Category Archives: Asian Canadian Cultural Events

Roy Miki: “Dead Reckoning” Talk and reading at Centre A

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Roy
Miki

Dead
Reckoning
Talk
and Reading

Sat.
Jan. 21- 8 pm
@
Centre
A
2
West Hastings

image
Roy
Miki,
has been a key figure in the articulation of race and identity politics
of the past three decades in Canada and
beyond. His activist work has taken many forms, beginning with the
Japanese Canadian Redress movement of the 1980s, documented in Justice
in Our Time (co-authored with Cassandra Kobayashi, Talonbooks 1991) and
Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice (Raincoast 2004).
He was also the founding editor of two majorVancouver
literary journals, Line (1983-89) and its successor West Coast Line; and
Chair of the organizing committee for the highly influential Writing
Thru Race conference held in Vancouverin
1994. He has published three poetry collections: Saving Face (Turnstone
1991), Random Access File (Red Deer College Press 1995) and Surrender
(Mercury Press 2001), which won the Governor General's Award. His
critical essays have been collected in Broken Entries: Race,
Subjectivity Writing and he has edited numerous books, including Pacific
Windows: Collected Poems of Roy K. Kiyooka (Talonbooks 1997), which won
the 1997 Poetry Award from the Association of Asian American Studies,
and more recently, Meanwhile: The Critical Writings of bpNichol
(Talonbooks 2002).

Review: Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night – Jan 16

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Review: Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night

Once
a year, the World Poetry Reading Series at the Vancouver Public Library
colludes and collides with the alignment of Chinese New Year and Robbie
Burns Day, and is marked by the appearance of Toddish McWong.  This
intersection is called Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night.

Ariadne
Sawyer and Alejandro Olea-Mujica are great friends to work with, as we
built a program to entertain our audience as well as inform them about
Chinese and Scottish traditions while serving up new Canadian writers,
proud of their Scottish and Chinese ancestral roots.  Following an
introduction by Vancouver Public Library Community Programs Librarian
Barbara Edwards, piper Joe McDonald led a parade of the performers into
the Alice Mackay Room, around the back, up the side and across the
front.  The original tune was appropriately titled “Gung Haggis Fat
Choy.”

Joe MacDonald, Ariadne
Sawyer, Alejandro Mujica-Olea, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Ian Mason of the Burns
Club of Vancouver – photo Deb Martin.

Introductions and welcomes were made by Todd Wong,
Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Olea-Mujica, who while acknowledging the
importance recognizing the multicultural holidays of Robbie Burns Day
and the Asian Lunar New Year, also recognized Martin Luther King Jr.
Day in the United States, and that Chile (Alejandro's home country from
which he was forced to flee in exhile during the Pinochet regime) just
elected a female president, to nice applause in the audience.

Starting
off the musical and poetical program were Todd Wong and Joe McDonald,
singing Loch Lomand.  Unfortunately while they both knew the same
chorus – they had different versions of the verses in their head.  But
it set a friendly tone for the evening, as the singalong words of
“You'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road,” set the stage
for Dr. Ian Mason, president of the Burns Club of Vancouver.  Mason
gave a wee eulogy about the works and life of Burns, and gave good
examples of his work. 

A Chinese fan dance was next on the menu as Yan Yan walked out in her
flowing costume and fan, set to contemporary Chinese music.  It was a
wonderful demonstration of how cultural dance traditions could be
merged with contemporary music.

Ariadne
next read a ballad set to guitar music, “The Ballad of Gung Haggis Fat
Choy”, which described how we mix all the cultures together, like
making a stew or dinner banquet.  Ariadne first created this work last
year, and it was so well recieved it was requested for this year.

Fiona
Tinwei Lam, is a Scottish born lass of Chinese descent who came to
Canada at age 4.  She read from her book “Intimate Distances” which had
been a finalist for the 2004 Vancouver Book Prize, and picked
selections that related to cross-cultural dating and relationships…
and food!

