Waiting To Exhale

To celebrate the grand opening of Octopus Garden Yoga, which has relocated to College and Dovercourt from the Annex, 4 free classes were offered this week-end. I decided to attend the 2 hour 9 a.m. class in lieu of my regular practice at St. Clair and Oakwood. The first thing I noticed was the tiny space. I suppose it was typical for a yoga studio. But I'm used to the unusually large space at the Y. The next thing I noticed was the 40 or more people who came. Well, we ended up laying our mats so close together that there was about a finger's width between them.

The owner, Pat Linfoot, decided that for the very first class in this new space, we will do 108 sun salutations (with variations). Yikes! And that's what we did. Over 8 different yoga instructors took turns doing about 10 each. We didn't actually get to it all, ending up somewhere around 80-90, as some instructors took their time and only did a few. It was interesting to observe how different each instructor was. It was also interesting to watch how the participants handle the class.

Even with the variations, it was a lot of sun salutations. This series of postures is the foundation of all yoga practices. It is also very "basic" and not flashy like a handstand or putting your leg behind your head. Yet I believe it is quite difficult to get right and most repetitive injuries or wear-and-tear in Yoga are from these postures. My own observation is that a lot of practitioners don't do them correctly. And that's under normal circumstances.

With 108 in mind, you've got to modified your practice: replacing some the postures with easier variations to conserve energy and be kind to your body. After a few full salutations, I made my own adjustments. Unsurprisingly, the gung-ho ones didn't last too long and took more and more child's pose to rest. I also don't think their wrists, shoulders, or back will feel that good later in the day when the endorphins wear off. The most important part of Yoga is learning to breathe, everything else is meant to teach you that lesson.

After lunch, I went down to the Bell Lightbox, the permanent home of TIFF. With 5 theatres, they will be showing movies year round. With great anticipation, I sat down to watch Breathless (A bout de souffle). Am I a cinephile who wants to see one of the classic movie from the French New Wave movement of the 60s? Not really, although I do like these older films. No, I just wanted to sit in the dark and stare at the gamine, short-haired Jean Seberg for 2 hours. Give me a pixie cut over long tresses any day.

The movie itself was excellent. The impetus and tragedy of the movie is the criminality of Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo). But at its core, Breathless is a romantic movie. Two beautiful people living in Paris, flirting, fighting (playfully), and loving. A distillation of what it means to be young and believing that you are the first in the world to have loved so deeply, to discover "profound" insights (and talk about them), and a rumpled bed in a tiny apartment is all the possession you need.

And did I enjoy looking at Jean Seberg? Yes, she is utterly breath-taking. And the fashionably gamine, yet simple, 60s look she sported was fresh and stylish. I don't know if it was meant as an running joke but her character Patricia asked Michel at various times if she's attractive. He's evasive and does praise her smile, her shoulders, and so on. The take-away is a gallic shrug: "She's ok-looking." Frankly, a real-life Patricia would have most men grinning like a love-sick schoolboy and acting just as foolish.

And would I like a real-life Patricia of my own? Why yes I would ... assuming I survive the heart attack.

The More You Know

It's interesting to see things you are familiar with in a slightly new light. I've been practicing yoga at the West End YMCA for years now. Most other participants have come and on, even the instructors. On a bright sunny afternoon, one of the instructors organized a vegetarian pot-luck on the rooftop garden at the Y so we can get to know some of our fellow yogis. The 18 or so people who showed up made for a fun encounter. Though upon further thought it's probably only about 10% of all people who practice there which is disappointing.

Everyone brought a dish, though I pleaded cooking ignorance and brought 2 types of vegetarian fresh rolls from White Lotus, a Vietnamese vegan restaurant just up the street at College and Lansdowne. Although I already knew some by name, it was nice to put a name to other recognizable faces and learn a bit of their personal history. So things I learnt at the pot-luck:

