THINGS TO DO IN MONTREAL: MARCH 23-29

THINGS TO DO IN MONTREAL: MARCH 23-29

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Montreal bids March adieu with a bounty of things to do: a film fest dedicated to art, lively and inspiring theatre, dance and burlesque, three new photography exhibitions, plus plenty of toe-tapping music for rocking out or kicking back…

(theatrical feats) Performing arts mecca the Segal Centre continues its run of Morris Panych’s comedy Vigil, to April 1, and adds a night of comedy, The Laugh Pack Late Show, on March 29, while in Old Montreal the Centaur Theatre puts on de Marivaux’s romantic-comedy classic The Game of Love and Chance. Infinithéâtre takes on the dark humour of award-winning The Leisure Society, at Bain St-Michel, to March 25. And dance, theatre and a multitude of media collide in Calgary’s Theatre Junction Grand show Lucy Lost Her Heart, at Usine C, March 28-30.

(visual abundance) See art, in all its forms, from sculpture to music to design, on the big screen at the 30th International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA), March 15–25, screening new docs, shorts and feature films from Canada and around the world. On Friday and Saturday night, check out the Society for Arts and Technology’s first SAT Fest, a screening of immersive films made specifically for their 360° audio-visual dome, starting at 8 p.m. – get there early for gourmet eats at the Food Lab (this weekend’s theme is “Smörgåsbord”) – and stick around after 10 p.m. for music and dancing afterwards with DJs Voodoo Voodoo and Saint-Martial (free!).

(wild moves) Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal welcomes Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis and his Soirée Stravinski, featuring Igor Stravinski’s Noces (The Wedding) and The Rite of Spring, as well as Celis’ trio Anima, March 22-24 and 29-31, at Place des Arts. And the Edgy Women Festival, to April 1 at various locations such as Studio 303, does exactly what it’s name implies, blending dance, theatre and performance art with fabulous, rebellious womanly ways – always a wild time.

(dirty dancing) Glamour, glitter and titillation abound at The Grand Burlesque Show, March 29-31 at Club Soda, a multi-performer spectacular produced by Scarlett James, also a performer, complete with 5-foot-tall martini glass. Performers such as Lada Redstar, Jett Adore, La Divina, acrobats, comedians and actors run hot with this year’s Island Fever theme. For burlesque of a different colour, watch as Glam Gam Productions’ Little Beau Peep brings storybook tales to naughty life, March 23-25 at Café Cléopâtre.

(art of photography) Human presence is everywhere in the photography of world-traveling, Montreal-based photographer Lynne Cohen, even though there are no people in any of her images – the McCord Museum presents a small but powerful exhibition of photographs spanning 40 years – and while there, see their fascinating Inuit Modern exhibition. The newly relocated Vox gallery goes back in time to reflect on photography as art, as document and as a part of history. And Dazibao gallery’s Live rightly, die, die… explores the phenomenon of “artistic tourism” while Chuck Samuels looks at life Before Photography.

(more music) Smooth RB meets hip-hop as The Weeknd gets us ready for the more conventionally spelled weekend, at Metropolis, March 23. The 12th edition of Jazz en Rafale brings on the jazzy bass at various locations, March 23–24 and 29–31. Celebrated pianist Cyprien Katsaris wows Theatre Outremont on March 24. Poetry, pop and hip-hop meet as Saul Williams tours his album Volcanic Sunlight, with Spoek Mathambo, at La Tulipe, and Brooklyn’s dirty, fuzzy The Men rock Il Motore, both on March 24. Montreal musician and turntable-ist Kid Koala helps arty-crafty boutique L’Atelier celebrate its anniversary on March 26. And British rock band Kasabian play Theatre Corona on March 28.

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