A Mongolian dance was the final performance for the
first half.  Bright costumes and movements simulated Mongols riding on
horseback.  This was followed by a short
intermission, where many people checked out books and cds for sale by
the performers.


Joe McDonald and Todd Wong, leading a singalong…. – photo Deb Martin.

Joe McDonald gently played the tune “My Bonnie
Lies Over the Ocean”, bringing back the audience to their seats. Todd
introduced his children's poem-song about immigrants coming to Canada
titled “My Haggis Lies Over the Ocean, My Chow Mein Lies Over the
Sea.”  Smiles rose on many faces as they all joined in for the chorus. 
Todd explainined that he had been inspired to write songs and poems for
children by performers Rick Scott and Harry Wong who were going to be
featured artists at the upcoming Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns
Chinese New Year dinner.  To close off my time on the stage, I informed
the audience that it was an amazing coincidence that on Thursday night,
the library would be hosting a tribute to the 250th Anniversary of
Mozart's birtdahy.  Rick Scott's most requested song is his “Yo! Mo!
Concerto” where he does a rap tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  I
next did my own rap tribute to Robbie Burns with his poem “To a Haggis.”

Ariadne
next introduced James Mullin, who read several of his poems which
created lovely peace imagery of wonderment.  Mullin is the book manager
of Tanglewood Books, and hedraws on his Celtic heritage.



Alexis Kienlen reading her poetry – Alejandro and Ariadne listen intently – photo Deb Martin.

I
introduced Alexis Kienlen by asking if anybody had read Saturday's
edition of the Vancouver Sun, as I pointed out Alexis' guest turn at
writing “Bedside Table.”  Kienlen took to the stage and read several of
her poems.  She shared with the audience that she had lived in many
parts of the world, including Mongolia, and the performance by the
dancers had coincidently coincided with some poems about her Mongolian
experienes she had chosen for the evening.  Kienlen also shared her
thoughts about growing up multi-racial in Canada, describing herself as
1/4 Chinese and 1/4 Scottish, with some french and english. Her poetry
was inciteful and very much appreciated by the audience.

Closing
off the program, the Chinese Dancers performed a final dance, Joe
McDonald and Todd Wong led a gentle rendition of “Scotland the Brave”
then Joe asked the audience to all stand and make a great circle
holding hands for the singing of Auld Lang Syne.  Yes, it sounds
hokey… but people loved it.  We could look at the smiles on
everybody's faces, with our arms crossed together.
The gang:  front row: Ian Mason, Shirley Sue-A-Quan, Yan Yan, Angela

back row: Joe McDonald, Alejandro
Mujica-Olea, Alexis Kienlen, Ariadne Sawyer, James Mullin, Fiona Tinwei
Lam – photo Deb Martin.

Haggis and Chopsticks: Vancouver Storytelling Society features a Chinese-Scottish-Canadian theme

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Haggis and Chopsticks: Vancouver Storytelling Society features a Chinese-Scottish-Canadian theme

Haggis and Chopsticks?
I have tried it.  It's best
mixed with rice in a bowl…  Bring the bowl to your mouth, and
scoop it in using the chopsticks.

No!  Not the food – the storytelling event!

Cric? Crac! is a non-profit organisation, dedicated
to the promotion of multicultural storytelling and run by volunteers from the
Vancouver Society of Storytelling enjoying their love of story and
song.

Vancouver Storytelling Society presented an
evening of Chinese and Scottish storytellers on January 15th, 2005. Jan. 15, 7:30 pm, Hodson Manor (1254 W. 7th).

Fifty people filled the room, until there was standing room only. 
Usually 30 people attend.  Expectations and excitement were high.

Pauline Wenn was the hostess of the
evening.  She opened by stating the theme of the evening was an
idea inspired by my own Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner and poetry
events of bringing together Scottish and Chinese cultures, with a slant
to Canadian adventures.  Cric? Crac! has been going on for 20
years,
and regularly features multicultural tales. 
I was very pleased that Mary Gavan and Pauline Wenn invited me to
perform with them, and they had trouble containing their gushing
enthusiasm.

