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Wordsmiths at play on poetry day

The poets will gather,

at the centre to hear;

their writing and musings, to dazzle the ear

By ASHLEY SINGH

will be a hosting An Evening of Po- etry on March 12, in advance of World Poetry Day.

The annual event will consist of 11 different performances from poets, mu- sicians, and dancers.

New Westminster Poet Laureate Candice James, who recited her poetry at last year’s event, will be returning to share more of her poetry.

“It’s going to be good, I did last year’s too. It’s a nice event, there’s a variety of poets. I think there’s going to a bit of dance too, it’s a very enjoyable after- noon,” said James.

James went on to say that her favou- rite part about reciting poetry is being able connect with an audience.

“T like to have my poems memorized, because I can connect better with an

POETS meat them laureate |_|

Another poet who Canada:

T Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre

will also be perform- ing is Surrey, B.C. au- thor Fauzia Rafique.

George Elliott She believes writing Clarke is a necessity and having a_ creative

ME Vancower outlet is essential for Rachel Rose :

self-expression.

ME Surrey: “We need all kinds Renée Sarojini of artistic expres- Saklikar sions, images, and

sounds, and words.

ME Victoria: So I think poetry is

Yvonne Blomer one of the very

strong components of that,” said Rafique.

The importance of poetry is something Elee Kraljii Gardiner understands.

In 2012, she co-edited V6A, an an- thology of poems about Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

“The more you know yourself and your preoccupations, the more you can consider them and choose to either ad- dress them or not,” said Kraljii Gar- diner.

Kraljii Gardiner said her favourite aspect of writing poetry is the careful precision it takes to choose the right words.

“The thing I love about poetry is that you have to work with compression. Every word is a choice, but they are also able to stand alone as sharp frag- ments of emotion and experience,” said Kraljii Gardiner.

> a

HE New Westminster: Candice James

Source: Government websites

ASHLEY SINGH photo Candice James has founded Poetry in the Park, an annual summer poetry event in New Westminster.

xy Voices of Deliciously Disabled An Afternoon with Andrew Gurza

The Se

Burlesqt

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Andrew Gurza, founder of Deliciously Disabled, presented at the SexyVoices workshop on Feb. 27.

Realwheels Theatre addresses sexuality for people with disabilities

By ANNA TILLEY with disabilities being the sad,

lonely, angry cripple and how

ealwheels Theatre, they can’t do anything. Or we’re based in Marpole, is pro- seeing the ducing a burlesque caba- r4 4 person ret for people with dis- with a dis- abilities. [I’m the] ability try The SexyVoices training ° to over- workshop at the G.F. Strong Re- Sex lest, come their habilitation Centre, on Feb. 27 most de- disability was the first in a series that ex- ee like a su- plores sexuality for people with liciously per crip,” disabilities. disabled said Gurza. The workshops run_ twice “What we weekly, where attendees re- queer want to do ceive coaching in storytelling, cripple you is say no, burlesque and clowning, lead- . none of ing up to a theatrical produc- will ever those are tion at the Roundhouse Com- meet in correct.” munity Arts & Recreation , Gurza is Centre in May. your life e the found- The performance will be a ANDREW GURZA_ er of Deli- cabaret style variety show with ciously a burlesque focus. ABILITY ADVOCATE = fisabled, Toronto-based Andrew Gur- an organi-

za, who described himself as zation that advocates for accu-

the “sexiest, most deliciously disabled queer cripple you will ever meet in your life,” present- ed at the workshop.

“We're used to seeing people

rate representations of people with disabilities in pop culture. Gurza also hosts an Internet ra- dio program in Toronto that dis- cusses sex, disability and every-

thing in between.

Andrew Vallance, who will perform in the May show said these projects can help break barriers between disabled peo- ple and sexual needs.

“Sexuality is essential for a lot of us. [These discussions] help chip away at the wall of prudery that has prevented us from expressing our sexuality,” said Vallance.

Jenny Magenta, the bur- lesque’s choreographer said it’s essential for disabled communi- ties to have opportunities to ex- press themselves artistically.

“I think it’s empowering for people in the disabled commu- nity to see themselves and to move in ways that they may not have moved,” said Magenta.

She says people can expect to be shocked when the play hits the stage.

“People will have their minds opened to see that people with disabilities do have sex lives and think about sex and that they are sexy human beings,” said Magenta.

2 NY

NANCY PLECHATY photo

NANCY PLECHATY photo Andrew Vallance will perform in the burlesque cabaret this May.

Swiss Consulate imports comedy

A free BY ROBERTO TEIXEIRA Swiss play highly J acclaimed is coming Ass: comedic mono- to South logue about the memo- ries of seniors is coming to var Vancouver this week for one night on MAQTC only. The Consulate General of Switzer- %

5 for the land, in partnership with Alliance £ ? Festival de Francaise, is bringing the French- & la Fran- speaking monologue .

. “L’embarquement pour Cythére ou jam cophonie le voyage d’Eugénie” for a free per-

formance at the Alliance Fran- caise Theatre, on March 5. The - play is part of the Festival de la Francophonie, a worldwide event organized by the Swiss government to promote the French language. “We would like to promote the French language and also a Swiss art- ist. I read the monologue of the play and for me it was clear that we needed to bring them to the festival,” said

sto-

) Jerome Charbonnet, deputy of the con- sss sul general of

zerland in Vancou-

The director, Pascale Rocard, says anyone who ap-

play.

“It’s a play for everybody. . What is funny in this kind of play is that everyone will experience this kind of situations at some point in life. The young folks will imagine if some of the stories will happen to them and the old people will identify themselves,” Rocard said. According to the author, who goes by Alboran, the ry is about love for life. The

title is a play on the French phrase L’Embarquement pour Cythére which is an expression that means to fall in love.

Alboran came up with the mono- logue after a vacation with his mother around Europe in a bus full of “old la- dies and very few men.” He observed and listened to every story told and wrote more than 220 pages of notes of memories.

According to Alboran, the play’s opening in Switzerland last January was such a success that for the next six shows, they had more audience mem- bers than seats available.

After Vancouver, the play will con- tinue with its world tour going to Victo- ria, Nanaimo, Ottawa and back to Eu- rope in Switzerland, Paris and Brussels.

ALBORAN photo Actor Anne-Lise Fritsch will meet the audience in a reception follow- ing the play.