Rat race? Take the Off-Ramp

Stressed? Life a little bit … crazy? Take the exit to smooth jazz with the OffRamp Jazz Sextet.

We welcome the return of a new concert series presented by the South Okanagan Concert Society. They are determined to bring quality performances to the community that engage and delight.

Get your tickets now for the first concert on Sunday, November 7th at 2 pm when pianist Justin Glibbery will be on the Venables Theatre stage with his Offramp Jazz Sextet, formed in 2010. Glibbery handpicked each member of the sextet to compete in the Penticton Jazz Festival. Festival goers responded to the music with excitement and the sextet returned for subsequent festivals before starting to perform around the Okanagan Valley. They continue to grow their audiences and receive accolades from jazz enthusiasts and music lovers alike. They have performed sold out concerts at the famous Dream Café, Hillside Winery & Bistro, the Vernon Jazz Club and at previous engagements with the South Okanagan Concert Society.

The Offramp Jazz Sextet appeals to all generations of jazz lovers. Their music is accessible to jazz fans and easy-listening music lovers alike. From ballads and “standards” to exciting, breathless improvisations, they bring the best of the swing era.

Tickets are $22.50, and sold by the single concert rather than a series. Tickets are available at the Venables Box Office, by phone at 250-498-1626 or www.venablestheatre.ca The price includes automatic membership in the South Okanagan Concert Society, and voting privileges at their AGM.

Please note that at Venables Theatre performances will be sold at a 50% capacity of 200 people. Patrons 12 and older will be required to wear masks and show proof of FULL vaccination. See link to download proof. This concert will be 1 hour long with no intermission so everyone can feel safe and happy.

Tracy Fehr‘s lovely voice will have her audience feeling festive on Sunday, December 12 at 2 p.m. Penticton lyric coloratura soprano, Tracy Fehr and her musical friends perform an uninterrupted hour of seasonal music. The performance will be further enhanced with elegant costumes created by Medieval Fehr.

The Christmas-themed programme will feature Handel and Mozart, rousing carols and Renaissance motets as well as much loved songs including O Holy Night, Maria Weigenlied, Ave Maria and Hugo Wolf’s stunning Schlafendes Jesuskind.

Fehr will be joined by talented Kelowna artists Graham Vink (piano) and Olivia Walsh (cello) and the Early Music a cappella trio, Seraphim Vocal Ensemble (Tracy Fehr, Heather Allen and Olivia Walsh).

Tickets are $22.50 for the concert. Don’t be disappointed, book early! Box office hours at the Venables Theatre are Tuesday to Thursday 10 to 3 pm. Walk in or phone 250 498 1626. You can also pick your seats online at www.venablestheatre.ca

Watch for more live music in the new year, brought to you by the South Okanagan Concert Society.

Arts & Crafts Fair October 23

Returning once again to the Oliver Community Centre, this year’s 44th annual Arts and Crafts Show takes place Saturday October 23rd from 10am to 4pm. A showcase of some of the finest arts and crafts in the valley, the show includes home decor and seasonal decorations from etched glassware and hand-made pottery to woven and quilted table linens.
Many popular booths will be returning this year including two of the South Okanagan’s largest fabric guilds – the Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers and the Double O Quilters. The perfect gift can be found as artisans and crafters are well stocked with a wide variety of articles for display and sale. The work of dozens of local artisans and craftspeople will be available show and sale this year including booths filled with re-purposed silverware and upcycled clothing.
Admission is free to the 44th Oliver Arts and Craft Show which takes place one-day only on Saturday October 23rd from 10am – 4pm in the Community Hall of the Oliver Community Centre at 6359 Park Drive, Oliver.

Easy to start sculpting

Never sculpted in your life? Don’t consider yourself an artist? Let Maureen Walker show you how easy it can be with her step-by-step process and just a few simple tools. Students have already exclaimed about their own creations and how much they enjoy her classes.

Classes are all held at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street, Oliver. Register for one or more or all! Each requires a separate pre-registration deposit. Class size limited. Masks required. All COVID protocols will be followed.