Pauline explained that she was born in Scotland, and while living in
Canada, she discovered that she needed to get in touch with her
Scottish roots.  Never having attended a Burns Dinner before, she
decided to host her own – filling her living room with rented tables
and chairs for 25 people.  Reminded me of my own first Burns
Supper where my friend Gloria Smyth filled her townhouse living room
with rented chairs and tables for 16 people.  Pauline shared her
realization that in Scotland, only men had attended Burns suppers,
because the women had stayed in the kitchen cooking the dinner. 
She explained that the “Toast to the Lassies” came about as a thank you
to the ladies for cooking the dinner.  (“The rebuttal by the
Lassies” is usually quite sassy.)

Next came a story about a Chinese buddhist monastery in Northern
Scotland was told by a father and  son team, Wing Siu Wong with young son Andy.
They followed up the
story by performing a duet on guitar and violin.  Then wife
Barbara joined in for a duet on guitar and violin.  This event
evoked such a warm and
folksy feeling, easily reminding me of my first Robbie Burns “Gung
Haggis Fat Choy” dinner, where we invited our guests to each share a
poem, song, or food dish for our event.

I am always amazed by what one learns about Burns, and the tale told by
Mary Gavan was no exception.  She told a very good story about
Burns posthumous adventures (don't ask).  It's a great story…
and really reveals much about the life of Burns.



Pauline Wenn with Toddish McWong at Cric? Crac!:  Haggis and Chopsticks story telling evening – photo Deb Martin.

Pauline introduced me as the final performance/story teller before the
intermission.  She encouraged me to tell the origins of Gung
Haggis Fat Choy.  I first explained about the tartan that I was
wearing – the Ancient Fraser, also known as the Fraser of Lovat. 
And of course I had to explain how a University came to be named after
Simon Fraser the explorer, and not the son of the Silver Fox, who had
lost his head after the battle of Culloden for supporting the uprising
of Bonnie Prince Charlie.  ( I did admit to first learning about
Prince Charles Edward from the back of a bottle of Drambuie). 
This was all my preamble to explain how a university built of
pre-fabricated concrete was able to adopt the traditions of Scottish
culture and the motto of the Fraser Clan – Je Suis Prets (I am ready).

And then I told the story of the origins of Toddish McWong, and the very first Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.

I finished by reading two poems that I wrote.  The first was
inspired after listening to the Rick Scott and Harry Wong childrens cd
titled 5 Elements.  It is called 12 Animals of the Zodiac, and
explains how Buddha named the years of the Chinese Calendar.  The
second poem is titled “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” and was inspired during
the creation of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy CBC television performance.

A very lovely and friendly intermission filled with lots of treats
followed.  Mary Gavan's special haggis pate was served with
crackers.  Their were fortune cookies, rum balls, oatmeal cakes,
shortbread, and something like plum pudding – all served with Chinese
tea!

Robin Seto began the second half by reading Paul Yee's book “Roses
Singing on New Snow.”  Correction:  Robin didn't read it….
she performed it!  Brilliantly….  Paul would be proud. 

It was a pleasure to reconnect with Robin.  We had first met back
in the mid-80's through a mutual friend, and hadn't seen each other
since except recently bumping into her at the PNE.  Robin shared
that she had seen my pictures in the papers, had heard me on the radio,
and had followed the development of Gung Haggis Fat Choy into a grand
event.  She too, comes from a long line of head tax payer
descendants and spoke warmly of Gim Wong, who had served in the
Canadian army with her father.  It was very touching to hear Robin
say that she is proud of me.  Hopefully we will keep in touch and
she can attend some of the future Gung Haggis Fat Choy events.

