La Presse interviews ELAN’s Guy Rodgers: “Effervescence chez les artistes anglos”

Alexandre Vigneault has an excellent column in today’s La Presse about the vitality of Montreal’s anglo arts scene in recent years. He refers to the new book Minority Report: An Alternate History of Quebec’s English-Language Arts Scene (Available through Guernica Editions), and interviews ELAN executive director Guy Rodgers.

I’ve translated the article below. You can read the complete original article on LaPresse.ca.

-Posted by Geoff

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Anglo-Montreal writers are not only numerous, many are popular internationally, including Trevor Ferguson, also known by his pseudonym John Farrow. PHOTO: ANDRÉ PICHETTE, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE

Translated from Effervescence chez les artistes anglos by Alexandre Vigneault for La Presse, 24 November 2011. (Translation by ELAN)

Renowned music scene, award-winning writers, bubbling theatre milieu, anglo-Montreal culture is experiencing a resurgence. This dynamism coincides with the first growth in the number of anglophones in Quebec in the past 30 years, according to the book Minority Report.

During the first half-decade of the 2000s, the number of anglophones rose by 2.7% in Quebec, according to 2006 Census data. The observation represents not only a reversal of the exodus begun in 1976 — it is also one of the factors contributing to the renewal of the Anglo-Montreal artistic scene, according to the essays collected in Minority Report.

“This increase isn’t limited to the artistic community, but among artists there has been enormous growth,” notes Guy Rodgers, director of the English-Language Arts Network (ELAN), an organisation founded in 2005 to bring together Quebec’s anglophone artists. The percentage of artists in the anglo-Montreal community (0.99%) is higher than the Canadian (0.65%) and Quebec (0.56%) averages, as noted in a Canadian Heritage report.

In recent years, the effervescence of anglo-Montreal creation has been emphasized by the international success of Arcade Fire. Minority Reports stresses that this phenomenon is not limited to the music milieu: the theatre scene experienced an unimaginable vitality 25 years ago, writes Marianne Ackerman, and this holds for the litterary community as well.

“What am I doing to allow infrastructure to degrade in Quebec?” asks Porte Parole AD Annabel Soutar

In today’s Montreal Gazette, Projet Porte Parole Artistic Director Annabel Souter has an excellent Op/Ed letter reflecting on the Ville-Marie Tunnel collapse, in the context of her extensive interviews and research to create a series of plays about the deadly collapse of de la Concorde overpass.

It is a poignant editorial on a hot-button topic and a touching commentary on the real-life implications of work in the cultural realm.

You can read excerpts below, and please visit montrealgazette.com for the complete article in its original context.

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It has been almost four years since the government took delivery of the Johnson Commission report after the collapse of the de la Concorde overpass. Photograph by: Pierre Obendrauf, GAZETTE file photo

Opinion: What can YOU do about the road mess?
By Annabel Soutar, Special to the Gazette

Four years ago I decided to write a play called Sexy béton about the collapse of the de la Concorde overpass in Laval. Although I was moved by the tragic consequences of the incident, my decision to write a play was inspired by the poetic quality of this real story. A bridge is a symbol of connectedness. When a bridge falls down, it indicates a failure in the structures that support a middle ground between two disconnected entities. When a bridge called “Concorde” – from the Latin meaning harmony – collapses, the universe is screaming out for someone to appreciate the resonance of the event.

(…)

I wondered how our leaders behaved in times of crisis? I wondered why, when something fell down, people ran away like mischievous children saying “It wasn’t me!” Most of all, I asked myself, “What can I do about it?” What can one person do to try to shift an entire culture that collectively avoids responsibility?

Massey Commission 2.0: Is it time to hit refresh on Canada’s ‘Magna Carta of arts and culture’?

This Magazine‘s Hilary Beaumont posted an excellent editorial today, rewinding 67 years to the Massey Commission report, the very origin of Canada’s cultural policies.

A great read for culture-lovers and skeptics alike, Beaumont reminds why Canada originally chose to fund culture and asks whether it is time for a Massey Commission for the 21st century — one which can lay the groundwork for the next 67 years of cultural policy.

In light of recent debates in English and French media (see here, here, here, and here), it is important to re-examine our understanding of why funding culture is good policy.

Below, we’ve pulled some salient excerpts. Still, do take a moment to read the complete article on www.this.org/…/massey-commission. Or if you’re feeling particularly motivated, dive directly into the original 1951 Massey Commission report.

