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10th ANNUAL CHUTZPAH! FESTIVAL Chutzpah! runs March 4 – April 8, 2010 and promises to captivate audiences with a stunning repertoire of dance, music and theatre with a special pre-festival presentation of the Vancouver based dance troupe, Move: the company’s Legacy Repertoire Project. This year, to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary milestone, Artistic and Managing Director Mary-Louise Albert has programmed a particularly exciting and eclectic selection of gifted artists from around the world and here in Canada. “This is a very special year for the Chutzpah! Festival” stated Ms. Albert. “I’m so proud of how much the festival has grown and matured over the past 10 years. The high calibre of music, dance, theatre and comedic artists that Chutzpah! is now able to present, offers Vancouver audiences a very diverse and dynamic experience. I’m particularly excited that we will be celebrating the festival during the Olympic period as this also offers us the opportunity to show off Chutzpah! to the international stage”. Kicking off the festival is The Idan Raichel Project, who burst onto Israel’s music scene in 2002, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance. With an enchanting blend of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds coupled with sophisticated production techniques and a spectacular live show, the Idan Raichel Project has become one of the most unexpected success stories in Israeli music history... regularly selling out shows worldwide! Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.ca or TM phone 604.280.3311 and also by phone and in person at the Chutzpah! Box Office 604- 257-5145 and 950 West 41st Avenue (March 4 @ 8pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, A Chutzpah!/Chan Centre presentation) Other music highlights include Les Yeux Noirs who will be headlining the 10th Anniversary Closing Night Party. Equal parts gypsy and klezmer (with plenty of jazzy flourishes to boot), thisChutzpah!/Caravan World Rhythms presentation will take you on an exhilarating musical journey from Hungary to Armenia(April 8 @ 8pm, The Venue); The Balkan Beat Box, Israel’s ultimate party band weaves the exotic sounds of the Middle East with urban electronic grooves and hip-hop beats at their infectious circus-like concerts. Fusing electronica and hip hop with wailing horns and the fast and furious folk beats found in gypsy and Balkan music, the group breaks down political barriers with infectious enthusiasm (March 18 @ 8pm,The Venue). A Chutzpah! presentation with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. Sagapool, with its contagious joie de vivre and its vibrant music, has created an original and dazzling repertoire that reflects the colourful influences of Montreal’s cultural mosaic (March 13 @ 8pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre); ARC Ensemble (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) - Canada’s outstanding chamber ensemble explores the extraordinary music of Jewish composers forced to flee the Third Reich after the Nazis cracked down on their “degenerate” music with their Music in Exile concerts. These once-forgotten works are given their due in a moving music concert by the ARC Ensemble. (March 19 @ 2pm and March 20 @ 9pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre, A Chutzpah! presentation with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and Congregation Beth Israel). For dance enthusiasts, Aszure Barton & Artists return to Chutzpah! with her full company of 9 dancers for a breathtaking and explosive repertoire show. The company will be presenting two works. Busk (2009) retains Aszure Barton's signature style of precise whole-body expression. Original, evocative music by Russian violist and composer Lev Ljova Zhurbin, along with a powerful selection of world sound (including choir music from Sweden's Orphei Drangar), enhance this dynamic piece. Blue Soup (2009) is a bubbling mosaic drawn from Aszure Barton's notable past creations. Dynamic, physical action and emotional honesty propelled by a score of global sound build a powerful, pulsating environment. “Full of surprise and humor, emotion and pain, expressed through a dance vocabulary that takes ballet technique and dismantles it to near-invisibility.” - The New York Times (March 16 @ 7pm and March 17 @ 9pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre, A Chutzpah!