Day of the dance

If you're walking down St-Laurent and happen across people dancing in the street, or in the cereal and cookie aisle at the grocery store for that matter, do not be alarmed, they're celebrating the 14th edition of International Dance Day. The Regroupement Québécois de la Danse has organized activities to promote dance, both in likely and unlikely spaces such as studios, stages, sidewalks, bars, shop windows and even movie theatres, on April 29 and 30.

Take the opportunity to see some of the city's big-name companies without shelling out the big bucks, like Le Carré des Lombes, Margie Gillis and O Vertigo, who present repertory works and sneak peaks of works-in-progress. If you'd like to do some dancing of your own, join in on a modern dance workshop, or a Bharata Natyam class over at Studio 303 (372 Ste-Catherine W., #303).

More notable offerings can be found on Friday, April 29, at the Cinémathèque québécoise, where local filmmakers Philip Szporer and Marlene Millar follow upcoming Canadian choreographers in Au fil du Mouvement. And, on Saturday afternoon, take in a screening of Édouard Lock's Amélia, and Marie Chouinard's Cantique no. 1 over at ExCentris. No matter what the activity, this is a prime weekend to make dance a part of your plans; the complete schedule is online at www.quebecdanse.org. » Marites Carino

Look again

Count yourself lucky should Karilee Fuglem's web lure you into Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain (372 Ste-Catherine W, #216). Almost invisible, the fragile sculpture titled "One Continuous Thread" was made by looping a single thread continually back into itself, row by row, layer by layer. "The tenacious spiders whose wisps disturb my presumption of an empty room" inspired the piece, Fuglem says.

"There's a place on my back that isn't there" is the title of the second sculpture in the exhibition. The viewer can stand inside this piece and gently lean into the dark elastic threads. Tension holds everything together, making architecture out of otherwise unsupportable flimsiness. The two sculptures are accompanied by new drawings from the artist's ongoing "Invisible Drawings" series, which pushes the limits of visual perception. Make time to check out this show, for few can mach Fuglem's ability to give non-visible phenomena such an undeniable presence. Connective Tissue runs until June 4, info: www.pfoac.com or 395-6032. » Christine Redfern

Celebratory poets!

Endre Farkas has been bringing poetry to life onstage since his Vehicule Poets days. Tonight, he and his co-conspirator Carolyn Marie Souaid are mounting a Circus of Words at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent). "Poets usually tend to be humble or self-effacing," Farkas says, "but this isn't what we want to do, we want to be celebratory, big!" The Circus brings poetry together with elements of dance, music and theatre, performed in at least three languages. It features major poets like GG-winner Jean-Paul Daoust with ParHazardJazz, Ian Ferrier in a first-time collaboration with experimental composer Kathy Kennedy, the awe-inspiring wordplay of Groupe de poésie moderne, politically engaged Chilean poet Elias Letelier, and Farkas himself. April 28, 8 p.m. (doors 7:15), $10. » Vincent Tinguely

Video dears

The artists participating in the BAMBI project came together initially while attending a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida in 2003. Though individually their work is very diverse, the group gelled while studying together under the guidance of British artist Gillian Wearing. Given the task of making videos of less than one-minute duration, the group headed out into the surrounding Florida communities and started shooting. Hence, the project title stems from the proximity of Disney, not feelings of being orphans. BAMBI II, a second compilation of videos, is a result of ongoing exchanges between the nine group members, who include Gun Holmström (Helsinki), David Phillips & Paul Rowley (New York/Dublin), Juan Recaman (Bogota) and Althea Thauberger (Vancouver). At Articule (4001 Berri, #105), exhibition runs until May 1, info: 842-2144. » Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

8:10 IS THE NEW 2:40: "This has never been done before," boast the makers behind Zinom, a wristwatch they claim follows the "logic and simplicity of the sundial principle." This, of course, raises the question: how does this thing tell time from its relative angle to the sun, when said angle is in constant flux? GPS? Magnets? Satellites? A Gyroscope? 'Fraid not. The Zinom's claim to sundial fame is a low-tech letdown. Quite simply, the hour hand is long and the minute hand is short. Its look is a throwback to the first post-sundial clocks, most of which had just one arm that moved in a 24-hour circle - and all this from a company that calls itself "progressive." But if you want to be a dork and buy one anyway, visit www.zinom.com.

ArtsHole

HIGHWAY CRAWL: Featuring a handful of artists and taking place at various locations around the city, Décarie opens today, April 28, 6:30 p.m., at the Saidye's Liane and Danny Taran Gallery (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine). Highlights include d'bi.young's spoken performance re-telling the history of domestic work in the Décarie area and William PopeL.'s mass crawl up the slopes of Mount Royal on the exhibition's closing day, June 5, www.decarie.org for more. • CHAP SCHTICK: Famous for having sold over 7,000 chapbooks on the streets of Toronto, Brian Kaufman comes to Blizzarts (3956A St-Laurent) on May 1, 8 p.m. to launch Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer, a tell-all book about literary press culture. Local author Jon Paul Fiorentino hosts.

ARTISTAT: Spread in age between the artists - from fine art schools, community art programs, photography clubs and seniors' residences - selling goods at Rise to the Cure, a fundraiser for breast cancer research at Kozen Gallery (532 Duluth) on Wednesday, May 4, 3–9 p.m.: 66

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