Monday October 18: Garden Gnomes

Wednesday October 27: Standing Lady

Monday November 8: Reindeer

Wednesday November 17: Garden Fairy

Pre-registration is required: maureen.walker2010 @ gmail.com 250-306-3379

Follow her on Facebook or visit her website to see her beautiful artwork up close.

Two-fisted rip-off this week

Those cunning RipOff Artists are sneaking back to the scene of their last “crime”! The local artist collective returns with a two-fisted exhibit at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre from August 18 – 21, 2021. One display will feature their 2020 challenge: interpretations of Marc Chagall’s “The Blue Circus” in ten different media. Cue the acrobats! For a sneak peek, click HERE. The artists planned this 2020 challenge via Zoom, and each worked in their home studios to complete the project. But there were no witnesses to their 2020 rip-off until now. Their work will finally be exposed to public view this week.

The other part of the exhibit will be a remounting of their A.Y. Jackson challenge from July 2021: “Nellie Lake, Killarney”. In recognition of Oliver’s 100 x 100 Festival, this challenge transplanted Jackson’s Ontario landscape to the south Okanagan. Come see how many Oliver landmarks you can recognize!

Meet all the artists at an opening reception on Wednesday August 18 from 6 – 8 p.m. Live music! The exhibit will remain open daily from Thursday August 19 through Saturday August 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The RipOff Artists also held two workshops earlier in the week, for small pre-registered classes of six each. Jan Kreut taught Intro to Encaustic on Monday, and JoAnn Turner taught Brilliant Colour and the Impressionists on Tuesday of this week. Did you miss out? Those RipOff Artists are sooo sneaky! Stay up-to-date with their shenanigans by following their Facebook page so you can be on their trail and catch them in the act!

Pole artists to beautify Oliver

PRE-REGISTER by clicking HERE

PRE-REGISTER by clicking HERE

Join a FREE workshop to paint vineyard poles for display throughout Oliver, as part of a larger town beautification project. No artistic talent is required! Sign up to simply slather on a base coat. Tools and supplies provided. Feel more adventurous as a pole artist? Paint your pole in bright colours when the base coat dries, or take it home to decorate in your own special way. The Chamber of Commerce will plant completed poles throughout the downtown area.

Workshops run Monday August 2 – Thursday August 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre (Studio Building) at 5840 Airport Street. Come to one or many! PRE-REGISTER to avoid disappointment by phoning the Chamber of Commerce at 250-535-3335 or clicking the email link above.

The Oliver Community Arts Council is a proud sponsor of this Grow Oliver project.

Music in the Park returns!

Summer just isn’t summer until you’ve kicked off your shoes in the cool evening grass and swayed in your lawnchair to some great tunes. Music in the Park brings summer back with local favourites and some new bands too.

NEW this year: Concerts start Thursday August 12 for three Thursday evenings from 6:30 – 8:00 followed by two SUNDAY AFTERNOONS from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Feel like you haven’t had a proper summer yet? Well, we’re going to keep the music going as long as we can!

First up is the sister act, Sister Soul (Thursday August 12), featuring Diane Ball’s sweet singing and piano, and sister Joanne Fauteux with her gutsy rock vocals and guitar. They were a hit duo in 2019 and we’re bringing ’em back. Whether it’s a 70s pop ballad by the Eagles or an 80s rock song by Heart, these ladies have it covered.

Sister Soul: Diane Ball and Joanne Fauteux

Rebel Luv (Thursday August 19) is simply “Mikie and Ken” to locals. They are a constant crowd pleaser and will be sure to get people up dancing and smiling and singing along. Ken on rock guitar is the perfect balance to Mikie’s country leanings. They sing and play their hearts out every time. This year they are the featured “Feed the Valley” concert, sponsored by Valley First. Please bring along an Oliver Food Bank donation.

Double Stop Creek: Sue McEvoy and Denise Soule

Double Stop Creek (Thursday August 26) comes down from Anarchist Mountain bringing great country music with them. Sue McEvoy and Denise Soule, perform the “heart and soule” of country, with big smiles and country charm.

