Kuh Del Rosario

The Vancouver Sun
January 3, 2013

ones to watch 2013: rising stars in the vancouver arts scene worth keeping an eye on this year
vancouversun.com

TIFFANY TREGARTHEN AND DAVID RAYMOND

Not one to keep an eye on, but two: Tiffany Tregarthen and David Raymond founded their contemporary mash-up company, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre & Film Society, in Vancouver in 2007. Theirs is a partnership grounded in wildly different physical types and dance styles – tap and street dance for him, jazz and ballet for her – they have knit together to produce a hybrid movement vocabulary of unusual distinctiveness and impact. The work is grounded in meticulous research, a practice that began during their early collaboration as part of a two-year creative residency in Antwerp from 2005 to 2007. They continue to practise deep, body-centred exploration in Vancouver, creating intimately scaled works in progress and three fully produced dances, including their first full-length piece for five dancers in 2010, Vessel. Perhaps their most singular achievement to date is the Japanese pop culture infused duet, Me So You So Me, which premiered in Vancouver in 2012. The piece was a hit at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the United States this summer and more recently at Parcours Danse in Montreal. Set to a wacky score by Japanese percussionist Asa Chang, this manga comic come to life is funny, furiously original and affectingly three-dimensional. These are artists poised to make a big splash.

Watch for a B.C. tour of Vessel, culminating in an April 24-27 run at the Shad-bolt Centre in Burnaby. ARIEL BARNES

Cellist Ariel Barnes had a very good 2012, and indications are strong for an even better 2013. His performances ranged from an evening of all three Suites for solo cello by Benjamin Britten, in March at The Cellar, to a performance of Bossa Nova classics with guitarist Daniel Bolshoi for MusicFest Vancouver. The duo “Couloir” (Barnes and harpist Heidi Krutzen) has been “commissioning up a storm,” with four new works recorded and two more in the works.

Given his composer father and violinist mother, Barnes’ career choice seems almost pre-ordained. His imaginative interest in music from all eras, refined technique, and luscious tone have made him an indispensable part of the Vancouver music scene. Barnes’ career as a soloist and chamber player seems poised to kick into a new level of intensity over the next few months.

Watch for: Barnes starts the new year with a Prairie tour, then in late February records Areomancy, Jocelyn Morlock’s concerto for two cellos, with cellist Joseph Elsworthy. In April he’s back at The Cellar with pianist Robert Silverman and violinist David Gilham, playing Brahms – and all this on a “new” cello, a fine 18th-century Italian instrument, on loan for three years from the Canada Council’s Instrument Bank.

David Gordon Duke, Special to The Sun CLAIRE MULLIGAN

Claire Mulligan’s first novel The Reckoning of Boston Jim, was nominated for the 2007 Giller Prize as well as the Ethel Wilson Award. At the time, Vancouver Sun reviewer Robert J. Wiersema wrote that the Reckoning of Boston Jim is “the sort of book that makes other novelists jealous.” Set in B.C. in the 1860s, it tells the story of Boston Jim, a trapper living in the wilds of Vancouver Island who is uncomfortable in the civilized world.

Mulligan was born and raised in B.C. and is a University of British Columbia grad. She has lived and worked in Haida Gwaii, Whistler, Vancouver and now, Pennsylvania.

Watch for: Mulligan’s new novel, The Dark, which comes out in May. It’s based on the true story of the Fox sisters – Maggie, Katie and Leah – who, in 1848, pretended to be able to communicate with the dead, and perpetuated the hoax for 30 years as the original Spiritualists. Spiritualism brought the Fox family great fame and fortune, as well as supporters and enemies. The Dark promises to be a fascinating book about an enigmatic time in American history.

Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun

WILLIAM AINSCOUGH

The Vancouver actor landed two parts with his first two auditions – a movie and a TV series. And he’s nine.