Next up was a man in a kilt.  Ian  Cook (from Whistler) was born in
Scotland, and he told a wonderful tale of how the kilt was invented,
and how it involved an old woman named Agnes and three babies born at
the same time – all with red hair, and each named Angus.  But
before he started, Ian told some rebuttals to the quesiton “What is
worn beneath the kilt?”

“Nothing is worn beneath the kilt…..  everything is in perfect working condition!”

This topic had been raised because at the end of my performance, I had
been asked by a comely Asian-Canadian lass, “For the benefit of the
lassies, what does a multicultural Asian Canadian man, like yourself,
wear beneath the kilt?”

“The proper answer to your question, is that the knowledge of what
is worn beneath my kilt is the sole privilege of my girlfriend.”

The evening closed with a story about the Great Wall of China, told by
Leilani Harmon, who shared that she has Chinese, British and some
German bloodlines.  We had a nice chat that included her young
son, and I invited them to some of the future Gung Haggis Fat Choy
events and to meet our multi-racial writers of Asian Canadian Writers'
Workshop and Ricepaper magazine.

It was a fun evening.  I will go again. I will recommend it to
friends.  Next month's Cric? Crac! will honour Black History Month.

Below are links to the cd created by
the Vancouver Society of Storytelling.  It's a very cool cd. 
My friends Yukiko Tosa (Children's librarian at Vancouver's Central Branch Library), Andre Thibault and Qiu Xia He (Silk Road Music) are all involved on the project.

How Music
Came to the World
and Other Stories

This Millennium
Project of Britannia World Music and the Vancouver Society of Storytelling
is a three CD set with 12 traditional and original stories about
musical instruments from around the world, including China, Japan,
India, Vietnam, Ireland, France, Canada, U.S., Andes, Mexico, North
Africa and the Ivory Coast. Local storytellers and world music artists
bring the stories to life. A feature is the enhanced disk with text,
photographs and video clips showing the instruments in performance.
The disk runs on both IBM and Mac and requires QuickTime 4.0 or
higher. Order the CD set for $22 through Lesson
Aids.

Listen to
samples from several stories on this CD:
The
Clay Flute (Nan Gregory & Andre Thibault)
The
Magic Fiddle (Yvon Chartrand & Sheila Allan)
The Drums of Noto Hanto (Yukiko
Tosa & Uzume Taiko)

Click
here to view video from the CD

 

Alexis Kienlen in the Vancouver Sun: Bedside Table + Readings

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Alexis Kienlen in the Vancouver Sun: Bedside Table + Readings


Alexis Kienlen was featured at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry reading, Jan 16 2006. – photo Todd Wong.


Alexis Kienlen is featured in Bedside Table column for Saturday's
(January 14) Vancouver Sun (page G2).  It is a regular colunm
featuring literary types describing their reading habits.

“I'm a voracious reader who tends to whip through about three books
every 10 days,” she introduces herself.  “I devour novels,
non-fiction and young-adult literature.  Like every passionate
reader, I'm looking for things that speak to me and my experiences.”

Kienlen lists as her recent read interests” “In Praise of Slow: How a
Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed,” by Canadian
journalist Carl Honore; and young adult novel “Girls For Breakfast” by
David Yoo.

“As the literary editor of Ricepaper magazine, I read a lot of books
about Asian Canadians and Asian identity,” says Kienlen who points out
that a friend recommended the David Yoo book.  “It's the story of
Nick Park, who is unfortunate enough to be the only Asian of his age in
a sall Connecticut town.”

“The humour in the book helps raise issues about male/female
relationships and identity issues.  At times, I cringed and became
frustrated with Nick's utter foolishness, but ultimately I found the
character to be a believable depiction of a rather perverted teenage
boy.”

Kienlen is also listed on page C2 for Readings in the Books section.