Every year we bring something NEW! This time, it’s Rollin’ Coal (SUNDAY August 29). The band comes to us from Kelowna, performing classic tunes in a number of styles including 50’s/60’s rock, Latin grooves, country and a sprinkle of reggae and blues. NEW day and time for these last two concerts! Start time is 2:00 p.m. so you can linger longer in the late summer afternoon.

Mike Hilliard and Sabrina Weeks

Wrapping things up on the long weekend are Sabrina Weeks & Mike Hilliard (SUNDAY September 5) from Kamloops. Winners of the prestigious Maple Blues Award, Sabrina and Mike are a class act, performing a mix of smooth jazz ballads and blues. Sabrina oozes charisma with her rich sultry voice and stage presence while Mike is a wonder on electric blues guitar.

Please bring a cash donation in support of the Oliver Community Arts Council.

All concerts are at the Oliver Community Park band shell. Concerts move into the community hall in bad weather. A food truck will be on site for suppers, or feel free to bring your own picnic. Watch for pop-up booths of merchandise and community info. All health protocols in place as part of the BC Restart Plan will be observed, especially physical distancing and sanitizing. This keeps it fun for everyone!

We are grateful to our ongoing sponsor, Valley First.

RipOff Artists steal away to hills of Killarney

The Ripoff Artists are at it again! This year, the target of their larcenous endeavours is A.Y. Jackson of the Group of Seven, and his “Hills Killarney (Nellie Lake).” See for yourself as the Ripoff Artists use sly skills to interpret this artwork in their own media, every day from July 6 to 10, 9 am to 3 pm, at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre at 5840 Airport Street in Oliver. Saturday will be the big rush to finish their pieces before 3 pm!

In honour of Oliver’s 100×100 celebration, the nefarious gang interpreted Oliver landmarks in the style of A.Y. Jackson, even luring members of the SOSS Art Club into artistic skulduggery. See their efforts on display at the Quail’s Nest, as they warmed up their slippery fingers and artistic wiles for this summer’s shameless exploitation of a Canadian art legend.

Alexander Young Jackson (1882-1974) was born in Montreal, worked in a printer’s shop as a boy, and studied fine art there. He later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and spent time in France. Montreal had no interest in new Canadian art, then a letter from eager young painters about one of his paintings took Jackson to the cultural backwater of Toronto. His knowledge of the art world and the fresh ideas of Tom Thomson and others combined into innovative ways of painting the rugged Canadian landscape. The friends set themselves up in a large studio in downtown Toronto, and made canoeing trips to Algonquin Park and Georgian Bay, sitting on rocks and stumps in all weathers to paint tiny panels they expanded into full sized paintings back in Toronto.

Jackson shared a studio with Thomson, then served as a war artist in the First World War. In 1920, the “Algonquin” painters exhibited for the first time as the Group of Seven.

Jackson was often seen as the spokesman of the Group. Another member, Arthur Lismer, wrote that “Jackson has done more than any other writer or artist to bind us to our own environment and make us vitally aware of the significance, beauty and character of the land.” Jackson was the last surviving member of the Group of Seven and is buried in the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.

For more information about the Ripoff Artists, visit their website at ripoffartists.ca and follow them on Facebook at South Okanagan Ripoff Artists.

“For the Birds” for all

Art is definitely not “for the birds” – except in this one instance. The Oliver Community Arts Council and the Fibre Art Network (FAN) are excited to be sponsoring “For the Birds”, a travelling art exhibit featuring a flock of 88 feathered friends. This colourful display of fibre art from across Western Canada comes to roost briefly at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre in Oliver before taking flight on a three-year tour.

Using birds as their theme, 62 members of FAN created personal interpretations of all aspects of a bird’s life, interests and interactions with the world it inhabits. The exhibit features eight-inch square pieces of artwork in a wide variety of fibre mediums, styles and innovative techniques. Each miniature, like the birds they represent, is a tiny marvel of ingenuity and beauty.