How to save arts and culture in Canada: a Massey Commission 2.0
by Hilary Beaumont for This Magazine

(…)

Jeff Melanson, currently co-CEO the National Ballet School, and soon to be president of The Banff Centre, made a provocative suggestion at a talk in late May hosted by the Literary Review of Canada: a new Massey Commission.

Canada’s “Magna Carta of arts and culture,” as the commission’s report was nicknamed, was released in 1951. The detailed document gave advice on the state of Canada’s arts, sciences, humanities, and media based on three premises:

1. Canadians should know as much as possible about their country’s culture, history and traditions
2. We have a national interest to encourage institutions that add to the richness of Canadian life
3. Federal agencies that promote these ends should be supported

(…)

Rewind 67 years. Canada was nearing the end of the Second World War, a key part of which was fought using propaganda. Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia needed to keep their populations confused and complacent; the U.S. and Canada wanted their citizens to buy liberty bonds and join the army. Information and creative expression were deployed against the masses.

Before the war, Canada’s government had no real investment in the arts. The turning point came when arts groups began calling on their government to support culture as a way of protecting democracy.

As a negative argument, stifling creativity is censorship’s equal. As a positive argument, the arts play a role in driving democracy through freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. (Thank you section 2(b) of the Charter.) Citizens who think critically and express their ideas creatively are a basic part of any healthy democracy — they hold government accountable.

(…)

Today many of the report’s recommendations are dated. (…) But technology is far from the report’s only concern. As Tom Perlmutter, chair of the National Film Board of Canada, told the Toronto Star:

“What we need now is not one particular policy patchwork fix but the new Massey-Levesque for the 21st century. We need to rethink the fundamental conceptual framework that can give rise to the cultural policies that will serve us for the next 60 years.”

Whether it is updated or started again from scratch, this not-yet-conceived report should be the brainchild of Canadian artists. They should review those ever-important premises about promoting the historical and cultural richness of our country. They should reassess how creative minds are using technology. They should research how Canada’s cultural policies compare to those abroad. And, most importantly, they must underline the fundamental reason that Canadians support the arts financially: the health and vibrancy of our democracy.

On SunTV and Margie Gillis, BackoftheBook.ca

Context: A video of Sun Media’s Krista Erickson browbeating dance legend Margie Gillis went viral last week. For posts about the ensuing debate, click here and here. For posts on a similar debate in the French media last month, see here, here and here.

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On SunTV and Margie Gillis (excerpts), by Louis Laberge-Côté

Canadian dancer Louis Laberge-Côté, currently a teacher at Nationaltheatre Manheim in Germany, offered this assessment.

[...] And by the way, culture sector workers (including artists) are taxpayers just like any other worker in Canada, something Miss Erickson seems to easily forget.

[...] Each time an artist like Margie Gillis receives a grant, Canadians are hired: dancers, actors, musicians, composers, rehearsal directors, lighting/costume/set designers, photographers, administrative and marketing staff, to name a few. Rehearsal and performing space are rented. Eventually, posters, flyers, ads and programs are designed, printed and distributed. Many audience members go to a restaurant before or after the performance traveling by car, taxi, or public transportation. Previews and reviews are written in newspapers and magazines. Tourists come to a city or decide to stay longer to see a specific show or exhibition. Touring artists fly and travel all around the world on commercial airlines. The list goes on and on.

[...] Looking at it proportionally, it is easy to see that cultural funding doesn’t represent that much money in the big picture. In fact, wanting to cut these amounts to help the economy is somewhat similar to wanting to cut the toenails of an obese man, just so he could lose some weight. Somewhat ridiculous, don’t you think? Especially since by comparing these numbers with the ones from the Conference Board, we can also see that this “small” collective investment is actually quite a profitable one; the Conference Board estimates that in 2007, the expenses related to culture on all levels of government together (federal, provincial and local) reached $7.9 billion. This $7.9 billion generated $84.6 globally, something we all benefit from, and not only the “cultural elites” as Miss Erickson likes to believe.

[...] But let’s use a more contemporary example; Cirque du Soleil started from nothing and is now worth around $2 billion. In the early ‘80s, the founders were a few unknown artists living in Baie-Saint-Paul with no rehearsal space. I am pretty sure Miss Erickson would have gladly described them as “walk like an Egyptian” “artsy fartsy” “cultural elites”, to use more of the colourful language she enjoys so much. But luckily, Guy Laliberté didn’t meet with Miss Erickson when he needed public support. He met with Québec Premier René Lévesque who took the time to listen. Thanks to a politician who had faith in culture, this little circus with no audience at the time became a highly successful international enterprise. But this didn’t happen in one day. It took many years of research, development, and trial and error which were at first not profitable.