Alexis is one of our featured poets for Gung Haggis Fat Choy World
Poetry Night, along with Fiona Lam, James Mullin, Burns Club of
Vancouver, bagpiper Joe McDonald, and Yan Yan with Chinese
dancers.  This event takes place Monday, January 16th, at the
Central Branch Vancouver Public Library.  7:30pm

Last year's GHFC WP night featured Governor General Award winner Fred
Wah, whom Alexis really related to.  Wah read his poems about
growing up 1/4 Chinese, 1/4 Scots-Irish and 1/2 Swedish, on the
Canadian prairies.  Kienlen describes her self as multi-racial
with 1/8 Chinese and 1/8 Scots heritage mixed with German and other
cultural ethnicities.  In my books, Alexis is 100% Canadian, and I
was really happy to include her for the GHFC WP evening.

Janice Wong's Book CHOW at Vancouver Public Library January 18th + Panel Discussion

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Janice Wong's Book CHOW at Vancouver Public Library January 18th + Panel Discussion

Wednesday January 18
7:30 pm
Free
Event
Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street

Janice Wong presents her book, Chow from China to Canada: Tales of Food and Family.
A collection of over 50 traditional Chinese village dishes, it contains
early photographs, immigration documents, 1940s restaurant menus and
handwritten recipes from some of Canada's first ethnic restaurants.

Janice
Wong, a Vancouver-based artist and daughter of a Chinese restaurateur,
has assembled her father's recipes and her family's history in this
unique cookbook;

Panel Discussion on Chinese food and Chinese Restaurants:
Janice is joined by by: 

Larry
Wong of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society
Todd Wong of the creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy
Stephen Wong, celebrity chef

Here is the inside story on the event

Janice is my 2nd cousin-once-removed.
We are descendants of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who arrived in Canada in 1891.
  And I only met her earlier this year when she announced that her
book was coming out.  We immediately bonded, and I have enjoyed
helping her promote her book.  We did a panel discussion together
with Larry Wong at the West Vancouver Library and had so much fun, we
decided to do it for Vancouver.

Welcome to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night – January 16th at Vancouver Public Library

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Welcome to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night –

image

  Joe McDonald Bagpiper – Todd Wong Accordion – photo Jamie Griffiths


January 16th, 7:30pm
Vancouver Public Library
Central Branch
Alice Mckay Room

Co-produced byWorld Poetry Reading Series, Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and Vancouver Public Library



Hosts are: Todd Wong, creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and the team of Ariadne
Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea – hosts and creators of World Poetry
Reading Series at VPL, and the World Poetry program on Co-op Radio.

Q: When Chinese New Year meets Robbie Burns Day…  what happens?

Q: When Scottish poets meet Chinese poets… what happens?



A: They write poetry… and they have babies called Canadians!


Enjoy our 3rd annual event combining poetry, music and now…. dance!

A litte bit of China + a little bit of Scotland = Canada

The Burns Club makes its first appearance for Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night.
Fiona Tinwei Lam is a Chinese Canadian poet born in Scotland – Her
first poetry collection Intimate Distances was nominated for 2004
Vancouver Book Award.
Bagpiper Joe McDonald, born in Canada, is a singer/songwriter and leader of bands Brave Waves and The Mad Celts.
Alexis Keinlen is a multi-racial writer (including equal parts Chinese and Scottish), and also is Literary Editor for Ricepaper Magazine.


The evening starts with
welcomes… then goes back in time to recognize Robbie Burns and
Chinese dancing….  We progress to contemporary Scots with Joe
McDonald (born in Canada) and Fiona Tinwei Lam (born in Scotland).




The singalong Loch Lomand calls people back to the room.  We introduce
contemporary Canadian poets James Mullin, Todd Wong and Alexis Keinlen
– progressing from Scottish-Canadian to 5th Gen Chinese Canadian to
multi-gen, multi-racial.  We finish with a dance, a song, and Auld Lang
Syne.



It will be a fairly quick moving show with quick turnarounds – We have lots of performers for our GHFC WPRS – variety show!


 Agenda for GHFC and WPRS.   Jan. 16th.  

