5 Things to Do in Vancouver This Week (February 16-21)

Credit: Julien Benhamou of Opera National de Paris 2019.

1. Body and Soul, Choreographed by Crystal Pite

February 17 to 23

B.C.-grown (and internationally renowned) choreographer Crystal Pite is serving up the best in ballet this week: Body and Soul performed by the Paris Opera Ballet. The show, originally filmed in November 2019 in Palais Garnier, Paris, has themes of “conflict, connectedness, and the embodiment of the human spirit”— uplifting messages in COVID times.

Credit: Christache Ross. Pictured: Emily Jane King, Lili Robinson, Alisha Davidson.

2. Mx at the Cultch

February 18 to 24

You’ve never seen a reality show quite like this. Through the lens of The Nancy Show—an imagined reality where “each night, one lucky guest from the African Diaspora is granted a unique opportunity to reconnect to their ancestors”—we’re following Max, a gender-questioning and mixed-race introvert looking for answers regarding their background and their place in the world. Tune in virtually for Mx, winner of the Fringe New Play Prize and the Cultchivating the Fringe Award.

Credit: Alistair Eagle

3. Musique Sans Frontières (Music Without Borders)

February 18

Catch the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra‘s first ever “appearance” in Quebec—online, of course. VICO is opening Montreal’s new music festival with a selection of songs from their new album, In the Key of the World. The ensemble includes both Western classical instruments (you know, your violins, cello, flutes, clarinets, etc.) as well as other instruments from all over the world (the erhu, kamanche, tabla, daf and tombak, to name a few).

Credit: Sun Xun, Mythological Time, 2016, production drawing for video animation, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Gift of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in connection with The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative

4. Sun Xun: Mythological Time

February 20 to August 22

Chinese artist Sun Xun is hitting the Vancouver Art Gallery in a big way—literally. His ink painting titled Mythological Time is 30 metres long. It’s on display for the first time ever this weekend, along with a video installation project that transports audiences to the mining town of Fuxin in northern China—Sun’s hometown—where the depletion of coal threatens both the economy and community.

Credit: Chinese shadow puppet(s) from the Yutian Wenhua collection. Photo by Annie Katsura Rollins.

5. Gateway Theatre’s Chinese Shadow Puppetry Workshop

February 21

This afternoon workshop led by Annie Katsura Rollins will teach participants all about Chinese shadow puppetry, a gorgeous art that’s been trending for, well, a couple thousand years. After learning some historical tidbits through interactive photos and videos, participants will get step-by step instructions on how to make a shadow puppet of their own. Sunday’s session also includes a Mandarin interpreter “for anyone eager to revisit a unique corner of their own cultural history.” Everybody loves puppets!