Last year was a strenuous one for choreographer Hélène Blackburn, who was busy touring with her company, Cas Public. Somewhere in the hullabaloo, she got to thinking, “Why do we do this, anyway?” After pondering this herself, she decided to ask her dancers why they started dancing, and why they continue. They returned with their responses and Courage mon amour was born—a show that combines Blackburn’s self-questioning and six dancers’ internal voyages.

In the choreography, which opens this week at L’Agora de la danse (840 Cherrier), Blackburn aims to talk about the “omnipresence of pain” in dance. She says the dancers, by speaking during the choreography, reveal “the pain in their lives and how and what it teaches them.” For the audience, it’s a chance to share the performers’ personal thoughts. “We leave the dancer behind, and it’s now the man or the woman who dances, and it becomes more human,” she says. Find out all the answers from Oct. 9–12 and Oct. 16–19 at 8 p.m., $16–$23. : » Marites Carino

The Biennale de Montreal, a multi-faceted art happening that runs until Nov. 3, is taking place on both physical and virtual planes. While real-life installations are held at various locations in western Old Montreal (288-0811 for info), there’s also a Web aspect to the event for those who like their art online.

Tara Bethune-Lehman’s “Virus Corp” lets the visitor unleash a pseudo-virus on the corporate Web site of their choice. Type in a URL and watch a cartoonish creature walk across the page, leaving behind a digital wake. Michael Daines put his body (well, a photo of it) for sale on e-bay as an anti-consumerist statement of sorts. Wolf Khalen tries to keep it unique by providing an image of himself that randomly removes one pixel when you open it. Hit print and you get a signed and numbered original. My favourite is Frédéric Durieu’s “Experimental Zoo,” four different screens of animals that you can pick up, bend, shake and throw around. One has a superfast mosquito that zips back and forth across the screen until you catch it with your mouse. Technophile or phobe, if you have the gear it’s worth a visit, www.ciac.ca/no_16/index.html. : » Matthew Woodley

Since 1992, Les Impatients has given hundreds of patients with mental illness an outlet through art. This week, they kick off decennial celebrations with L’Impatience a 10 ans! The work on display is simple and direct, and often comes from patients who have entered the art therapy program after having been institutionalized. “Many people can truly benefit from this kind of inner search,” say exhibit organizers. Check out the work at Les Impatients’ three spaces: their downtown gallery (100 Sherbrooke E, #4000), L’Atelier de Montréal-Est (28 Broadway) and at the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital (7401 Hochelaga) until Dec. 20, www.artbrut.qc.ca for schedules. :

Since the late ’70s, through the good years and the lean years, Fortner Anderson’s been a key performer, organizer, instigator and critic of the Montreal spoken word scene. But his work in visual art is less well known. The curious can check out some of Anderson’s collages, showing at Galerie Constant, (460 Ste-Catherine W., #403) until Oct. 12. “I’m showing about 17 works I’ve done over the past two or three years,” Anderson says. “Collages composed of hundreds of scraps of paper on which I have doodled, scribbled, made lists, written—making these visually dense pieces.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m., also at Constant, there’ll be an evening of poetry performance. Anderson, along with Wired on Words cohort Ian Ferrier and novelist/performance artist Geneviève Letarte, will perform, accompanied by multi-instrumental musician Sam Shalabi. Free admission. : » Vincent Tinguely

It’s all in the eyes, according to therapist Shelagh Robinson. Robinson has developed a new kind of “consciousness raising” that she calls Eyerise. “I want to explore the thoughts and feelings that go through people when they’re looked at in certain ways, and the way that they respond,” she explains. “Women, for example tend to look away when they’re looked at by strangers. And that’s not necessarily such a smart or safe way to live in the world.”

Robinson has undertaken the ambitious task of boiling psychology, philosophy, anthropology and film and media theory down into what she terms “sidewalk relevance.” “We have an opportunity with our eyes to really learn about how we communicate with people, and that’s pretty important.” She hosts four salons called “openings” Oct. 8–29, at Café Perk (4872 Parc), $60 for the series. Call 495-9531 to register. :

Comforting Canucks: Perfectly timed for the coming cold comes a dose of relief for us northerners. It’s better than the Red Green Show and right up there with a hot plate o’ poutine. Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul is here, folks. Feeling blue? Flip open to Paul Henderson’s recount of his hockey “Goal of the Century,” swim across lake Ontario with Marilyn Bell Di Lascio, wheel around with Rick Hanson, read a letter from a man on the edge who was inspired by fiddle-head Natalie MacMaster to pick up his forgotten flute and regain the desire to live! It’s okee ta cry, eh. :

Eye think: L’œil qui pense is made up of four installations that all use glass in some form or another and, through different kinds of interactivity, all explore “different ways of visual perception and interpretation.” It’s put on by Quator V, and runs at the Centre de créativité Gesù (1200 Bleury) until Oct. 12 • Atypical technique: Well-known French printmaker James Coignard is a relatively rare practitioner of the “carborundum” printmaking technique, which gives prints a quality closer to paintings. His funky works are on display at Galerie Trois Points (372 Ste-Catherine W., #520) until Oct. 19. • Oily opening: François Rioux Tremblay’s oil paintings of cool cartoonish figures, Rubrik, kicks off at the Café de L’Usine C (1901 de la Visitation) on Saturday, Oct. 5, 8 p.m., in an event with a DJ and live jazz. :

Artistat: Number of modern words recently added to the new edition of the shorter Oxford English Dictionary, among which are Klingon, control freak, DVD, line dancing, lap dancing, road rage, shock jock, Heimlich manoeuvre and balsamic vinegar: 3,500 :

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