Ballet badmouthed?

I’m writing in response to Marites Carino’s “Fast Moves” 2005 Year in Review article for dance [Dec. 22]. I am a dancer in Montreal’s largest company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and I’m not writing because we weren’t mentioned outright, but because of the uneducated hidden mention we received in the article. The comment, “for once we saw young people at Place des Arts who weren’t just tip-toeing to The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies,” is wrong on a few different levels. As the only resident company of Place des Arts that dances the Nutcracker, this comment is obviously about us.

I guess Marites was not there in March 2005, when the young people of LGBC showed their theatrical side in Stijn Celis’ dark Les Noces or Didy Veldman’s athletically charged TooT. I also figure that our performances of Ohad Naharin’s not-to-be-missed evening in May 2005 was missed by Marites. That’s too bad—the audience was moved by this poignant, touching and funny evening of amazing dance. By the way, both programs were sans pointe shoes, because our dancers are capable of being barefoot as well. As far as the “tip-toeing” is concerned, get it right, there is only one Sugar Plum Fairy, and what she is doing is no easy feat. Now for my attempt to get us mentioned in next year’s Year in Review: I’m personally inviting Marites to our Jirí Kylián eve in March and our Mats Ek program in May. There, she can see all the young people of this internationally recognized company “tip-toeing” in the works of two of the best choreographers in the world.

» Jeremy Raia

Galapagos woes

It is with no small consternation that I read of Kalifi Ferretti-Gallon’s experience with environmental issues in the Galapagos, many of them directly linked to tourism [“Darwin’s polluted playground,” Nov. 11].

For two years now, I have been working with YMCA Tours Ecuador to promote responsible tourism in that country.

YMCA Tours Ecuador is a crucial fundraising initiative of the Ecuador Y, helping the organization raise funds for its numerous social and environmental projects aimed at empowering the country’s poor—young people and women in particular. Galapagos tours rank among their most profitable and popular packages.

I was in Ecuador for three months at the beginning of my mandate with the Y. Unfortunately, I was unable to witness the situation in the Galapagos (all expenses are assumed by volunteers and at $700-plus [U.S.], a Galapagos tour was out of the question), although I had heard there were problems.

It might be useful if Sea Shepherd could work with the Ecuador YMCA to ensure that the tours they resell are not contributing to the island’s degradation. I’ve already written to YMCA tours and suggested that perhaps their tour participants could spend one obligatory day of their tour assisting in an environmental project.

Please have Sea Shepherd get in touch with the YMCA in Quito (ideally, in Spanish). Contacts there are: Pedro Armendáriz, Manager, YMCA Tours Ecuador (office@ymcatours.org) ; Helga Serrano, Communication Director, ACJ-YMCA (acjecuador@andinanet.net—she oversees volunteers and should receive a CC of all communications).

» Glenn Clavier

Sludgeabilly strikes chord

Regarding Chris Barry’s “Where Are They Now” article on Deja Voodoo [“Sludge report, Oct. 20]: great read! It was good to catch up with those guys from Deja Voodoo. In 1988–’89 I caught Voodoo performances, back when I lived in Saskatoon. They played at a venue called 23 Below—a basement club that was downtown on 23rd St.—and I think it maybe was 23 degrees below the night I saw them. I have/had four of their LPs—all except the first couple: Cemetery and Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die.)

I was thinking about the voodoo boys this afternoon. Saw today a couple of the band T-shirts through a shop window on Queen St. in T.O.—a store that features retro pop music shirts. Wow, that sight stirred memories of four-string sludgeabilly music.

The interview bit I’m quoting below was totally funny because, man oh man, that would’ve been me:

“M: Do the kids you teach in Linguistics ever go, like, “Gerard Van fuckin’ Herk from Deja fuckin’ Voodoo! I can’t Mcfuckin‚ believe it!”

GVH: Yes, yes, surprisingly enough, it happens a few times a year. I teach a lot of older students [Early African-American English], so some actually remember seeing the band. It’s one of those weird situations where the people who liked us tended to like us a lot, so they still remember the band years on.”

» Chris

Missing ink?

Just to let you know that I read the Mirror each week. I’m a fan, but please, you are blinding me with that delicate pale print you use in your film listings. The headings are fine but that fine print drives me to the magnifying glass. Can you not use as much ink as you do for the print in your columns?

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

» Yvonne Wall

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