• No one is a native Torontonian, let alone grew up in the local neighbourhood. The closest is from Brampton. Everyone came from other parts of Canada and all over the world (Brazil, Japan, Ukraine, etc.)
• Though some live in the neighbourhood, others live farther away in High Park, The Junction, and even across town in Leslieville.
• No one is the stereotypical New-Age yoga hippie, though the Y isn't a hard-core yoga studio like Downward Dog. We have PhD students, social workers, theatre folks, and business people. Some are lucky enough to work in a downtown location.
• The best vegetarian dishes are the substantial ones like Indian tofu curry and Mexican chilli. Freshly baked pretzels with a spicy honey mustard dip are also delicious.
• Fruit salads are tasty but easy to make. I should try my hands at an Asian fruit salad some time. Although depending on the tropical fruit, that might make for an expensive dish.
• Vegan coconut mango ice cream is yummy but it's not ice cream. The coconut milk does give it that rich mouth-feel but without emulsifiers it's just a runny yogurt.
• Fresh Ontario peaches baked with cream and sugar, and dusted with icing sugar is heavenly. Nothing like caramelized sugar and fruit to give you that great smoky sweetness.

Every year, a pow-wow is held at Dufferin Park in late September, drawing Native folks from all over the area but also from the States and other Provinces as well. I always enjoy watching the dances and eating the barbecued food, though I'm usually slightly disappointed that there are no truly Aboriginal dishes to try. But this is the first year that I recall that the emcee explained what each of the dances were.

• The cooks are getting much better at barbecue. The hamburgers were delicious unlike the dried buffalo burger I had a few years back.
• I didn't know scones were fried. In any case, they went well with the chilli.
• Grass dance is the dance from which all other pow-wow dances originate. The dancers wear grass costumes, porcupine quills, and other animal parts to inherit their protective properties. They usually open a pow-wow by blessing the ground, spinning and stomping the grass.
• The other sacred dance is the Women's Traditional. The elder women move stately around the dance circle, sometimes raising up a feather or fan. Everyone stands to pay respect, since in some tribes it is the female elders who choose the clan chief.
• In contrast, the Men's Traditional is more frenetic. Costumed warriors wearing outfits stuffed with feathers, carrying wooden rifles or other weapons scuttle low through the grass to avoid gun-fight and then leaping up, trying to outdo each other in energetic movements.
• Only Fancy Dancers wear even more outrageous costumes and have more energetic moves. This dance came from the Buffalo Bill traveling show era, when Native performers were encouraged to add a little more razzle-dazzle to their act.
• The Shawl Dancers spin around, spreading their colourful shawls for all to see. In the old days, it was the matronly women who wore them to gather berries, and spread them out so the children can sit on them. Now, it is young attractive women who do the dance.
• Women also do the Jingle dance, wearing dresses sewn with hundreds of horn-shaped bells. This dance came from the Lake of the Woods area in North-East Ontario. Maggie White was a sick young girl when her father made for her the first jingle dress. Her illness was cured after the dance. Now, it is requested for any healing needs.
• Chicken Dancers are fun to watch with their feather costumes and head-dresses. They try to resemble the cocky roosters in their head and body movements.
• There are of course inter-tribal dances when everyone is invited to dance. These often turn into a Spot dance where a judge will give a dancer at the end of the dance some money, either because they landed on some physical spot in the circle, or perhaps for the quality of their dance or their smile. Of course, you don't need to wait for a Spot dance to add some money to the pot. During an individual dance, if you get a Fancy from their performance, you can always put some money on the ground in front of them as they move around the dance circle.

Red Rover, When Is it Over?

Saturday evening I headed down to the Fleck Theatre down at Harbourfront to see a contemporary dance recital called Red Brick. It's a program of dance pieces interspersed with musical performances created by Marie-Josée Chartier. The night is a tribute to the 10th year anniversity of the death of her composer husband, Michael J. Baker. All musical selections was composed by Baker and played by Array Ensemble.

I found this music very alienating. It's what people think of when they disparagingly talk about "modern music". It's fragmentary, with numerous repetitive passages, and no clear chord progressions. In many cases, for example in the piece "The Place of the Twins" for clarinet and violin, it has the drone-like quality of a gamelan ensemble: a continuous repetition of sound with a very minor progression of changes. However, it is nowhere near as hypnotic. The only interesting piece was "Train" which contained strong percussive rhythm. Unsurprisingly this got the loudest applause from the audience, who seemed glad to hear something recognizably musical.

