Footing for NLSD
Change and innovation are the order of the day as the Northern Lights School of Dance (NLSD) begins is 2012-13 season. Not only does the
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Comedy Dominates in Venus
The play is new. The book that inspired it is 142 years old. The song dates back to the Summer of Love. The kinky proclivity
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From Eden to Legoland
For several years, Amitai Marmorstein has periodically donned a drab brown uniform, complete with long stockings, shorts,vest and tie and Harry Potter glasses. Thus garbed
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Unpacking Memory
What is memory? Where does it live? Where can it take you? Who does it belong to? What is it like to live without it?
Syphilis Goes South
It sounds nasty. A small group of northerners is scheming to infect a major southern city with Syphilis next month. But there’s no need to
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Journeying Through Dance
This week, Dawson City welcomes back Raven Spirit Dance, which has enjoyed a well-established presence in town for several years. Choreographer Michelle Olson is somewhat
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Confusion and Betrayal
When siblings embark on a new life together in unfamiliar surroundings, it can often result in confusion, conflict, even betrayal. Especially if one is working
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Staging Canada’s Parks
It’s a challenge trying to engage an audience in a meaningful celebration of all of Canada’s national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation
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Yukon B-Boys Go International
It took nearly two weeks of persistent e-mails, phone calls and text messages to nail down an interview with the Whitehorse breakdancing crew, Groundwork Sessions
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Reconnecting Severed Bonds
Kenneth T. Williams had never heard of his distant cousin, Lillian Dyck, until 1999, when he was asked to suggest names of suitable Saskatchewan candidates
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Growing Up to Play Barbie
As a young boy, Nina Arsenault’s desire to be beautiful came from a “deep, deep place.” Now a full-fledged woman with the face and body
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Spying on the Neighbours
When Martin McDonagh’s play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, first emerged in 1996, the 23-year-old playwright was quickly caught up in a storm of controversy.
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A Christmas wish for stability, sanity and love
The Soul Menders invites you to witness a touching story of resilience and romance, perfect for the festive season.
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The one and only Dessert & Dance
“No.” The answer came from Rebekah Bell and Bruce Johnston in the perfect unison you would expect from two band teachers – from Porter Creek
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Taylor Mac wants to shake you up
Taylor Mac would like you to know that he doesn’t want to offend you. If his fantastical makeup and clothes surprise you, then that’s OK
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If a drag queen falls in the forest …
Last year’s Nakai Theatre Pivot Festival was not well-received. It featured a blind comic who portrayed cancer. It had a snow-shovelling demonstration. A sexualized Betty
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My Lovely Chinese Lady
Cher Yukon, Comment ca va? I am now living in “La Belle Province”. I think I should first give you a brief history about how
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