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Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium
Two Shows That Are Out Of This
World!
October 31st 2014
by Nancy Snipper
Continuum… a magnificent immersive experience
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In an earth-breaking spectacle of beauty at night - beyond what the eye
can see, the Planetarium features an astounding space journey into our
dynamically active galaxy and many others. This remarkable adventure that takes
place inside Chaos Theatre is called Continuum.
We become a part of it, as our bodies are splayed out on huge comfy cushions.
Like a Cirque de Soleil fantasy where science and artistry merge, Continuum was created by two geniuses: Michel
Lemieux and Victor Pilon. The effect is visually awesome; we are mesmerized by
what we witness above us. The music by Philip Glass is evocative of the magnificent,
mysterious and ominous vitality in a dimension that we normally are not privy
to. We begin with night descending over a forest lit by a great canopy of
stars, and then the action begins. Sometimes, it is gentle and at other times frighteningly
explosive. What is going on above our heads – far above our heads, million of
light years away? We journey to the
progeny of the Big Bang. Bubbles turn into cells. We see nebulae sprawled
across immense space. The show artistically coalesces, merges and dynamically
manifests the myriad of movements that happen in space. What a revelation! The poetic liberties of Continuum’s marvellous spectacle take visitors into an odyssey
filled with rapture; we fall in love with space. I want to go there. I want to
be part of those stars, of that lightening, of that circuit of planets and the
infinite darkness beyond! Sublime, sensational - out of this world!
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I also enjoyed the highly visual and completely scientific show called From the Earth to the Stars – held inside an
amphitheatre that presents before our eyes a myriad of stars – their pictorial
constellations and the geometric forms that help locate all our galaxy’s
seasonal constellations. This show featured the expert narration of physicist
Simon A. Bélanger and as the music and his technology worked their magic, we
learned an enormous amount about our galaxy and others too. Did you know there
are 100 to 500 billion galaxies and in each one – an average of all million
stars?
I highly recommend you attend this show. It brilliantly dazzles as it
combines the educational (there are many fascinating statistics given with
names that help you enter the universe above as an amateur astronomer). The
space ship we traveled in brought us into Saturn’s rings, took us right to Mars,
and even gave us a sighting of the black hole. Imagine all this, and we never
had to leave our seats to travel in space!
You may want to take in the meteorite exhibit which features tiny and
big ones from Argentina,
Africa, Russia, Quebec and the USA.
More than a dozen 17th-century sun dials enclosed in glass cases are
also on view. It would seem that space is a far more captivating place to be in
than the humdrum daily grind that marks our earthly mundane comings and goings.
You come out of the Planetarium and the secrets it reveals feeling renewed. The
effect is positively magical!!
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Biodôme brings in the sloths
June 17 2014 by Nancy
Snipper:
Montreal’s unique Biodôme
with its four ecosystem environment/habitats of their respective climates in which diverse distinct animals
and fauna thrive, celebrates 22 years of life on June 22nd. The gift it’s giving to the public must be unwrapped slowly, for now everyone can slow
down with two slowpoke 2-toed sloths. The installations, and creatively
conceived habitat to keep things and us on the same pace as these near,
non-moving mysterious animals was developed by Marie-Claire Lagacé and her Biodôme
team.
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| Marie-Claire
Lagacé |
Huge trees in creamy white with robust gnarled roots have the two metal
“houses” where mother and daughter literally hang out. Long thick fabrics
rolled like snakes on the floor are where people can lie and stretch out to
relax and get in sync with the sloths.
Another sloth-inspired
creation was the sound and light and mime show animated by Eric Poulin. As we
sat in two round section of seats, we clapped and snapped our fingers and stomped our feet to bring on
various jungle sounds -sometimes mimicking a sloth climbing or thunder – as the orally-told story took us into the day
and a life of a sloth trying to avoid predators and other dangers. The music, composed
by Vincent Letellier was great, and our imaginations were
stimulated.
Hanging from the ceiling to
separate the show with the sloth area was a huge mobile of delicate beauty,
once again created by Marie-Claire. Oval white pieces of paper seemed to float
like a mirage of sunlight – each holding the finger print and message of each
of her team members.