[...] In fact, many artistic movements and creators were at first not appreciated by their contemporaries. For the longest time, jazz music had a very limited audience. Artists such as Van Gogh and Stravinsky, whose work is greatly appreciated nowadays, had very difficult beginnings. Many of the things we can enjoy today as “normal entertainment” would have been completely misunderstood just a hundred years ago. And that’s normal, as this is how humanity evolves. Should we stop artistic evolution just because it requires effort and personal exploration to fully appreciate it, especially knowing that this pattern (avant-garde works not being mainstream) has existed for centuries? Obviously no.

And of course, this pattern also exists in other fields. Take science for example. There is practical science which has clear direct function. And there is leading-edge research, which doesn’t necessarily have immediate results. But leading-edge research is the reason why diabetes treatments, X-rays and supersonic planes exist today. I don’t understand why artists are being publicly described as spoiled elitists when the government also supports the pharmaceutical industry, high-caliber sports or higher education. Everything is financed by the state. And everybody benefits from it. When an athlete competes on an international level, we’re all winners. When an artist like Margie Gillis presents her work internationally, the effect is the same. [...]

La Presse and Rue Frontenac respond to aggressive Margie Gillis interview on Sun TV News

Canada Live with Krista Erikson, June 1 2011

A video of Sun Media’s Krista Erickson browbeating dance legend Margie Gillis went viral last week. For context and a link to the video, click here. We have yet to notice discussion in Canada’s English papers, but journalists for La Presse and RueFrontenac.com have filed responses this week.

Translated excerpts and links to the complete original articles are available below.
(Translations by ELAN).

*****

Marc Cassivi, La Presse

La compassion de Sun TV News / The Compassion of Sun TV News
Marc Cassivi, La Presse (June  7)

“Why do you need grants for this?” asks the journalist, falsely earnest, mockingly miming Margie Gillis’ hand gestures [from the video clip]. “Because art in our country is not profitable,” the dancer responds, calm despite multiple provocations. “Why would taxpayers pay for something that isn’t profitable?” exclaims the journalist, as if revealing a self-evident fact.

She says this with clear disdain. With the short-term fiscal logic of those who can see no reason for art: Why would you get $1.2M in taxpayers’ money to make silly gestures with your arms?

Why, you ask? Because without public financing not only would there be no contemporary dance, but no theatre, literature, music or television as we know them in Canada. Even private television, which benefits from tax credits and other public supports, would be unrecognizable.

[...] At that moment I found myself wondering if Krista Erickson, in her frenzy of sophistry, would lead the same style of interview with Don Cherry, who never misses a chance to recall his support for the war. Don Cherry who, for his frequently contemptuous commentary between two periods of hockey on public television, takes home a salary estimated at more than $700,000  (and refuses to reveal the actual total of his contract).

[..] These details don’t interest Sun TV News. But an average $100,000 per year to support the activities of one of the most respected dancers in the country and the members of her troupe, well, that is fodder for a scandal.

[Click here to read the complete original article on www.cyberpresse.ca]

*****

Patrick Gauthier, Rue Frontenac

La maison de verre / The Glass House
Patrick Gauthier, RueFrontenac.com

In short, the two Quebecor commentators [Krista Erickson and Nathalie Elgrably-Levy] feel taxpayers’ money should stay in the taxpayers’ pockets and the free market will take care of the rest.

Here, we face a superb example of “Do as I say, not as I do.” As reported in Rue Frontenac two years ago, Quebecor pockets its fair share of grants every year.

A simple click on the Canadian Heritage site reveals that for the year 2009-10 alone, eight magazines by TVA Publications (a Quebecor property) pocketed $2,108,657 in grants under the Publications Assistance Program.

The same empire that denounces $1.2M given to one of the greatest dancers in history and her company over [13 years] pockets, with out laughing, more than $2M a year for MAGAZINES that sell ads and often do little more than publicize the empire’s own products.

For example, TV Hebdo alone received more than three-quarters of a millions dollars last year. Whereas 7 Jours (which just won the prize for best selling edition at newsstands, for the one with Celine’s twins on the cover) collected $48,380.

[Click here to read the complete original article on RueFrontenac.com]

Can you explain why we give public money to artists?

A video of Sun Media’s Krista Erickson browbeating dance legend Margie Gillis is making the rounds on Facebook today.

To watch a national cultural icon treated with such open disrespect is angering. However the question ‘Why are Canadian taxpayers obliged to contribute to the arts?’ is perfectly legtimate and deserves a clear response.

