Winter Wonderland

Great Hall view of snowy Toronto

The Long Winter series of art/music shows at The Great Hall is to combat the "winter blues". But although it can be nippy, Toronto hasn't had a large blast of winter. But on Friday, a large storm rolled through, and it was appropriately wintery as I made my way through high snowbanks and clogged side streets for the 4th installment.

Though it was unlikely the thousand-plus people who joined the Facebook event all showed, northward of 600 did come out, filling up all the rooms at the venue. But things were roomy to start, with art installation (inflatable human torsos, long streamers along the stairs, photo exhibits, and word games) throughout. Later, the basement theatre would turn into an electro punk dance party. But early on, they were showing featurettes and short films. I found the short film "Marvin, Seth & Stanley" a by-the-book depiction of a father and his 2 estranged son trying to reconnect on a fishing trip.

Art, Music, Party

In the Main Hall, bands played all night although there were also more esoteric fare like a dance number by CCB Dance accompanied live by Yacht Club. The great thing about an all-ages show were the young teenagers who eagerly crammed right up to the stage to dance and enjoy the show, unlike the more typical stand-offish Toronto crowd. Rituals played fuzzy indie with long drawn out chords and refrains. Odonis Odonis has become more punkish, but the inclusion of synth drum pads and electronically modulated vocals gave a 90s Garbage vibe to their sound. Kids On TV was all about dressing up and rap-shout to dancy club beats, but their odd lyrics weren't typical of the genre. Fucked Up and Holy Fuck turned it all into a giant mosh pit, but I ducked out before their set to spare my aging bones.

In the Conversation Room, things started provocatively with a discussion on "Modern Love" by University of Toronto professor Michael Cobb who pushed for an re-assessment of singlehood as not a problem to be cured or a tragic social flaw and Arianne Shaffer, a story-teller who believed in true love and commitment. The discussion, with feedback from the crowd, ranged over online dating, intimacy, and pornography. The background noise level, with all the glad-handing, drinking, and socializing was reaching feverish pitch. So despite standing on a table and using a mic, Chris Colohan struggled to be heard reciting his free verse. The same issue plagued Tasseomancy. But those of us who paid attention to their dreamy, folkloric music with beautiful vocal harmony, mandolin, and complicated rhythm on drums and steel pan, it was a wonderful discovery. Maylee Todd ended the night getting the packed crowd to dance to her soul/funk music on such numbers as her new singles Baby's Got It and Hieroglyphics. And if her 80s-style I Can't Stand It wasn't retro fun enough for you, she also covered Evelyn Champagne King's Love Come Down.

Journey Into Night

In 2005, as part of a series of re-imagined myths, Margaret Atwood wrote The Penelopiad as a companion to the classic The Odyssey. From the perspective of Penelope, Atwood gave voice to the powerless and forgotten women especially the 12 young slaves that Odysseus hung upon his return because they "polluted" his house.

Last year, Nightwood Theatre mounted this work as a play. With so much positive reactions, they have remounted it. On Saturday, I saw this powerful piece of theatre and myth with a sold-out audience at Buddies In Bad Times. On a darkened stage, Penelope (Megan Follows) entered through billowing, white curtains. We were in Hades, and having made her usual rounds through the fields of Asphodel, Penelope will tell us her life story from her perspective. It won't be a pleasant one, as her monologue was interrupted by her 12 hand-maidens, each with a noose around her neck, chanting a dirge about their eventual fate.

So we followed her through re-enactments from her life: her cold inhuman Naiad mother (Fiona Byrne) and a gruff father Icarius (Audrey Dwyer) who tried to drown her as a baby, her marriage to wily Odysseus (Kelli Fox), her rough relationships with her in-laws Laertes (Maev Beaty), Anticleia (Sarah Dodd), and Odysseus' old nurse Eurycleia (Patricia Hamilton), and her competitive interactions with the ravishing Helen (Pamela Sinha). Through each phase, we came to realize that her life was often at someone's whim. But it was also made clear by the female chorus how much worse was the life of a non-aristocratic woman.