The dance pieces were also "modern". This is the first time I've seen contemporary dance where I feel more like Homer than Frasier. The strongest piece was the first piece called "C.V." by Kudelka. Dancers in trios, duos, and single execute a series of friezes; that is, a 2-5 second burst of dance and lifts followed by a brief pause where they hold a tableau of gestures. And repeat for the entire piece. As the gestures included contorted faces and limbs, it prompted 3 young boys in the 3rd row just in front of me to bury their head in their hands, trying to stifle their laughter. The other pieces: Encoded Revision, Red Brick, and One Day were less strong. You had to look carefully to see the underlying discipline and skill; otherwise you'd simply conclude that these are people who just flail around and call it dance.

I think the evening was a disappointment for most people, including me. The music was just too strange for most people, and there's too much of it. I'm sure the dance students filling the side rows would have preferred more dancing and less "weird" music, as well as more accessible dance movements. When dance students waggle their hips in imitation of the pieces and then burst out laughing, your choreography might be a little bit too avant-garde.

For a different take on the show, see this Globe and Mail review.

Cobra Kai

No Shame was sponsoring an evening of indie acts at the Garrison on Friday. I seem to be going there a fair amount given that I'm not thrilled about their sound system. But one of my favourite local band, Hooded Fang, was making an appearance.

This was one of those late shows where the first act doesn't come on until 10 pm and the last act takes to the stage at 1 am. I gave Slowhand Motem a listen online. Their sampled techno style didn't really appeal to me so I stayed home until about 10:20 pm. Upon arriving around just before Hooded Fang played the set, I noticed that it was a sparser crowd than other shows: maybe about 50-60 people. With a cover of $3, I thought there would be more people.

Hooded Fang gave a typical fun set although some of them missed some cues here and there. Overall, it was a relaxed performance from the 7 members. I'm happy to learn that they have finished recording their debut LP and will be having a CD release in a few weeks.

Steve McKay was the main act at 12 am. He is the drummer for Bruce Peninsula and has put out a solo effort. His back-up band is also composed of 7 members including the drummer from Hooded Fang. They are friends from other musical acts including Allie Hughes and members of Bruce Peninsula. Interestingly, though the crowd still numbered the same, I'd say about half are different people from the previous set. His light indie pop didn't really stick with me. The lyrics sounded interesting but I couldn't really decipher most of it. I gave a pass on his debut CD, though the various arts and crafts items, as well as some baked goods at the merchandise table did tempt me. I headed home at 12:30 because I had an early day tomorrow.

Saturday morning at 8:15 am I headed down to the Varsity to see a TIFF movie. I wanted to see some more cerebral fares including Nostalgia For the Light and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives but they were sold out. I decided to try and get rush tickets for Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen starring Donnie Yen. I guess martial arts film don't appeal to the typical TIFF crowd because I was able to get a ticket right away and the theatre was only 60% full - although Varsity 8 is a rather large theatre.

But instead of some bone-crunching action, it turned out to be a melodrama. A period set in Shanghai in the 1920s, it had beautiful sets, costumes, and classic cars. The sky-line of old-time Shanghai was a shoddy piece of CGI though. Although the actors were competent, it's nothing more than a glorified soap opera. Chen Zhen (Donnie Yen), a role made famous by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and reprised by Yen in the 1995 TV series Fist of Fury, returns to Shanghai after working at the front-lines in WWI France with other Chinese labourers. He befriends a mobster and joins in with the Chinese resistance against both the increasingly powerless British and the evil Japanese. The nationalistic rhetoric (e.g., "Jap dogs", "Chinese is not the sick man of Asia", "We Chinese must unite", and so on) got tiresome fast.

Sadly, the fighting was few and far between and suffered from the recent Hollywood style of erratic, close-up action shots usually meant to disguise the poor martial prowess of the actors. I can't believe Donnie Yen and producer Gordon Chan would resort to it in a Hong Kong action film. I can only think of 3 reasons. One, it was stunt heavy and Donnie Yen is not Jackie Chan. Two, his main opponents were not trained in stunt fighting. Third, he had a hard time emulating Bruce Lee's fighting style. Though Yen did throw in a couple of Lee-inspired "Hee-ya" in the final Dojo scene, I thought the jumpy camera shots during his awkward nun-chuk scene illustrated rather clearly why this sleight-of-hand was needed. He needs to stick to his usual brutal, MMA-style technique.

Apparently, this film has been optioned for a North American release in 2011; it will open in Asia in September of this year. I'd be surprised if it doesn't go straight to DVD here.