/Dance Centre presentation). Gallim Dance from New York with special guest Sidra Bell Dance New York will also enthral audiences. The work Gallim Dance will be presenting, I Can See Myself In Your Pupil, is a suite of dances set to the vibrant music of the Israeli band, Balkan Beat Box (also appearing in concert at Chutzpah! March 18 at 8pm, The Venue on Granville St). In bundles of outrageously combustive energy the dance exposes the accursed but ever-present awkwardness of attempting physical intimacy. "..The entire ensemble ... was of the highest calibre and every one of them brought immediacy to his or her performance…visceral and alive." -Tim Martin - Dance Europe (March 6 @ 8pm, March 7 @ 3pm, March 8 @ 7pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre). In a special pre-Chutzpah! presentation, MOVE: the company will be performing the Legacy Repertoire Project, the culmination of a four week creative residency at the Norman Rothstein Theatre. The Legacy Repertoire Project presents remounted work from three of BC's most innovative choreographers of days gone by: Cornelius Fischer-Credo, Harvey Meller and Olivia Thorvaldson. Included in the program is a world premiere by Josh Beamish featuring the male dancers from MOVE: the company. (February 4 & 6, Norman Rothstein Theatre). Theatre fans will enjoy a special treat with three great plays. Odysseus Chaoticis by Israel’s Ish Theater is a fantastic cabaret show based on the travels of Odysseus, King of Ithaca. Parts of the mythological Odyssey are intertwined into a story of an eccentric Italian family; a romantic-dreamer husband, his uptight dominating, but loving wife, a needy old Papa and their noisy newborn baby all packed like sardines in their small home. The day-dreaming husband escapes his mundane routine and takes an imaginative journey inspired by Homer’s Odyssey – this is one of the most entertaining hours you will ever spend in the theatre! “An amazing balance between sharp directing and the brilliant improvisational skills of the three clowns, each one of them bursting with talent” - M.Zur-Glozman, Ma'ariv Online (March 9 and 10 @ 8pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre) The world premiere of Donald and Lenore - a wild and seductive play about survival set in an underground Tahitian Lounge by internationally renowned Vancouver based playwright Tom Cone, directed by David Bloom and starring Linda Quibel and Billy Marchenski (Preview: March 6 @ 8pm, 13 performance run: March 7 to 20 @ 8pm (excluding Fridays), matinee on March 14 @ 4pm, Wosk Tahiti Lounge Cabaret at the JCCGV, A Chutzpah!/Felix Culpa presentation). Underneath the Lintel, by Glen Berger, tells the story of the return of an overdue library book - 113 years late – that piques the nascent detective skills of an uptight Dutch librarian. Christian Murray, superb in the role of the Librarian, leads the audience on a winding trail through history. Directed by Mary Vingoe, “A cosmic puzzle that makes “The Da Vinci Code” seem like a game of hide-and-seek.” - Variety. A Chutzpah!/The Cultch/Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad presentation. (March 14 @ 2pm and 7pm, March 15 at 8pm, March 17 & 18 at 7pm, March 20 at 7pm, Norman Rothstein Theatre). This is our 10th year of showcasing world-renowned artists in a vibrant celebration of the performing arts.
Single tickets for Chutzpah! NRT, Wosk Tahiti Lounge Cabaret and The Venue performances range from $16 - $30 ($16 student tickets for NRT/Wosk shows are available with proof of id). Tickets can be purchased in person at the Chutzpah! Box office at the JCCGV (950 W. 41st Ave – just 2 blocks west of the Oakridge Skytrain Station) as well as by phone at 604.257.5145, or online at www.ticketstonight.ca and www.chutzpahfestival.com. Chutzi Packs are also available, which enable patrons to see 4 shows of their choice for just $65 (not valid for Opening Night Gala with The Idan Raichel Project, the Balkan Beat Box or Les Yeux Noirs). For the Chan Centre, Idan Raichel Project performance tickets range from $41- $54. Online Tickets for The Idan Raichel Project can be purchased only through Ticketmaster (604.280.3311) www.ticketmaster.ca as well as by phone or in person through the Chutzpah! Festival Box Office (604-257-5145)
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