The exhibit will be open July 16 and 17, Friday and Saturday, from 10 am – 4 pm both days, in the smaller Studio Building at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre (5840 Airport Street, Oliver). Admission is free and everyone is welcome. Any current COVID-19 restrictions will apply. Weather permitting, the Studio bay doors will be rolled open for maximum ventilation.

FAN is a 90+ member co-operative network of fibre artists from across Western Canada. Every year, FAN produces a large format exhibition for galleries, and a small format exhibit designed to be loaned to guilds, art groups and libraries throughout Canada for a three-year tour.

For the Birds is the group’s current small exhibit, which begins extensive touring in September. The Arts Council and FAN are pleased to preview this exhibit before it migrates to other parts of Canada. See it before it flies away! Binoculars not required.

To learn more about this exhibit or other FAN exhibitions and artists, go to fibreartnetwork.com.

Summer wide open at Quail’s Nest!

Good news! The Quail’s Nest Arts Centre has reopened just in time for Summer Studio bookings!

OCAC members can book the Studio Building for weekly summer rentals at the unbelievably low price of a $75 flat fee. Weeks are still available in July and August. BOOK SOON before the remaining weeks are gone!

A “week” is a minimum of three consecutive days to a maximum of six consecutive days within the Sunday to Saturday weekly calendar. e.g. Tuesday to Thursday, Monday to Saturday.  The same $75 fee applies regardless how many days in the week you use. 

Offer a small workshop, open a temporary studio, hold a series of demonstrations, advertise a sale, teach classes – any event of an artistic nature. Or book the space for your own personal artistic time, especially if you need a larger space for “messy” work or uninterrupted quiet: do some painting, spinning or dyeing, practicing music or recording a video.

Everyone must comply with our COVID Safety Plan when using the building, including compliance with occupancy limits, contact tracing, and sanitizing.

The Quail’s Nest Arts Centre is located at 5840 Airport Street, Oliver BC. The smaller of the two buildings, the STUDIO building (pictured), is available for rent. It has undergone several small renovations in the past year. 

While the space is not air-conditioned, the bays and doors open up for a nice breeze.  There is a full kitchen to make your lunch and chill some bevvies. There is WiFi to support your digital media. If you anticipate a lot of kitchen use (cooking meals, running the dishwasher) or a liquor event, add a $10 surcharge. 

Renting for consecutive days means you also have exclusive use during evenings and overnight, so you can store your supplies without interruption. Of course, you are also responsible for your own “no-trace” cleanup at the end. We have cleaning supplies to help you with that! 

Contact the rental agent by EMAIL for information and bookings. When your dates are confirmed, you can use the Rental form HERE to complete the rental contract and submit your payment.  

Call for Art Instructors

Call for Artistic Instructors!
Please share this message with arts group members and creative friends. Feel free to post the attached poster along with this message on social media.

Do you have a teachable artistic skill? Leading music, simple dance moves, sketching, zen doodling, theatre sports, painting, fibre or fabric arts, sculpting? Some simple project that can be taught in an hour-long class? An hour of dance, stretch, movement, theatre, or singing that you can lead?

The Desert Sun Counselling Centre is contracting art instructors to teach small groups of isolated seniors in Oliver and Osoyoos in their Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors (TAPS). Their goal is to help seniors who have been most impacted by COVID lockdowns to socialize and become more active. Classes will be held outdoors and in groups of no more than ten total, until health guidelines change.

The Oliver Community Arts Council is a proud sponsor of the TAPS program! We have been acting in an advisory capacity to help with the program’s rollout.

The TAPS program schedules art classes for an hour in the late morning from Monday – Thursday, for a total of four hours. Each group has a maximum of eight clients. The first round of TAPS classes begins in June and July, with a second and third phase of the program extending into the fall. See the attachment for the full schedule of TAPS activities.

Art instructors could be hired for one set of classes, or for repeated classes depending on interest, availability, and the variety of instruction offered.

Desert Sun will pay all art instructors $30/hr through a fee-for-service contract, and supply some mileage assistance if travelling between Oliver and Osoyoos. All instructors must complete a criminal record check, permitting them to work with vulnerable seniors. All instructors, staff and clients will abide by all health protocols. Instructors are responsible for reporting taxable income.