1.       Opening Welcome from Library.
2.       Entrance with bagpipes – follow piper Joe McDonald
3.    Welcome by Todd Wong.
4.       Welcome by Ariadne and Alejandro.
5.       Singalong: Scotland the Brave
6.        Poem by Ariadne with guitarist Sigit Murdawa.
7.        Dance 1. Yan Yan and friends.
8.       
 Poet 1, Burns Club.
9.      
Music: Joe McDonald (song)
10.    Poet 2. Fiona Lam
11.    Dance 2. Yan Yan and friends.
12.    Intermission

14.   Singalong:
Loch Lomand (You take the high road)
15.    Burns Club 2
16.    Poet 3 James Mullin.
17.   Music:  Todd Wong – “My haggis lies over the
ocean”
18.   Poet 4 Alexis Keinlen
19.   Dance 3. Yan Yan and friends.
20.    Music and end joined circle dance.
21.   Singalong : Auld Lang Syne

Performers for Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2006

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PERFORMERS FOR GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY 2006



Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns
What: Gung Haggis Fat Choy:
          Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns
          Chinese New Year Dinner
When: 6pm, January 22, 2006,

            Sunday  Reception at 5:30pm
Where: Floata Restaurant

             #400 – 180 Keefer St.

             Vancouver Chinatown
Tickets: Firehall Arts Centre

              604-689-0926


Advance Premium price (until January 9):
$60 single / $600 per table.  Includes wine and Ricepaper Magazine subscription


Advance Regular price (until Januray 9): $50 single / $500 per table – includes Ricepaper Magazine subscription


After January 9th – Premium price $70 each / Regular price $60
each.  Children 13 and under 50% off (no Ricepaper subscription).


Hosted by Todd Wong and Prem Gill (City TV's multicultural director and host of Colour TV)

I
can proudly say the our special performing guests are all my
friends.  I have scouted and reviewed their performances and they
are all deemed Gung Haggis Fat Choy worthy.  We are honoured by
their participation:

Rick Scott & Harry Wong

creators of “5 Elements” children's cd and show – featured at Vancouver International Children's Festival in 2004

“Harry
Goh Goh” (Harry Big Brother) is the affectionate term that Harry is
know as on his “Bean Town” chinese languarge children's television show
that is broadcast around the world.  He is the “Raffi of Hong
Kong” and Rick Scott and I watched children at Vancouver Children's Festival line up to meet “Harry Goh Goh” after their joint show.  “He's their hero,” Rick told me. 

No
slouch in the performing deparment himself, Rick Scott has thrilled
children's audiences everywhere – especially with his fan favorite Rap
song tribute to Mozard. “Yo Mo!” (Come on Amadeus, Whatcha gonna play
us?”  Scott has also thrilled adult audiences for decades
as 1/3 of the accoustic folk trio Pied Pumkin with Shari Ulrich and Joe
Mok (whose father is Chinese – making the Pumkin 1/6 Chinese??)


Joy Kogawa O.C.

Award winning author and poet, of Obasan (Vancouver Public Library's
2005 choice for One Book One Vancouver) and Naomi's Road (Vancouver
Opera's production for Opera in the Schools)

Joy
has become a truly blessed friend, as we have come together by crisis.
I first met her back in 1986 at Expo 86's Folk Life Pavillion where she
read from her newly written book Obasan. I was stunned by the beauty of her words, that always stayed with me.

In my support of Obasan as the OBOV selection and in joining the Save Kogwa House
committee – we know regularly chat and share the ups and downs of the
campaign from the tree planting at City Hall to the performances of
Vancouver Opera's “Naomi's Road.”  She teaches me about
forgiveness, healing and about the Japanese Canadian redress movement.

Joe McDonald & Brave Waves

Bagpiper, band leader, combining traditional scots, gaelic, celtic and
Canadian songs with Asian and South Asian music and instruments.

