Just for locks

Although Stéphane Charbonneau of the Rockwell Family crew admits there's nothing really funny about breakdancing, the Just for Laughs festival is providing a fix for fans of the highly physical dance genre anyway. This Saturday, July 23, join Charbonneau and more than 10 North American teams while they get pumped to duke it out with their locks, pops, spins, kicks and dives in The Battle JFL 2005.

B-boys and b-girls gather at Le Medley (1170 St-Denis) and start strutting their stuff at 2 p.m. for the preliminary rounds. By nightfall, competitors are whittled down to a handful of hopefuls for the final showdown (8 p.m.) where the winners dance away with 5,000 bones.

Keep an eye out for other homegrown breakers signed up for the challenge, like Illmatic Styles, Area 51 and Flow Rock. Info: 845-2322. » Marites Carino

Stone, twigs and a
talking pig

One hour north of Montreal, the Fondation Derouin presents the 8th symposium international d'art en situ. Throughout the summer, 50 artists from seven countries fill the woods with discussions, poetry, performances and 11 new outdoor installations. Following paths of moss, twigs, dirt and boardwalks, the trails lead you to works made by Canadian and South American artists. Some of my personal favourites use the natural materials found in the woods, such as Venezuelan artist Milton Bercera's drawings on stone and the wonderful theatre built with walls of branches by local Danielle Lagacé - though there's also no denying the appeal of Michel Beaudry's talking wild pig or the haunting nature of Brazilian artist Caetano Dias's scattered cast heads. The symposuim continues through Sept. 5, info: (819) 322-7167 or www.fondationderouin.com.

If you make the trek to Val David on a Saturday, drop by and participate in the free interdisciplinary art events at the brand new artist-run Centre de création et diffusion (1287 Dufresne). This Saturday, for example, you can learn and jam with musician Robert Strubel and Percu-Fun as part of TRIBE VIBE: African Drumming and Dancing, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., info: (819) 322-5246. » Christine Redfern

Rubbish regalia

The artists exposing at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain (372 Ste-Catherine O, #216) are taking lowly trash to new heights in Trashformations. Karilee Fuglem's dust bunnies and Jérôme Fortin's used plastic bottles may be made from garbage, but they imaginatively transport us to mental landscapes far from the dumpster. Meanwhile, Louis Joncas and Michel de Broin, whose work, oddly enough, also includes lint and empty bottles, makes us focus on the very physical nature of rubbish. Joncas' photographs of rotting and leftover refuse are a funny twist on the still-life genre. De Broin's video "Réparations" humorously shows the artist filling discarded water bottles with compressed air and liquid and projecting them like rockets 100 feet in the air. Runs until Aug. 13, info: 395-6032. » Christine Redfern

Gay writers

Following his personal creative philosophy, "Genius is volume," author, playwright, visual artist, humourist and bon vivant RM Vaughan has produced seven books, many short films, innumerable plays, even more magazine articles, and a National Post column, all since moving to Toronto from New Brunswick back in the early '90s.

Vaughn is flying the rainbow flag next Thursday at the inaugural Zeke's Gets Proud Pride Reading, a show he's eagerly anticipating. "Audience is everything," says Vaughn. "I did a reading the other night in semi-drag for a mostly straight audience and it was like they'd never seen a man in a dress before. Even my oldest jokes and tiredest drag bits were sparkling revelations to them - which, of course, made me feel all fresh and new. For the Zeke's event, well, you'll have to come and see."

The stellar line-up also includes Catherine Paquette, Mark Harris, Miss Gina, R. John Woolfrey, Zoe Whittal, and MC Richard Burnett at Zeke's Gallery (3955 St-Laurent), July 28, 7:30 p.m., $5. » Vincent» Tinguely

Is it Art?

The Italians' answer to the American invention of fast food: slow food. Their answer to the treadmill, also an American invention: La Pista Cantrifuga. Called CentrifugalTrack in English, the exercise device uses the time-tested phenomenon of centrifugal force to provide runners with an exercise experience that's quiet, efficient and consumes relatively little energy. The device can be found in university sports centres all over Italy, but, for all its European charm, there isn't yet a public centrifugal track in Montreal.

ArtsHole

TWO-WHEEL DRIVE: A handful or artists, including Doug Sholes, the Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable group and the infamous Roadsworth, take modern, gas-guzzling, noisy, dangerous transportation (namely, the automobile) to task in Débraye: Voiture à Controverse. The exhibition opens at the Darling Foundry (745 Ottawa, just off the Old Port bike path) on Thursday, July 21 at 5 p.m., and rides on till Sept 22. • FACE FORWARD: Last chance to see Concordia grad and international exhibiting artist Aleks Bartosik's evocative drawing and painting installation, which focuses on faces, figures and more, at Galerie Luz (372 Ste-Catherine W., #420), before the show wraps up on July 23. • GO GREEK: Montreal's Hellenic community kicks off the annual Hellenic Flame festival, celebrating 99 years of Greek presence in this city. Events run in the Old Port from July 22–31 and include dance, music, food and hopefully not too much car horn honking. Visit www.hcm-flame.com for more info.

ARTISTAT: Number of sun salutations it takes to complete the Moomba Yogathon, a fundraiser for the Western Canadian Pediatric AIDS Society, taking place at Moshka Yoga (3684 St-Laurent) on Sunday, July 24, 10 a.m., $10, www.campmoomba.com to register: 108

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