Complete the application form (download the PDF below):

You can also email OliverCAC @ gmail.com or the TAPS program manager Bonnie Dancey at bonnie @ desertsun.ca Completed applications go directly to Bonnie.

This is a terrific way to bring joy and companionship – as well as a sense of accomplishment and creativity – back into seniors’ lives.

Instructors need not be members of the arts council or any arts group, just able to teach something fun and artistic. Please pass this message far and wide to your creative friends in the visual and performance arts!

For more information, please contact either Bonnie Dancey at Desert Sun or the Oliver Community Arts Council.

Call for 100 x 100 graphic design

One Hundred X One Hundred (x̌cəcikst X x̌cəcikst) Project
Call for Logo Design Submissions

What is the One Hundred X One Hundred project?
The year 2021 marks 100 years of the Oliver community, a community formed on and shaped by the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, whose history stretches back 10,000 years.
The One Hundred X One Hundred (x̌cəcikst X x̌cəcikst) project provides an opportunity to explore our roots and share wisdom to build a stronger shared community, a deeper connection to the land, and to grow our future together for generations to follow.
The project Planning Committee, coordinated by the Oliver Parks and Recreation Society, is seeking submissions from local artists of all ages to assist in the development of the primary design/logo for all promotions throughout 2021 to create recognition and pride for the project.
We are looking for graphic designs that reflects the rich history of our community as a whole, acknowledges the land and water on which we live, work and play, and that inspires us to grow together.


What kind of artwork can I submit?
While the Committee will be promoting ways throughout 2021 to engage artists from all art categories, the immediate outcome is to develop a design or logo to brand the project for marketing purposes. This first opportunity is a call to local visual and graphic artists to submit original designs/concepts for consideration as the primary logo for the One Hundred X One Hundred project.
Key themes or words brought forward through community engagement to date include: the Okanagan River, the land, Sockeye Salmon, Bighorn Sheep, California Quail, agriculture, ranching, the Valley, desert grasslands, Nylintin (McIntyre Bluff), mountains, lakes, Ponderosa Pine, orchards, wineries, Sagebrush, Bitterroot, Saskatoon berry, the sun, dry hot climate.
Simple designs with few elements, strong lines and bold colours are recommended. Keep in mind the design needs to work in a small format, such as a poster logo or a badge. Designs that incorporate the text “100 x 100” or “One Hundred X One Hundred” are welcomed, but not required.

How and where do I submit my artwork?
Starting January 11th, 2020, you can submit designs/art by mail, electronically via email or social media, or drop it off in person. In all cases, please ensure you include contact information including name, email address and phone number for follow up by the Committee. Please submit your artwork between Monday January 11 and Friday, February 5th to be considered as the primary design for the project.

One Hundred X One Hundred Committee
c/o Oliver Parks and Recreation
PO Box 627, Oliver BC V0H 1T0
info @ oliverrecreation.ca (Please indicate “100X100 Project Logo Design” in the subject line)
Administration Office (Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm)
6359 Park Drive in the Community Centre complex
Phone 250-498-4985

What will happen to my artwork once submitted?
Once submitted designs for the project have been received, artists will be contacted to complete an entry form providing consent for the work to a) become the property of the One Hundred X One Hundred Committee and b) shared publicly within and beyond the community for project purposes and to be archived.
The Committee will reserve the right to choose which design to use for project purposes, may use submissions in part or in whole, and concepts may be digitized and/or re-worked for meet the needs of the project. Not all artwork received by the committee will be used for the project.
The artist/s whose work is chosen by the committee to be used as the project design/logo will be acknowledged in the media and future promotions and receive a $250.00 honorarium and framed copy of the final design.

SO Concert Society cancels 2020-21 season

The executive of the South Okanagan Concert Society met June 15th and is sad to announce that the concert season for 2020/2021 is cancelled as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. A variety of conditions forced this decision.

First, musicians already booked to come from Quebec and points East simply cannot know whether travel will be possible or not. Their concerts in B.C. are only financially viable with pre-arranged tours because of the high expense involved in travel. The uncertainty has led agents to reluctantly propose postponing for the following season.