Joe
has become a great friend and Gung Haggis regular stalwart.  I
first met him in January 2001 and he first performed when GHFC dinner
was only 100 strong. He participates in the GHFC World Poetry Night and
the gives priority to the GHFC dinner.  He has travelled often to
China and Japan as part of Canadian “multicultural arts groups” and
this summer he performed at the Expo in Japan.  He plays at South
Asian weddings, and Chinese Spring Festival events.

La La

Exciting blend of contemporary soul and hip hop music with Asian roots and traditional Canadian songs.
I
first saw LaLa perform “Auld Lang Syne” in the CBC tv special Gung
HAggis Fat Choy… she was selected as the “Chinese element” for the
last segment of the tv special and has performed many years with Joe
McDonald, singing at weddings, services etc.  When we first met,
we got along famously.  La La has a great voice suited for
traditional, hip hop or blues music.  It is rich and
soulful.  Last year, we performed together for First Night
Vancouver, and our friendly chemistry really put “The Haggis Rap” over
the top.  I still cannot believe 500 people punching air and
singing “As langs my arm!”


Sean Gunn

Singer /Songwriter – Head Tax Redress activist and composer of “The Head Tax Blues”
Sean's
poetry is included in the first anthology of Chinese Canadian prose and
poetry titled “Many Mouthed Birds.”  He even invited me to play
accordion with me one summer at the Powell St. Festival.  His
song, the Head Tax Blues, is a rallying call for redress of the
racially discriminating head tax and exclusion act, suffered by Chinese
immigrants to Canada from 1885 to 1947.  It has been performed at
GHFC dinners in 2000, 2001, 2003.  The song is featured in the
Karen Cho NFB documentary “In the Shadow of Gold Mountain,” a moving
story about the Chinese Canadian pioneers and the redress campaign for
an apology and reparation.


Jeff Chiba Stearns

Classical Animator – creator of award winning animated film “What Are You Anyways?”

I
met Jeff this past summer in the Vancouver Public Library promenade for
the Japanese Canadian community fair.  I was taken immediately by
his drawings of his animated film “What Are You Anyways?” that
described his adventures growing up Half-Japanese in a BC interior
town.  Right then, I invited Jeff to be a performer for
GHFC.  He is the first filmaker we have featured.

The Shirleys

Seven sassy soulful females singing accapella songs of protest and lullabyes.

I
first met the Shirleys at a fundraiser event last year for then city
councillor Ellen Woodsworth.  I was amazed by the groovy chemistry
that this acappella group radiated.  I have known one of the
group's leaders Karen Lee-Morlang for a few years, as Karen organizes
monthly music programs at the Vancouver Public Library.  The
Shirleys sing lullabyes, they sing protest songs, they sing songs from
around the world.  They are hip, they are happening, and they give
real good group hugs.  You better believe it.

 

Chun-Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu

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Chun-Yi

Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu
January 4 –
11, 2006
Vancouver's
Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Imagine
what would happen if kung fu experts learned to dance, and Chinese
classical dancers choreographed martial arts, and some chinese gymnasts
were given Cirque du Soleil equipment and special effects, and
everything came together to create a multi-discplinary show.  In
this case, the result is based on the story of Chun-Yi “The Pure One,”
about a young boy who becomes a Shaolin Temple Monk.

Sixty-five kung fu practitioners, dancers and acrobats
from 13 provinces of China, perform in telling the story about how the
young man must got through personal challenges of temptation that
threaten his abilitiy to master the Kung Fu discipline. But in the end
all is well.  As the chinese proverb says, each journey begins
with a single step, the process is always more important that the
result.

And what a beautiful process this work of gorgeous sets and spectacular
stage effects is!  Combined with traditional martial arts
movements with
evocative dance, ballet and flying acrobatics.

I watched this exciting show with two viewpoints.  With one eye I
marvelled at the abilities of the performers, the inventive use of sets
and the unfolding of the story.  With the other eye I saw my
memories of learning about martial arts as a youth, as well as a youth
growing up in Canada with very few possible role models of being Asian.