Watch for: William plays nine-year-old Billy in the new 13-episode sitcom Seed, launching on Citytv in February. Shot in Halifax and produced by Vancouver’s Force Four Entertainment, Seed is the story of a bachelor-bartender (Adam Korson from 2 Broke Girls) who discovers there is some serious interest payable on his sperm bank deposits.

William scored his first part with his first audition – an open casting call for the Warner Brother feature, Hidden – a film about a family hiding in a bomb shelter after a mysterious outbreak devastates civilization. The film is directed by the Duffer Brothers, stars Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) and Andrea Riseborough (Never Let Me Go) and hits screens late next year.

William told The Sun he was watching his mom (actress Nicole Oliver) at work last year and decided he wanted to give acting a try. “I love watching movies and making funny voices.”

Mom suggested he take some classes first and after a bit of tutelage at Tarlington Training, William was hooked. What he loves about acting so far: “I love meeting new people and getting a chance to do things that I might not normally do as ‘William’ in my everyday life. For example, in an episode of Seed I learned how to do rhythmic gymnastics and twirl a ribbon – that is something I would never have done if I wasn’t an actor on a TV show.”

William also loves drumming, soccer, baseball, and the online game Minecraft. No word if he’s planning on turning pro yet in any of the above. Mark Leiren-Young, Special to The Sun

KUH DEL ROSARIO

Using found objects and everyday materials, Del Rosario reorganizes and assembles the familiar – wood, foam, plastic – into disorienting structures. It’s easy to imagine the artist trolling East Vancouver’s back lanes, spotting a discarded piece of foam mattress or an egg carton, and hightailing it back to her studio with her new treasure. Del Rosario – who was born in the Philippines but grew up partly in Calgary, where she received an MFA at the Alberta College of Art and Design – also uses more traditional artist’s tools, like paint. The effect of her mixed-media work is often tactile, and Del Rosario’s methods bring attention to the artificial, constructed nature of her sculptures. In 2012, the artist was part of several Vancouver shows, including two collaborations and two group shows, as well as a group exhibit in New Mexico at the New Mexico State University.

Watch for: Del Rosario’s work in a number of shows in the coming months, including an upcoming solo exhibition at the Positive Negative Gallery and a collaborative project with artist Jessica Yeandle-Hignell at the Black & Yellow Gallery. She will also have a show at the Avalanche! Institute of Contemporary Art and The Truck Contemporary, both in Calgary.

Shawn Conner, Vancouver Sun

PIPPA MACKIE She acts, she writes and she’s in three plays for three theatre companies over the next six months.

Watch for: While a lot of 24-year-olds spent Boxing Day standing in line for sales on whatever Santa forgot to bring them, Pippa Mackie was getting seduced by Don Juan. The 2009 National Theatre School grad spent the run-up to Christmas preparing for the Blackbird Theatre production of Don Juan, which opened at The Cultch Dec. 26. Mackie takes on multiple roles (mostly women wooed by the master) in Molière’s comic classic. Don Juan runs until Jan. 26, which is about the time Mackie’s set to debut her new script, Protest Pie, at Pull: A 10 Minute Play festival (Jan. 24-27 at Little Mountain Gallery), which showcases some of the city’s rising stars in playwright and performance. Her script at last year’s festival was optioned as a full-length feature by Sociable Films, which Mackie’s now writing.

When this year’s 10-minute play closes, she’ll start rehearsals for Terminus – a play for Pi Theatre directed by Richard Wolfe running at Performance Works Feb. 28 to March 17. Then she co-stars in David Mamet’s controversial two-hander, Oleanna, for Pacific Theatre in June.

In her spare minute, Mackie’s co-writing a TV comedy series with Joseph Klymkiw about what it means to be in your 20s in Vancouver.
Morris Panych, who directed Mackie in his play, Gordon, told The Sun, “Pippa is awesome; a very inventive and very intuitive actor. She makes herself available to the creative process and is completely