4 4 THEVOICE | THURSDAY,NOV. 16,2017 | EDITOR SASHA ZE\DLER Students show off for kids charity Langara’s first talent show Is raising money for child sport and play = By MYRA DIONNE angara College’s first talent show is raising money for children’s activities, proving that play is not limited to sports. Danielle Lee and Simran Sand- hu, kinesiology students and co- founders of Langara Students for Play Club, have organized Lan- gara’s first talent show. The event is a fundraiser for Right to Play, a global organization that helps children and their communities through sport and game related by providing equipment and coaching. ‘The talent show will take place on Nov. 23 in A130, the main auditorium of | Langara’s Build- | ing A, with tick- ets being sold for $5. The club, which was in- Danielle Lee : . CO-FOUNDER OF spired by Right LANGARA STUDENTS to Play, was FORPLAYCLUB formed at the beginning — of September. Although their focus is primarily on sports, Sandhu said she wanted to raise funds with a talent show because it’s something that Langara has not done before. “There's no, like, Langara Idol, there's nothing artsy. And I'm really into music so I wanted to see if there's more talent here,” Sandhu said. “You can't really raise money off of doing sports. I guess it's an indirect way of connecting it.” Community engagement coordi- nator for Right to Play, Dee Dor- rance, said the organization is also expanding beyond sports to include art, mu- sic and drama. She said __ tal- ent shows unite people in fun Simran Sandhu and — powerful "Co rouNDER OF ways. LANGARA STUDENTS “We're not FORPLAY CLUB just a sports or- ganization and I think that's a com- mon misconception people have about us. We really do use play in all its forms,” Dorrance said. The talent show currently has 12 confirmed acts including singers, stand-up comics and poets. Manley Xu, founding member of the Langara Choir, will be partici- pating at the talent show as part of a singing trio. He said the event is a good way of adding more campus culture, which he feels the college is lacking. “Langara is sort of a transfer school,” Xu said. “There's just less of a feeling of like, ‘oh yeah, this is something that I want to build’ With no specific donation goal in mind, Sandhu just hopes people will buy tickets. “It's the first time we're doing it and if it's successful then we'll try to do something like an open mic,” Sandhu said. 7 \ wy | ) Rentertainment ; —a 4 4 SUBMITTED PHOTO Studio 58 alumna Emilie Leclerc (bottom center) stars in << Vancouver's interpretation of The Ridiculous Darkness. Dark, ridiculous and local Studio 58 alumna performs a love-hate letter’ to Vancouver Bi By JENNIFER WILSON n the dark comedy The Ri- diculous Darkness, Studio 58 alumna Emilie Leclerc asks the audience to confront the isolation and colonialism present in Vancouver. Originally a German radio play by Wolfram Lotz, The Ridiculous Darkness is a hybrid of the novel Heart of Darkness and the film Apocalypse Now. On Nov. 11, the stage adaptation of the play had its North American premiere in Van- couver. Interwoven with stories of local community groups and the chal- lenges they face, the play follows six characters, including Leclerc, on a journey upriver to find a rogue sol- dier in the wilderness. “It forces us, at its very core, to meet people from different com- munities,” Leclerc said. Characters throughout the play highlight growing income inequal- ity, the feeling of insignificance experienced by certain people with disabilities as well as the disregard of Indigenous culture in Vancouver. “Tt forces us, at its very core, to meet people from different communities.” —EMILIE LECLERC, STUDIO 58 ALUMNA ‘The play’s dramaturg, Veronique West, was born in the city and said Vancouverites tend to make as- sumptions about the way others live their lives, rather than approaching connection with a sense of curiosity. “The goal is to bring a bunch of Vancouverites together who nor- mally wouldn't be in contact,” West said. “To create a piece of art and use that as a way to break down barriers between people with dif- ferent lived experiences.” Audience involvement was a key component throughout the play which Leclerc said made it an act of community by Vancouver, for Vancouver. “There were a lot of big issues, they did local integration really well,” said Trevor Day, who was an audience member on opening night. Leclerc said she hopes the play will prompt more curious conver- sation and convey the idea of life’s journey being more important than the final destination. The Ridiculous Darkness runs un- til Nov. 19 at the Orpheum Annex Theatre Vancouver. THE ORIGINAL PLAY THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS » Austrian debut The Ridiculous Darkness pre- miered in Vienna in 2014. » Awards The play won ‘German Play of the Year’ and 'Dramatist of the Year’ » European tour The play has had over 20 produc- tions throughout Europe. » Translation Daniel Brunet translated the play from German to English. SOURCE: VARIOUS THEATRE SITES Instructor 9-5, stage artist 24/7 Elizabeth Milton is active in the art community and the classroom = By NICK VALKA Langara College instruc- tor still finds excitement in teaching the next gen- eration of artists while also being a contributing participant in the arts community for the past 15 years. Over the weekend, Elizabeth Milton, a studio arts instructor § at Langara and SFU, performed as a historic diva of her own cre- ation who experiences a backstage breakdown. Her piece was part of Shooting Gallery, a multiplatform series of dance, theatre and perfor- mance art at the Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret, which featured five local artists. “It’s important for all of £ us as a faculty to be engaged in the local community, to | forge relationships between our students and local artists | in town,” Milton said. “To be practicing and to be able to support our students from being students to being practicing artists themselves.” Milton’s perfor- mance and media art has been presented & in dozens of venues across Canada. While an undergraduate student, many of Milton’s instructors were practicing artists, something she now passes down to her students. “Having a teacher who's making a life doing art as \ well, who introduces you to other artists who are \ making a living out of the skills that we're gaining here, you see a -», potential ». future,” said Hannah Schmedding, a first- year Fine Arts student of Milton's. While earning her masters in Studio Art at UBC, Milton found that it was important to learn from those who are directly involved in the field, rather than those with a direct background in education. Philip Robbins, also a fine arts instructor at Langara, said staying current in the art world is just part of the practice. “Art isn't something you do, it's something you are,” Robbins said. “You develop that sense of who you are in the arts through a period of time, and once you start teaching you don't become a different per- ” son. Langara and SFU professor Eliza- . 4 beth Milton as one of her many characters. HANS GOKSOYR PHOTO