Cuba, island of intrigue, has captured the imaginations of many an artist. Years after its release, Buena Vista Social Club still remains café anthem material. Then there’s the doc it spawned, and of course Julian Schnabel’s adaptation of Before Night Falls—just a few recent examples of island fever.

It seems local photographer Carl Valiquet has also fallen under the spell. Valiquet’s new exhibit was inspired by his latest visit to Cuba, where he discovered a boxing club for kids. In El Ring he captures them training and fighting at an inner city club. The portraits have a somewhat dramatic tone that nonetheless captures the vibrancy of Cuba and innocence of youth in ever-photogenic Havana.

Valiquet’s photos spread the bug further to Richard Gravel. The filmmaker, “fascinated with the portraits of the young boxers and the intimate eye of the photographer,” filmed the stills and added an ambient soundscape of boxing bells and high-pitched Spanish echoes. The resulting short film, also called El Ring, screens on Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m., at Ex-Centris, and on Oct 18, 9 p.m., at Cinéma du Parc. El Ring photos will be on display in the Fellini room of Ex-Centris (3536 St-Laurent) until Oct. 19. : » Matthew Woodley

This fall marks the start of a new series at Tangente (840 Cherrier) called Danséchange: Danse tout terrain. In it, three dance organizations in three cities—Regina, Peterborough and our home sweet home—team up to showcase and tour local talent.

One artist to watch is Toronto’s Sasha Ivanochko, a competitive gymnast turned choreographer, who contributes her work, The King and the Queen of Ruins. Ivanochko and duet partner Mike Moore get introspective with this piece based on recurring nightmares.

Prairie choreographer Floyd Favel Starr heads east with his duo entitled Nitaskenan, which examines all that is beautiful in old age. And fellow Regina dancer and professor Marnie Gladwell performs her solo At Rivers’ Mouth, which voyages into memory both real and imagined.

Representing our fair city, Karine Denault presents her piece L’aune, where she works with composers Alexandre St-Onge and Roger Tellier-Craig to create a work where sound and movement intertwine. That’s Oct. 10–12 at 8:30 p.m. and Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m., 525-1500 for info. : » Marites Carino

In The 1st Part of the 2nd Half, Toronto artist Stephen Andrews—whose work is primarily rooted in AIDS and its effects—depicts time as fragmented and repetitive. Through suspended, oversized filmstrips, Andrews presents “a picture of time stopped, where a minute can be teased apart into hundreds of its component pictures.” The exhibit features a mélange of mediums, including drawings, photocopied photographs and video frame grabs. Tonight, Thursday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m., sociologist Luce Des Aulniers is giving a lecture on Andrews’ work. The show runs until Nov. 9 at Dazibao (4001 Berri, #202). : » Claire Philipson

Alexis O’Hara found the theme for the launch of her debut CD In Abulia, right on the CD’s cover. “That’s my grandfather’s Aunt Pauline, a nurse in World War I,” says O’Hara. “So, there’ll be performance art stars at the launch dressed as doctors, nurses, therapists… and there will be a physical!”

She’s also got three distinct musical ensembles to help convey her self-produced CD’s eclecticism. According to O’Hara, “There’ll be a wailing banshee set with Chateauguay rock heroes Holy Moly, a mad scientist set with Rick Rigby, Rob Stephens and Jon Asencio, and a country-mournful set with Stephens, Becky Foon on cello and Lisa Gamble on percussion.”

Hosted by Skidmore, the show also features absurdist vegetable surgeon Doctor Avocado, video projections by Bernadette Houde, and Doctor Scott C operating the decks. At Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), Oct. 17, 9 p.m., $6. : » Vincent Tinguely

The Black ’n’ Blue Festival’s annual fine art exhibition and auction, Full Pressure, takes place this weekend at Cabaret Mado (1115 Ste-Catherine E.). Montreal’s own queen of drag, Mado, will act as art critic and auctioneer. Among the works up for grabs is photo of none other than the Mirror’s film editor Matthew Hays getting the on-set scoop from diva Joan Collins—starting bid: $150. The auction unfolds on Sunday, Oct. 13, 6 p.m. An opening cocktail with artists creating live takes place on Friday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. :

Pin head: With the growing popularity of body art—tattoos, piercings, skin scratching and so on—comes a new level of exhibitionism. Garry Turner, blessed with a genetic gift of super-elastic skin, has shattered the world record for clothespins clipped to a human face. The British man broke his own record, upping his personal best to 153 clothespins at the recent launch of the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records. Those inspired to beat the record should know that lips are off limits and the cheeks are the most painful place to clip. :

Inert nature: “Eight artists delve into the recesses of time to find what defines nature stilled” in Stilled Life, an exhibition featuring paintings, photos and sculptures. It runs from Oct. 12–19 at 20 St-Paul E., 2nd Floor. • Euro tube 10th: ARTE, the European Cultural Channel, celebrates 10 years on TV at the Goethe Institut (418 Sherbrooke E.). The series focuses mainly on Germany’s contribution to the channel and continues until Nov. 27. :

Artistat: Approximate age of the can of Campbell’s soup, autographed by Andy Warhol, that sits inside a sealed vitrine because its rotting contents have caused it to explode—as seen in Daniel Laskarin’s Incident, Catastrophe, Surprise, at Articule (4001 Berri, #105) from Oct. 12–Nov. 10: 30 :

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