The second act was harrowing as Penelope tried to fend off boorish suitors and raise Telemachus (Neema Bickersteth) while Odysseus was away for 20 years. There were stirring scenes such as when Penelope named her hand-maidens and enlisted them to keep the interlopers at bay, but also scenes of violence and sexual assault that may even be triggering. Patriarchy hurts everyone, but it absolute destroys poor, lower-class women.

The actresses, who doubly and even triply played all the roles from the main characters, the maids, and the suitors were excellent. The inventive set and costumes were often used in multiple ways too. For example, Odysseus cape became his ship's sail. There were intense scenes, but there were also lots of irreverent and even contemporary humour. Suba Sankaran's music and songs were folkloric and often disquieting.

The only fault for me was the problematic conclusion. Atwood introduced a detail that, in some small way, allowed Penelope, Odysseus, Eurycleia, and Telemachus to figuratively deny their full complicity and responsibility in the unjust deaths of the maids. I think Atwood pulled her punch and took a tiny bit of agency away from them by introducing an element of careless fate.

Why did Atwood allowed her upper-class characters to take on some measure of victimhood? Well, patriarchy is not just about "men vs women", it is mainly about the privileged vs. the unprivileged. She has more in common with Penelope and Odysseus than the women slaves; so I think that given this more accusatory critique of patriarchy, she unconsciously (and it is often about unexamined privileges) flinched and gave them an out.

Can't Talk, Eating.

A few weeks ago, as I made my way from Sabai Sabai, I passed a Japanese restaurant with a line-up outside. Given the current Toronto's obsession, it could only be another ramen joint. This Saturday, I went back to try Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, a franchise from the epynomous province, started by its owner after seeing cult movie Tampopo.

If you arrive after 12:30 pm, prepare to wait. Luckily, I got in just under the clock. I ordered Torinuku Miso Ramen ($15.90) and an extra soft-boiled egg ($1.60). Most of the variation had the bowl pre-made, but this order had the ingredients sitting in a side dish for you to add to your steaming bowl. And what a delicious collection: soft, mouth-watering braised pork cheeks (generous at 8 slices), crunchy "black fungus" mushrooms, slightly tart bamboo shoots, and an egg  that was wonderfully runny inside. As for the ramen: rich, fragrant broth and yellow ramen with excellent chew.

I've tried almost every ramen eatery in town. This was perfect ramen. The only caveat: don't think about how much sodium you're ingesting to get all that deliciousness, and have a glass of water on hand for the last 3rd of the bowl. The saltiness does build up because you'll be slurping the bowl dry.

Music of the Spheres

Friday night, as part of the Emergents music series, there was an early show at the Music Gallery housed inside St. George The Martyr Church. Although this curated series focused primarily on classical music, tonight it hosted two pop performances. The audience, sitting in darkened pews, was treated to two electronic-based but very different styles.

Jesse Futerman has been getting some notice for his sampling of Jazz music in his live mixes/jams, as well as the hardware-based sampler pad called Maschine. But given the set-up, it was difficult to see much except for a head-bopping Futerman, pushing buttons and staring at his Mac. There was an eclectic mix of samples early on but even that was backed by a standard 4-beat percussion, and the latter half was straight up oomp-oomp dance beats. Great in a night-club, but as-yet unconvincing as innovative music.

This was Maylee Todd's first head-lining show as Maloo, her chill electro-pop alter ego. Appropriate to the venue, she and her two dancers War-War were dressed in billowing white blouses. Above their heads, tethered white balloons had pulsing and revolving patterns projected onto them by Daniela Guevara, resulting in a beautiful 3D multimedia collaboration.

She sang lovelorn tunes like Downtown and Grab Your Guts, backed by her Tenori-on, a drum machine and sampler, and an assortment of effects pedals. For the occasion she debuted a more dance heavy You're Number One, and her take on Janet Jackson's groovy Go Deep. For her final song, she strapped on her hand-harp to cover her unreleased Successive Mutations, but augmented with electronic bleeps and bloops. This was music that could interest audience outside of late-night live-music venues, as heard in chants of encore after her set. But Maylee had to blushingly decline, given the current paucity of her electro-pop catalogue.