This is not really news as the Flin Flon Arts Council has begun its new season already, having changed their performance year to conform with provincial and national arts organizations and granting agency calendars.
Now the season runs from June 1 to May 31, and we have already seen Codie Prevost as part of the change.
But oh my goodness, the upcoming year is spectacular and the details are news!
There are 35 different performances planned between now and next May, presented by the Arts Council or one of its member organizations.
That’s right, 35, and the Flin Flon Arts Council has not even held its annual planning session yet. That doesn’t happen until Aug. 12 and 13.
There is a great mix of local performers and professionals from all over Canada, and this year, due to a small grant to expand the scope of performances available to rural and northern audiences, we are going to have the experience of an international performer.
Let’s start with Culture Days, Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and 2. Hapnot Collegiate will present Shaun Boothe, a fabulous rapper from Toronto who sings the biographies of iconic figures like Terry Fox, Muhammad Ali and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
The Flin Flon Cranberry Portage Folk Music Society will present Coco Love Alcorn from Owen Sound, ON.
Coco will be in concert at Johnny’s Social Club on Oct. 3, after Culture Days, but she will provide a workshop on using a looper (you have to wait to see what this technology has to offer) during Culture Days. These performers may also perform in the Wild Rice variety show.
On Oct. 14, the Arts Council will present Everything Fitz, a family group from Collingwood, ON who sing, play fiddle and stepdance, often all at the same time.
They performed a 15-minute set here in Flin Flon during the Manitoba Arts Network Showcase conference last October, just long enough to know we had to have them back for the full meal deal.
On Nov. 22, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional School program will be here to dance. The dancers are prepared to enter the company, so they are exceptional, and they usually have perfected a repertoire of classical and modern dance to demonstrate their skill. This will be a remarkable performance.
In December the Flin Flon Community Choir will present their annual Christmas concert over two nights, Dec. 17 and 18, with former Flin Flonner Jennifer Hanson in from Marietta, GA.
Jennifer is well known to Flin Flon area audiences for her exceptional command of pop/rock repertoire, but perhaps less well known for her skill as a jazz vocalist.
On Jan. 21, 2017 the Arts Council will present the Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in a program that is sure to be full of colour and ribbons, and at least the suggestion of sabres and horses as the dancers literally fly across the stage.
Then on Feb.17, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre will present their traveling production, straight from the Mainstage in Winnipeg.
Lastly, from May 5 to 7, 2017, the Arts Council will present their Broadway-style musical theatre production. These shows are always highly anticipated by the audiences in Flin Flon/Creighton/Denare Beach and even people from much further afield.
The title of the show has not been announced yet, but you can bet it will be awesome. After all, it’s going to be 2017, a very special year for Canada.
Add to this the film screenings from the Central Canada Film Group; local talent through the Wood ‘n’ Wire series, Canadian professional folk, roots, blues and country performers presented by the Flin Flon Cranberry Portage Folk Music Society and Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous, and Readings through the Ore Samples series; and we have a truly diverse and full cultural life here in the north-central region of our country.
My next column we will describe all of the visual arts events that are upcoming via the Northern Visual Arts Centre (NorVA).
