Leaps from the lab

In 2004, O Vertigo’s Ginette Laurin launched her Creation Centre series, which gives artists of various disciplines the opportunity to work with the company. For the seventh edition, Laurin granted the talented choreographer-dancer Chanti Wadge carte blanche and intensive studio time with nine interpreters.

“One of my challenges is to create something quickly,” says Wadge, on day five of 10 she has to put the show together. “Also, I’m exploring the system of creating and looking at my mechanics of the creative process.”

Drawing from her earlier works and what she calls “poetic images,” Wadge will incorporate a combination of improvisation and set phrases in this movement experimentation. “It’s not a finished piece, it’s not even a work in progress,” she explains. “It’s a showing of the creative process form.” Lab n° 7 is this Sunday, June 4, 4 p.m., at the Cinquième Salle, Place des Arts, $8, 842-2122. —Marites Carino

Projectin’ things

If you want a new twist from the local VJ/DJ scene, check out tonight’s performance Shadow Songs at the VAV Gallery (1395 René-Lévesque). This collaborative work features songs by Winnipeg’s Christine Fellows accompanied by live overhead projections by Toronto artist Shary Boyle. You might already be familiar with Boyle’s drawings from her recent anthology Witness My Shame or have seen her lace-draped porcelain figurines in her recent solo exhibition at the Power Plant in Toronto.

Rounding out the evening’s mix is Texan Leanne Zacharias (cello, vocals), Jason Tait (drums, cracked electronics) and local audio artist Steve Bates (guitar, laptop, electronics). Organizers bill the collection of work as being about “taxidermists, fax machines, clumsy birds, emergency wards, funerals and driving up and down the Trans-Canada highway.” Doors open at 7:30 p.m., free —Christine Redfern

Rai and words

The annual Suoni per il Popolo festival of all things improv starts tonight, as does the first show in Alhan el-Aalam, its world music focus on the sounds and culture of the Middle East. The roster includes Syncop, a group that retrofits North African Rai music with reggae and hip hop elements, and Iraqi-Canadian hip hop vocalist/spoken wordmeister Narcy of Euphrates. “I think Alhan el-Aalam is something so powerful and representative for Arabs as well as Arab North American artists in Canada,” Narcy says. “I’m looking forward to meeting new Arab artists and moving forward as a cohesive mass of people shedding light on the truth of our origins and roots.” Feel the vibes tonight at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), 9 p.m., $10. —Vincent Tinguely

Beer here

As a refreshing beverage that makes you feel good, beer needs no introduction. What you might not know is that every day until June 4, beginning at the reasonable hour of 11:30 a.m. and carrying on until 10:30 p.m., the very handsome Windsor Station and Courtyard (1160 de la Gauchetière) will be hopping with hundreds of varieties of brew and tens of thousands of thirsty aficionados at Canada’s biggest beer festival.

This year’s Mondial de la bière features 99 breweries, over 375 products, two special-edition brews, 11 food kiosks, 12 conferences, 14 workshops on cheese and beer, an international contest, live entertainment and way more. Admission is free, while tastings are traded for $1 coupons—one to five coupons per tasting. —Matthew Woodley

Is it Art?

PUBLICITY BEAT: It never hurts to make a press release stand out, and at this paper no event brings in the flash like the Fringe. Creative cries for attention over the years have seen beheaded Barbie dolls, a series of ransom letters, a couple cakes and a very heavy box of sand enter the office. So far this year’s frontrunner is dance company Fâcheuse Posture, who, in promoting their show Le coeur a retrouvé son rythme, sent in a pretty red box with a ribbon on top and a heart within—a juicy, fleshy, no-longer-beating heart we posit may have formerly occupied a lamb or a sheep. From its top sprouted a toothpick holding a sign that, translated, read, “Here’s what a heart that’s lost its rhythm looks like.” For their inventive, unsettling effort, Fâcheuse Posture win a free plug. Their show gets pumping at the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance) on June 9, with six performances throughout the Fringe—www.montrealfringe.ca for the full schedule.

ArtsHole

SO YOU’RE A GOOD ARTIST, BUT... a little business savvy often means the difference between making money with your talent and getting lost in the fray. This weekend, Montreal’s Youth Employment Services (YES) puts on their sixth annual Self-Employed Artists Conference under the theme “Business Skills for Creative Souls.” The event features a panel discussion with such Montreal artists as Suzie Arioli (music), Vittorio Rossi (playwright, actor), Marisa Minicucci (fashion designer) and Zilon (artist). Also of note, Hollywood screenwriter Len Blum (Meatballs, The Pink Panther) shares the story of his own accomplishments. June 5, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., at the Centaur (453 St-François-Xavier), $25–$30. • BOOK STORM: Montreal art collective the YPF launch their 200-edition, handmade artists’ book, Classical Thunder, this Saturday, June 3, 5–10 p.m., at Studio Jenia (372 Ste-Catherine W, #427.), followed by a secret afterparty to be announced at the vernissage. Be there.

ARTISTAT: Number of select Riopelle works to be showcased in a fundraiser for the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres this Tuesday, June 6, 6:30–9:30 p.m., at the Parisian Laundry (3550 St-Antoine W.): 40

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