Happy Wednesday, everyone. Today, Jan. 25 was, in 1759, the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns. You might wonder why on earth that would be important, so let me tell you!
Robert Burns was the eldest of seven children of a farming family, which, no matter how hard they struggled, couldn’t really make a living in Scotland. He never had a formal education; he learned to read and write from his father, yet he wrote some of the most influential lines in the English language.
Yes, he wrote in Scots, but his work has been widely “translated.” For example, the great American author John Steinbeck took his title Of Mice and Men from the Burns poem Tae A Mouse.
Burns lived a short life, only 37 years, but he has had enormous influence. He began writing poetry when he was 15, but his major contribution was to writing or rewriting lyrics to old Scottish songs.
In 1787 he met James Johnson, a musician and music-seller who wanted to preserve old Scots songs. Together they published over 600 songs, with over 200 having been written by Burns himself – sometimes from fragments of old tunes; sometimes wholly from imagination.
Burns is celebrated with Burns Dinners (on or about the 25th of January) all over the world. In Flin Flon, the Flin Flon Arts Council provides that opportunity this year on Jan. 28 at Johnny’s Social Club. Tickets are available at The Orange Toad and doors will be open at 5:30 pm, with festivities getting underway at 6 pm.
One of the participants in the Robert Burns celebrations is gearing up for a really busy weekend. Colin Davis will be singing and telling Scots tales on Saturday evening, but on Friday, Jan. 27 he will present another in his film series “Great Movies You Might Have Missed” with Florence Foster Jenkins.
The movie, starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg, tells the story of a woman who loved to sing. Unfortunately, she really couldn’t. Still, she was game and rented Carnegie Hall in New York City for her debut.
The film will show at the Dorothy Ash Theatre at Hapnot Collegiate on the posh new equipment purchased by the Central Canada Film Group. Thank you for that.
Home Routes will be back in action in February, too. Mary Beth Carty from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, will bring her brand of East Coast music to northern Manitoba with concerts in The Pas, Cranberry Portage, Snow Lake, Thompson and two shows in Flin Flon on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Johnny’s Social Club and on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 183 Merton Boulevard. Tickets are available at The Orange Toad for the Tuesday show. For the home concert on Wednesday, contact Ann Ross at [email protected].
NorVA Gallery has already begun their busy life in January with drawing class, photo club, watercolour painting and sketch club all going strong. There are nine area artists engaged in a mentorship with Diana Thornycroft and their latest work in this educational experience can be seen at the gallery currently.
Look out for the details of a new show from MAWA (Mentoring Artists For Women’s Art) in Winnipeg in the next column. The NorVA Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and there is always art to look at or for sale. Drop in to 177 Green Street (yes, that IS the same address as Johnny’s Social Club).
Also in the next column, look out for the scoop on Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s traveling production of “Last Train to Nibroc.”
