Edgy Women at 17

GIVING HER ALL: Jess Dobkin

Now in its 17th edition, Studio 303’s Edgy Women festival has grown from a four-day affair to an international event spanning two weeks. This year’s edition kicked off (appropriately enough) on March 17, but the party gets underway at Edgy Boum this Saturday, March 20, 8 p.m. at the MainLine (3997 St-Laurent).

Hosted by Dayna McLeod and Nathalie Claude, the Edgy Challenge starts the evening off with short works by seven artists including Sophie Castonguay, T.L. Cowan and Toronto-based writer and performer Mariko Tamaki, best known for her graphic novel Skim.

The Edgy Party follows with a cell phone dance video by the electronic savvy ladies at Studio XX, and when you’re done dancing, take your own Apparently Perverse Pics at the Public Photo Booth, with photographer Nikol Mikus and performer Alyson Wishnousky.

The fest allows you a few days of recovery before things pick up again Wednesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m., with Jess Dobkin’s latest performance piece, Everything I’ve Got, at Tangente (840 Cherrier).

Primordial Vaudeville closes the fest with performances by La Zampa, Shannon Cochrane and Krin Haglund, March 27–28 at Tangente.

See edgywomen.ca for the full schedule, details and ticket prices.

by SACHA JACKSON

Anxious at home

PRIVATE GOES PUBLIC: Erosion

“Home… is a status symbol, a site of personal control and dominance, as well as a place to which ideas of identity, security and retreat are often attached,” says New Zealand-born artist

Marijke Johanna Bouchier when discussing the ideas behind her latest work. But when unwelcome intrusions breach the protective surfaces of the home, it can also become a site of insecurity and anxiety.

Bouchier describes Erosion as a site-specific installation because it uses the walls of her home as its canvas. “I’m very aware of the strange and vulnerable dynamic this creates between myself and the viewers,” says Bouchier. “A private space made public can present a certain awkwardness, which I think is important.”

With references to horror film theory and gothic narratives, the audio texts and hand-drawn wallpaper that comprise the installation speak to the way that social anxieties manifest themselves in cultural forms—and in their transformation over the course of the exhibition period, become a reflection of the artist’s own anxieties as the occupant of this private/public space.

The vernissage takes place tomorrow, March 19, from 6 p.m. onward (4105 de Lorimier). It’s open to the public March 19–22 from 1–6 p.m.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

Dancing over limits

Corpuscule Danse, a local dance company that’s committed to integrated dance, presents its latest work Oiseaux de Malheur! this weekend. The company’s artistic director France Geoffroy describes integrated dance as “putting together dancers with and without disabilities. It’s also contemporary dance with physical theatre.”

Geoffroy, a quadriplegic dancer, approached choreographer Estelle Clareton to create a work for her company. The collaborative cast includes visual artist and dancer Marie-Hélène Bellavance (a double amputee below the knees), Annie De Pauw and Tom Casey. Geoffroy says Clareton layers images of animals, the idea of transformation and the concept of beauty in this group work that uses humour.

Opening the evening is the captivating Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli, a b-boy born with arthrogryposis, a muscle disorder that affects his legs. Ground up and Beyond, the solo, by choreographer/b-girl K8 Alsterlund, traces Patuelli’s evolution as a dancer with physical limits who overcomes them by dancing with his crutches and creating a unique style of movement. The works run nightly until March 27, 8:30 p.m., at the Monument National (1182 St-Laurent).

by MARITES CARINO

Swap and shop for Haiti

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is the general idea behind this weekend’s Swap and Shop for Haiti event, organized by local design team Dirty Laundry.

Founded by designer Tiffany Chen five years ago, Dirty Laundry is a customizing company aiming to “turn your rags to riches” by turning used clothing into shiny new outfits and shoes.

Chen will be putting her flare for vintage to charitable use this Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m. at the Suco Club Lounge (2108 St-Laurent). Sponsored by UNICEF, the Swap and Shop event is a vintage fair, selling new and old clothes that have been donated by the participants with all proceeds and leftover apparel going to Haiti relief.

Aside from buying someone else’s pants for a good cause, you’ll also be able to bust a move with Montreal breakdance crew Illmask and finalists from So You Think You Can Dance Canada.

Tickets cost $10 with a donation, $20 at the door. For more info, visit dlcustoms.com

by ROXANE HUDON

IS IT ART?

TABLE MANNERS: No doubt your parents taught you how to set the table properly, but after years of eating out of your lap in front of the TV, you may need a refresher.

German design company Donkey Products’ table setting place mats make sure you never have to second guess the proper placement of a wine glass again. Made of 100 per cent cotton, the easy to wash placemats feature simple line drawings of what should go on your table and where, when you’re aiming to impress. Retailing for approximately $27 (20 Euros) a pop, they don’t come cheap, but etiquette wise they’re virtually invaluable

Being German in design, it means the setting follows proper European table manners—none of that knife-on-the-left-side American business.

http://is.gd/aIs4Y

Arts hole

NEW DIGS, NEW SHOW: Push Gallery has up and moved stakes from the Main to the Belgo (372 Ste-Catherine, #425). They christen the space with their first show, Nadia Moss’s Still River Still Leaving and a vernissage, tonight, Thursday, March 18 from 6–9 p.m. • HISTOIRE FRANÇAIS: Get in touch with North America’s francophone heritage, in French, this Sunday, March 21 at 2 p.m. at Pointe-à-Callière (350 Place Royale). Storyteller Eric Michaud will recount the lives of four great legends: Rose Latulipe, Angélique, Alexis le trotteur and Le Bonhomme Sept Heures. • INSIDE THE MARGINS: Bettina Forget, Emily Cook, Sarah Hallman and Richard Rossetto participate in the group show Marginalia, an expansion of doodles and words we find in the margins of printed texts. It opens with a vernissage at the Cagibi (5490 St-Laurent) this Saturday, March 20 from 7–11 p.m., with music by Sarah Hallman and her band.

Artistat

The number of artists vs. the number of works, which are on view at Concordia’s VAV Gallery (1395 René-Lévesque W.) as part of Ink: Master Printer Exhibition, until March 28: 16:30