Weekend plans | Everything for everyone

Start of season at the LNI

The National Improvisation League, which is celebrating its 46th anniversary this year, begins its brand new Charade Cup Season on Monday. Six teams will compete on the ice rink to bring out the craziest, most touching, most poetic stories. Note the return of Sylvie Moreau, an experienced player who will this time act as coach of the Reds. The first match is scheduled for Sunday, February 11 at 2 p.m., at Club Soda. The Oranges will then face the Violets. A match is also planned the next day, in the evening. The grand finale will be held on May 6.

Stéphanie Morin, The Press

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40, from Ballet Ouest Montreal

40, to mark the 40 years of existence of Ballet Ouest Montréal, which at the same time marks the launch of its new name, BO Montréal. For the occasion, the company is presenting a triple program: Breadth, a pandemic-inspired neo-classical ballet work for five dancers, created by emerging choreographer Kunal Ranchod in 2022; a pas de deux from the Russian ballet Flames of Paris ; and finally, The lake where the swans bathecreative adaptation for ten dancers of the classic Swan Lake, creation of artistic director Claude Caron. The show will then be presented this winter in Rivière-du-Loup, Sainte-Thérèse and Sainte-Geneviève.

Iris Gagnon-Paradis, The Press

February 11, at the Pierre-Mercure room of the Center Pierre-Péladeau

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All roads lead to… Judy

How did the life and work of American visual artist Judy Chicago manage to insinuate itself into the lives of six characters in search of meaning and truth? That’s kind of the premise of the piece. Judy, written and directed by Gabrielle Lessard, who imagined six stories, six journeys that intertwine and intersect. A clever contemporary piece, which also allows us to discover the thoughts of this early feminist artist and free in the noblest sense possible. At the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui until February 17.

Jean Siag, The Press

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Justin Adams and Mauro Durante

The track record of English guitarist Justin Adams is long since his time with Jah Wobbles in the early 1990s. He has notably established himself as an interesting explorer of North African music by collaborating in particular with the Tuareg group Tinariwen, whose he made two important records, and Rachid Tahad. Here he is passing through Montreal with the Italian violinist and percussionist Mauro Durante, collaborator of Ludovico Einaudi. The tandem, who released a very bluesy album in 2021, will offer a “new” concert at Balattou, Friday, at 9 p.m.

Alexandre Vigneault, The Press

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In Morpheus arms

Choreographer Helen Simard is back with a brand new show for young audiences, designed for five performers and a musician on stage. The world of the night and its dreamlike surrealism are kings there. Carried by a limitless imagination, In Morpheus arms brings out surprising images and plays with the limits of reality. Fabulous bestiary, games of masks and light, illusions and magic will be there, for young people… and adults!

February 10 at 4 p.m., at the Agora de la danse (8 years and over)

Iris Gagnon-Paradis, The Press

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Vladimir Kornéev sings Piaf

After participating in a few collective shows, the opera singer, pianist and actor of Georgian origin Vladimir Kornéev began to have an excellent reputation in Quebec. He presents for the first time here his homage to la môme Piaf, a repertoire which seems to be made for his very expressive approach to singing, in the intimacy of the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts for four evenings. Life in Piaf is an opportunity to hear well-known and lesser-known songs by the French icon which, carried by a unique male voice, will certainly take on a different color.

Josée Lapointe, The Press

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“As Ellias Barnès, Marc-André Grondin is exceptional. The actor plays in (almost) every scene and his character goes through borderline stages, ranging from despondency to horror to resignation. In 48 hours, he will experience more twists and turns than in a lifetime,” writes our journalist Luc Boulanger.

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“The tone ofArgyle evolves at the same pace as its narrative. While the first act leans more into comedy, the story becomes more complex and the humor becomes rarer in the second. Once the plot becomes completely implausible – but still entertaining – the film concludes with two huge crazy action scenes. We may find that they lack seriousness, especially after having raised the stakes so much, but we cannot blame Matthew Vaughn for lacking audacity,” writes our journalist Pascal Leblanc.

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