But
somewhere in my memories were recollections of tacky Chinese theatre,
cantonese and martial arts displays.  Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung
Fu leaves all those old memories at home, and can easily be said to be
on the same professional levels as many Broadway shows or operas. 
The scale is huge, with moving sets that create the illusion of palaces
and dream sequences.  While some of the acting and dancing appears
to be overwrought and simplistic, it is also highly stylistic too.

The
young Chun Yi, does a pas de deux dance with his mother, as she
prepares to leave him at the Monastery to learn Kung Fu.  The
young boy is reluctant and runs back repeatedly after his mother. 
Two young boys from the monastery come up and persuade Chun Yi to stay
and play with them, as they perform their own jumps and kicks, that
captures the newcomer's attention.

And
so it was in the audience.  During intermission, I talked with
friends in the audience who were amazed at the acrobatic feats, as well
as the Kung Fu fighting.  They had never before seen Cantonese
opera with its many gymnastic routines, or the Action-Musicals put on
by Dennis Law at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, such as
Terracotta Warriors, Heartbeat or Heaven and Earth.  And so my
cultural thoughts wondered at the possibilities that when China starts
allowing more of its martial artists, ballet dancers and artistic
directors, will we see an artistic revolution in the arts, as more and
more ideas are exchanged?  Could a traditional western opera be
staged with kung fu battles, Chinese gynmastics and dance.

“We are creating something new in Beijing. We're creating something new
for China and the world!” says Cao Xiaoning, president of China Heaven Creation, the company behind creating this production in anticipation of cultural preparations for the 2008 Olympics, which will also include Martial Arts as an Olympic event.

While
the story is not completely literal, and the “dream” sequences where
Chun-Yi was tempted by a beautiful woman, it is easy to understand the
plot development.

By
seeing more productions like this in Vancouver, we can find artistic
and enjoyable ways to learn about one of the world's more interesting
and oldest cultures and traditional arts.  I know that I am
learning about more Chinese culture.

more later….


To view an 8-minute promo video: Click here.

Mother Tongue TV documentary series launches in Vancouver at Channel M

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Mother Tongue TV documentary series launches in Vancouver at Channel M

My friend Susan Poizner is a television director/producer
who has succeeded with her goal of creating a series about the roles of
women from different ethnic groups across Canada.

The Vancouver launch of Mother Tongue happens 7:30pm on Thursday, January 12th at the Vancouver
Museum.

The launch
will show two segments:  one about my
Vancouverite Mary Lee Chan who was
born in Canada, sent
back to China
as a child, then she returned in 1947 to forge a life for herself and her
family;

2nd segment features Japanese Canadian  Kimiko Murakami who was
interned for 8 years in BC. 

The showing will be followed by a Q&A
session with Susan Poizner, Mary Kitagawa,
granddaughter of Kimiko Murakami, and me.
 
Channel M  has bought the series and will begin airing the series from
Jan. 15, 2006, Sundays at 10 pm. 
 
Go to the website below to learn about the 13 Canadian ethnic women whose
personal stories are told through the producer and director Susan
Poizner.  www.mothertongue.ca

communities

Acadian

 

 

 

Upcoming Gung Haggis Poetry and Janice Wong's CHOW at the library

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Upcoming Gung Haggis Poetry and Janice Wong's CHOW at the Vancouver Public library

January 16th

Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night
7:30pm

Vancouver Public Library

Alice Mackay Room

hosted by Toddish McWong, Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea

– poetry and music and dance from Old Scotland and Old China to
contemporary Scottish-Chinese-Canadians including: Fiona Lam, Joe
McDonald, Alexis Keinlen, and dancers!!!!



January 18th

Janice Wong & CHOW

From China to Canada: Memories of Food and Family
Author Janice Wong has a Power Point demonstration + a panel discussion with:
historian Larry Wong, (Chinese Canadian Historical Society)
culture fusionist Todd Wong (Gung Haggis Fat Choy)