KEVIN UNDERHILL photo The Elektra Women’s Choir is rehearsing for their main performance on Nov. 28 at the Ryerson United Church in South Vancouver. Choir gives women distinct voice The Elektra Women’s Choir 1s singing to celebrate the many facets of females By KEVIN UNDERHILL lektra Women’s Choir is a group of eclectic women joining togeth- er to perform a mixture of classi- cal, jazz and folk music that com- memorates the complexities of women. Kate MacColl, lead alto in Elektra, said that member diversity is what makes the experience so special. “We've got moms, lawyers, char- tered accountants, doctors, lots of teachers and everything in between,” MacColl said. Elektra was established in 1987 and prides itself on being a creative cele- bration of women’s repertoires. MacColl said, “We have heard from many other women’s choirs that Elek- tra is the reason they formed.” Morna Edmundson, the group’s ar- tistic director and co-founder, said Ele- ktra has become one of the world’s pre- mier women’s choirs. “T know that a lot of choirs look at Elektra and say: look what they are do- ing, we can do that too,” she said. According to Edmundson, having only women participate was a focus from the very beginning and has to do with vocal consistency and sound. “Some of the women’s choirs that ex- isted at the time were all women be- cause they couldn’t find tenors and bases,” Edmundson said. MacColl said the range of music and the featured musicians make a huge difference for her and is a large reason why Elektra continues to inspire her. Each year, a different youth choir joins Elektra for their winter concert and this year, it is the Burnaby Central Women’s Choir. MacColl said one of the reasons that Elektra has been able to maintain its quality is the inclusion of the next gen- eration of singers. In addition to including a youth choir at their Christmas show, Elektra also offers a mentorship program called Mira. The program focuses on develop- ing young female singers. Elektra will perform their annual winter show, Chez Nous: Christmas with Elektra, on Nov. 28 at the Ryerson United Church in South Vancouver. HISTORY of Elektra 1 Elektra Women's Choir formed in 1987 by Morna Edmundson and Diane Loomer 2 160 members from age 17-79 3 In 2010 Elektra won first place in the “Equal Voices — Women" category of the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs Source: http://elektra.ca Flee a mad creature of collaboration Studio 58 and Electric Company Theatre join to produce a new play and “inevitably change” By JASON HAMILTON we could avoid. However, add to the little pest a touch of surrealism, theatre, and some live music and sud- denly, flees become great. Flee is a collaborative play between Langara College’s Studio 58 and the Electric Company Theatre. David Hudgins, associate director of Studio 58, said, the play revolves around “Archibald Twill, former watchmaker and now impresario of a strange little circus that involves what’s left of his lover Caprice and their brood of performers, reflects on the strange uncertainty of our relation- ships which must inevitably change.” Hudgins originally came up with the inspiration for Flee from The Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka. “In my research to investigate the background of flea circuses, I had al- ways assumed these to be fake, but were in fact real exhibitions of live fleas,” he said. Hudgins, an artistic associate and co-founder of the Electric Company Theatre said, “It’s about the legacy of a flea circus that infests a couple and ends up sucking them into its life cycle both literally and figuratively.” After working on the play for over five years, he handed it to Langara graduate and Electric Company The- atre artistic director, Jonathon Young. Hudgins started the Electric Com- pany Theatre almost 20 years ago with Jonathon Young, Kim Collier and Kev- in Kerr from Studio 58. Flee is running from Nov. 26 until Dec. 6 at the Fox Cabaret. Fi: are something most of us wish Writing for strangers EMILY COOPER submitted photo (Above) Peter Anderson as Archibald Twill (Below) The Fleaks — from left to right: Arash Ghor- bani, Lucy McNulty, Dana Jaine, Jessica Wagstaff and Gregory Radzimowski. English teachers get together to help students, giving them a platform to promote their work By JULIA WICKHAM Train is giving a voice to Langara College students, allowing them to showcase their work in a public space. Allie Abella, a first year English stu- dent who has been writing since she was 10, will be this month’s student reader. “T absolutely fell in love with the idea — especially since I’d never done it be- fore,” she said. Abella will be reading her non-fic- tion piece, Your Hand in Mine, which she describes as “a memoir about someone whom I loved very much and the times we spent before his passing.” Abella said, “It’s a genre that I’m relatively new at and yet, it’s some- thing that I find honest about my- self.” Langara English instructors Thor Polukoshko — and Heather Jessup brought back the THOR POLUKOSHKO department's read. Organizer and ing series in 2014 English teacher and it has become a monthly event in Vancouver’s liter- ary community. Since its return, the series has been held at The Railway Club. At each read- ing, one Langara student is chosen to headline, following the presentations of a handful of well-known Canadian writers. “Being able to headline at an event where George Bowering (Canadian poet) opens up for you is a pretty cool thing,” said Polukoshko. T:: reading series Strangers on a Jessup said that reading at events such as this one is a great opportunity for up and coming writers. “Whenever I see reading series that pair up young and experienced writers, I get excited because it sparks and so- lidifies the feeling of being a writer,” she said. Polukoshko also said that participat- ing in the event is a good opportunity for networking and connecting with other writers. “T think the whole kind of the inter- action element was to foster that col- laboration and interaction between all these different groups of writers,” he said. The next instalment is open to the public and will be on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Railway Club. JULIA WICKHAM photo The Railway Club on Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver.