NAC launches ambitious Canada Scene
You can see it, hear it, feel it during jam-packed, six-week arts festival
More than 1,000 Canadian artists representing a vast spectrum of artistic pursuits will be part of this summer’s Canada Scene festival organized by the National Arts Centre.
The six-week celebration of arts, from June 15 to July 23, will feature performers in theatre, dance, music, visual and media art, and film. It’s the culmination of the NAC’s biennial Scene festivals, which began with the Atlantic Scene in 2003. Subsequent Scene festivals have shone the spotlight on the arts in Alberta, Quebec, British Columbia, the Prairies, Canada’s North and Ontario.
“Canada Scene is no different, except it’s going to be six weeks and we’re covering the whole country,” Scene producer and executive director Heather Moore said in an interview. “We’ve been across the country and it seems like a natural fit to do one big sesquicentennial to wrap things up.”
Among the highlights are oneoff concerts that bring together artists from across the country; large-scale, interactive art installations; and a free summer series of family activities and concerts that will take place in the soon-to-beunveiled public spaces of the NAC, which has been undergoing a major renovation.
Working with a mission statement to “inspire, provoke and celebrate,” Canada Scene organizers hope to inspire emerging artists, celebrate established ones and include those whose work challenges expectations.
One focus is the unique concert events that bring together artists from across the country, including plenty of indigenous voices.
“We want to do things that are different from everything else that’s happening in all those other wonderful music festivals that are on at the same time,” Moore said, describing the Scene as “an incredible cultural adventure.”
In other words, instead of superstar headliners, many shows will feature a multitude of talents. Among those events: A July 8 showcase of Canadian fiddle traditions starring Natalie MacMaster, April Verch and Fretless;
A July 22 showcase of female indigenous artists, including Tanya Tagaq, Ottawa’s Amanda Rheaume, Iskwe and Digging Roots’ ShoShona Kish; and
A July 23 concert by the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, which features top-notch musicians who have immigrated to Canada.
The Queer Songbook on July 9 brings Rough Trade’s Carole Pope and the Parachute Club’s Lorraine Segato together in a 12-piece chamber pop orchestra.
Yves Lambert, Socalled and Le Vent Du Nord reinvent the Quebec kitchen party on July 15.
Other francophone shows include Edith Butler’s Soiree Acadienne on July 4, and Ariane Moffatt’s July 14 appearance with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Some of the bigger performances have already been announced, such as Buffy Sainte-Marie’s concert on July 3; the Louis Riel opera on June 15 and 17; a seven-pianist tribute to Oscar Peterson on July 10; and Rufus Wainwright’s guest spot with the NAC Orchestra on July 12.
There’s also a new sub-series of free concerts, Scene@6, that’s part of an effort to transform the NAC into a community hub.
“We’re creating all these new public spaces in the building,” Moore said. “In the past, when you interacted with us, it’s mostly because you have a ticket to the show, or you’re parking your car here, or you might come to the café. Other than that, we haven’t really had anything for you during the day. We are going to be evolving that over the next few years as we start to see what our spaces allow.”
Scene@6 concerts will take place at 6 p.m. each evening, featuring performances by William Prince, Quantum Tangle, the East Pointers and more in the new Atrium.
Another series of free family-oriented performances will happen at 11 every morning from July 2 to 23, also in the Atrium. Programming for the Family Scene series includes the Ottawa Stilt Union, Bouchar Danse, and Bust-A- Groove. There’s also a four-day opportunity to learn traditional skills in the Northern Craft Workshops, July 19-22, including beadwork, doll-making, stone-carving and caribou furtufting. A craft market will offer art for sale from seven artists from the Northwest Territories.
Theatre offerings include the groundbreaking Making Treaty 7 on June 20, a large-scale re-enactment of the 1877 signing of Treaty 7 in Southern Alberta; Neworld Theatre’s King Arthur (June 24-26) performed by professional actors with and without Down syndrome; and Ottawa playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s Old Stock, a tale of her great-great-grandparents’ immigrating to Canada. It stars the bigvoiced Halifax singer-songwriter Ben Caplan.
Canada Scene’s dance component is presented in partnership with the Canada Dance Festival, including contemporary works by Vancouver’s Lee Su-Feh (July 12-15), Governor General’s Awardwinning Peggy Baker (July 13), and Compagnie Marie Chouinard (July 14 and 15), to name a few. Another intriguing show is Dollhouse (July 15), a collaboration between choreographer Bill Coleman and avantgarde composer Gordon Monahan.
Highlights of the visual art pieces include Cloud (July 15-23), an interactive work of 6,000 light bulbs by Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett; and Range Light, Borden Carleton, PEI (July 15-12), a lifesize latex cast of a P.E.I. lighthouse to be installed in the NAC’s mezzanine.
The film entries include A Nation of Nations (June 19), featuring 10 short works by indigenous filmmakers; Guy Maddin’s participatory Seances (July 11-23); and the Atlantic Film Waves showcase of indie film from Atlantic Canada on July 4.
Canada Scene tickets are on sale at the NAC box office and through ticketmaster.ca. Call 1-888-9912787 or go to nac-cna.ca for information. Discounts are available if you go to more than one show.