Making the whole affair
educational was biologist, Diane Mitchell. She related fascinating information
about the 7.5-kilo sloths, their eating habits and digestive system (they only
do “their business” once a week), along with details about their hair, teeth
and toes.
I enjoyed the explanations,
but noticed there was no written literature on panels for the public to read. The
sloths found a friend in Marie-Claire. Her reflections on their sweet,
remarkable laid-back way of living deeply inspired her, and we leave with a smile
slowly forming on our face.
The sloths will be on view
until October 26th. It’s your day to feel as lazy as a sloth.
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“The Arts Put on a Show at the Garden”
Commentary and Reviews by
Nancy Snipper
This summer you are invited into a leisure filled
experience brimming with concerts within the enchanting, flower-filled setting of the Montréal
Botanical Gardens.
The
Arts Put on a Show at the Garden puts art is in the spotlight at this uniquely beautiful Montréal
venue. All summer long, some big-name performers will be playing in the Centre
Stage series, while visitors can look forward to a series of intimate
encounters with artists every Sunday in different gardens in bloom. Poets, musicians,
storytellers and circus performers are sure to add their magical touch to the
various gardens. Even more fragrances, sounds, images and light will appear in
the Spirits of the Tree exhibition at the Frédéric Back Tree House. This
exciting exhibit is certain to delight visitors’ senses, with the all-new
multimedia installation created by Michel Gauthier, Thierry Dubreuil and
Michael Moisseeff.
Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà
Kicked off Space for Life’s “The Arts Put on a Show at the Garden”
May 18th, 2014
It
was a happy 4:00 pm, Sunday concert, held Centre Stage en plein air –
wind and all. The day was sunny, and the audience was eager to hear the
prestigious ensemble of international renown. What a wonderful way to usher in the Garden's summer-long events.
Ms.
Dubeau and her eight musicians – all on string instruments of course, save for the
pianist – presented a fantastic concert of such appealing music. Each melody
conjured up fond memories and images of beauty and suspense for us all. The
program primarily featured compositions from film classics, such as Dr.
Zhivago, The Mission, Fiddler on the Roof, Cinema Paradiso, Romeo and Juliet,
Scent of a Woman and The Titanic.
The
ensemble was totally sonorous, but what struck me most of all, was Ms. Dubeau’s
vigorous, highly spirited playing that conveyed a great scope of musicality
whether the passages were gentle or dramatically intense. Her emotional
connection to the program was as tight as glue.
Ms.
Dubeau also revealed that she has just produced an album, titled “White” which
musically features her deep feelings and thoughts regarding her personal
experience with breast cancer. Two pieces – Mario
and The Rain were so moving and
stunning in the tango tune of Por Una
Cabeza or the lyrical composition of Lady Caliph by Ennio Morricone – her
champion of composers to perform – the delivery was truly invigorating and
evocative of mood variation. The hour whizzed by!
Preceding
this concert, I strolled over to the Alpine Garden to listen to Voces boreales.
Fourteen vocalists brought timeless religious songs and hymns to poetic heights
with their harmonious voices. Latin was the language of many of these songs.
Amid the Hosannas, Amen endings and Dominie Sanctus, I felt transported to a
transcendent place of solemnity and peace.
The
innovative group, BarbuZébelle, presented a fun concert in the Lilac Garden.
This young Quebecois group of whimsical artists features a story-teller and
three hearty musicians whose exuberance was a perfect fit for the traditional
music they played from Quebec, Ireland and Scotland.
Benoit
”Bison” Davidson told his original story, Création
which comprises two tales: À l’an 2033 and Les Aurores Boréales, He
also related Ciel Bas, a First
Nations story. It was a concert that children and adults attended and because of
the group’s dynamic energy, one wanted to grab a pair of spoons to play along
with them, as Acadian flavours marked much of the music. Vocalist
and accordion player Isabelle Cadieux-Landreville really punched up the songs
with her vocals.
The garden was filled with gladness.
I was
enchanted by the harmonizing of art and nature in the splendid sublime floral
settings for which the Botanical Gardens is renowned.
I look forward to
attending more of these enjoyable events.
For information on the summer concerts’
performers, schedules and specific location in the Botanical Gardens, visit:
montrealespacepourlavie.ca
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