We in the arts community take it for granted that the value of public arts funding is self-evident. But it has been 50 years since the value of cultural investment was agreed upon after public debate. Do taxpayers remember why arts funding mattered then? Do the arguments still hold?

Coming so tightly on the heels of a similar debate in the French media (see here, here and here), we should invest some time and effort into examining our assumptions and ensuring that they still resonate with the Canadian public.

Canada Live with Krista Erickson, 1 June 2011

(Click above to watch the interview)

Other links to recent anti-arts funding clips from Sun Media:

• Ezra “Le Artiste” Levant (The Source, 25 May 2011)
• Getting More Out of Moore (Canada Live with Krista Erickson, 21 May 2011)
• The Waste Report: Arts Funding (Canada Live with Krista Erickson, 17 May 2011)
• Eviscerating the Artsy-Fartsy (Canada Live with Krista Erickson, 16 May 2011)

A Few Words on Auditioning | Theatre For Thought, April 19, 2011

joel fishbane

Excerpt from ‘A Few Words on Auditioning’ by joel fishbane for CharPo
“Auditioning is sort of like me hiring a lawyer after watching the way she washes my car.”

It’s important to remember that when you walk into an audition, nobody is waiting to see whether you know how to act. They already assume that you do. What they want to see is whether you are Right for the Part (or for their Theatre School). How do you prove you are Right for the Part? Sadly, this is a question with no answer. If you are auditioning for Hamlet, perhaps you can try to show you know a thing or two about being depressed in Denmark; but if you are auditioning for Theatre School, you’re not so lucky.

If you’ve recently loaned Danny Boyle money or plan on being the next James Franco, then you probably don’t have to worry about auditions. But in case your career path isn’t following this trajectory, it might be good to remember the following things: (…)

Continue reading at charpo.blogspot.com/…/

Stacey Christodoulou on The TNM/Cantat Debacle

Stacey Chrisodoulou

Excerpt from “The Reality Show That Makes Intellectuals Feel Good About Being Voyeurs”
By Stacey Christodoulou for The Charlebois Post

(…) There is a novel by French writer Amélie Nothomb called “Concentration” about a reality show that takes place in a concentration camp. If the TNM’s programming is any indication, that will be coming soon to a theatre near you.  Maybe I should program this.  Are you listening, Amélie?  That would make your ironic concept even more ironic!  It’s brilliant PR and think of the merchandising possibilities!  Striped pyjamas for Christmas with a copy of Sartre’s Nausea !

Casting a murderer in a play about murder is not a way to “engender debate in the theatre and society”.  It is about manufacturing controversy for profit.  It is the desperate last gasp of an art form that feels its own irrelevancy in the age of Youtube.  This venture can try to hide behind its intellectual sheen but, in the end, it is nothing more than Charlie Sheen. Get your T-shirts now.

Read the complete article on charpo.blogspot.com/…/

Lost Voices: Are our female writers being left behind?

Theatre for Thought, April 5, 2011
despite a wealth of feminine talent and influence, male writers continue to dominate our stages
By joel fishbane for The Charlebois Post

I first became aware of  Theresa Rebeck after I realized I had stolen one of her titles. Sort of. In 2009, I developed a play with PWM called The Understudies only to learn that a few years earlier, Theresa Rebeck’s play The Understudy had opened on Broadway (fortunately for me, the plots are very different). I’ve been paying attention to Ms. Rebeck’s career ever since – mostly to ensure I didn’t steal anymore titles – and I noticed a few weeks ago that she did a remarkable thing: at a recent conference in NYC, Ms. Rebeck tackled the question of sexism in theatre.

Duncan Jones’ Source Code a great showcase of Montreal’s film know-how

By BRENDAN KELLY SUN, APR 3 2011
Source: communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/…/

Duncan Jones’s totally-cool new thriller Source Code is a great showcase of Montreal film know-how – but you’d never know it just from watching this Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle.

Jones shot Source Code in Montreal in March of last year, adding some star power to the city, with the arrival of Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Jeffrey Wright, and Vera Farmiga. But you’ll have a tough time spotting any local landmarks in the film. I caught it Saturday afternoon at the AMC Forum with my daughter Devan and the only sign of our hometown that we saw was the hundreds of franco names in the end credits.

But if you look closely at the credits, you will see the names of a number of top-drawer Montreal special-effects houses that worked on the picture, including Modus FX, Oblique FX, and Rodeo FX, and they did some pretty nifty work, including making it look like that Chicago commuter train was blown to smithereens every eight minutes during this tightly-wound thriller.

Continue reading on Show Biz Chez Nous with Brendan Kelly