The 2011 Festival Transamèriques

This week and next, I'm guest editor of the Charlebois Post for it's coverage of the Festival Transamèriques! You can log into CharPo at http://www.charpo.blogpot.com for all your FTA and Montreal Fringe reviews!

Festival TransAmériques

Yume No Shiro (photo: Klaus Lefebvre)

And We're Off!
Festival Transamériques takes on today's youth with an unpredictable blend of new hybrids in the performing arts
David King

If there was a way to describe what to expect at this year's Festival Transamériques (FTA), it would first be to expect shows about our youth - and then expect the unexpected. Although the Festival makes some pretty clear delineation between its theatre and dance offerings, there's an increasingly fine line between the two each FTA as disciplines overlap.

Until June 11, CharPo will be reviewing more than a handful of the English-language related (spoken or subtitled) international theatre highlights at this year's FTA, including the Berlin / Amsterdam work Trust (read Joel Fishbane's review here), the always exciting Vancouver company Boca del Lupo with Photog, world renowned director Richard Maxwell's Neutral Hero, the much-anticipated Gardenia (see our preview by Bugs Burnett) and the contemporary Buenes Aires adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House entitled El Desarrollo de La Civilizacíon Venidera, by the brilliant Argentinian director Daniel Veronese.

Feature articles this month

THE BOYZ OF BIZZARRE: In this month's Outlooks, I visit with Coupe Bizzarre's JIMI IMIJ and ROBERT Peiter to chat with them about the success of the Toronto / Montreal salon and this summer's hair, um, tips... http://outlooks.ca/magazine/Entries/2011/4/26_Trail_Blazers_-_Coupe_Bizzarre.html

BACK TO BOHEMIA: Hotel hopping in the Big Apple couldn't be better than a visit to the historic Lafayette House and Maritime, Bowery and Jane Hotels, where multi-million dollar investors and local heroes  Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode have been blending turn-of-the-century elegance with eclectic bohemian decor at some of the city’s oldest heritage sites: http://outlooks.ca/magazine/Entries/2011/4/26_Back_To_Bohemia_-_Retro_NYC.html

Canadian Trailblazer Dean Nelson

Whistler's Dean Nelson takes the homophobia out of sports. In my monthly column TRAILBLAZERS, I salut Dean for his work at the Vancouver Olympics, GayWhistler and more. Check out the article at http://outlooks.ca/magazine/Entries/2011/3/20_Canadian_Trailblazers__Dean_Nelson.html