The SOCS executive looked at the possibility of trying to book only B.C. musicians. A number of considerations, should this be possible, still stood in the way. The small numbers allowed to gather for performances providing sufficient distancing make it impossible to cover the costs. “We are not prepared to sacrifice the quality of our performances,” said SOCS President Janet Marcotte (pictured onstage at right). That would likely happen if much reduced artist fees had to be part of the budget requirements.

Other considerations also came into play. With only a small number spread throughout the concert hall it would greatly affect the atmosphere of those who did attend. The regular patrons love the strong sense of community, the meeting with friends, the conviviality around the concerts and not just the performance. Providing this atmosphere has been a big part of the SOCS mission and success.

The possibility of doing 2 concerts in one evening to bring more regular patrons in and also increase income would involve a huge amount of fast cleaning between concerts by extra paid staff, no receptions and no mingling with friends in the lobby.

Live streaming was also considered as a possible solution. Again, the executive spoke to the needs of our patrons. Most are passionate for top quality LIVE music and many are of an age where live streaming has little appeal. The age factor also means our patrons are particularly vulnerable to the virus.

Although the Venables Theatre staff have literally bent over backwards to try and accommodate the SOCS needs and their efforts are much appreciated, the SOCS executive reluctantly decided to cancel the concert season. As Covid19 conditions change, all efforts will go into planning for another concert season in the future and a possible lone concert or two in the new year.

The AGM of the South Okanagan Concert Society will take place at 10:30 am Wednesday, July 8th, at Venables Theatre. All members welcome.

SOUTH OKANAGAN CONCERT SOCIETY
Submitted by Marion Boyd

Quail-antine Challenge invites art

Art challenge awards prizes to those in “Quail-antine”

Oliver’s arts council encourages locals to self-isolate with a creative project called the “Quail-antine” Challenge. The council will award prizes to visual art entries of any medium and skill level, as long as those entries are placed in an area visible to the public. The idea is inspired by the arts council’s logo (a quail) and the springtime behaviour of Oliver’s famous bird.

In springtime, quail practice “quail-antine”. Usually found in large flocks, quail start to pair off, and isolate themselves for nesting time. The arts council encourages local residents to be like the quail: Make a cozy place for a “nest”. Find a buddy to bring you supplies and run errands and check on you if you need it. Make lots of “noise” by phone, email, video so others can hear you even if they aren’t with you. Ka-kawkaw!  Then get busy creating something new, whether picking up a neglected art project or a book or a dusty musical instrument, taking an online class, starting a journal, making a video or taking artistic macro shots of household objects. In other words, “hatch” a few creative “eggs”!  Just because you’re in “Quail-antine” doesn’t mean you can’t exercise your creativity!

The Quail-antine Challenge asks locals to create a quail. One option is to colour the Quail-antine colouring page and post it in a window or door facing the public, or waterproof it and stake it in your front yard so others can see it. For those seeking more of an artistic challenge, create a quail sculpture out of found objects like stones, cutlery, garden implements, or recycled materials. Use up leftover craft supplies like feathers and glitter. Felting, sewing, photographing or painting quail are all welcome. No age or ability restrictions.    

Colouring pages are available here or by emailing OliverCAC @ gmail.com Two colouring pages are available, a simple one for beginners is here:

and one slightly more challenging is here:

To enter for a chance at a prize, take a photo of your artwork showing that it is in a location on your property where the public can view it. Email the photo of your artwork to OliverCAC @ gmail.com with the subject line “I’m Quail-antining!” Feel free to share the story behind your artwork. Enter your finished creation before May 30 to be included.

Prizes will be awarded on May 30 for three $50 gift certificates to one of the arts council’s many business or group members. Each winner may choose from among participating businesses or groups — tickets to a concert or play, food and beverages, arts workshops, health services, and more.  A complete list of those 30-plus members is on the right-hand column.  Gift certificates will be good for one year, expiring in June 2021, to use when life returns to normal.

Show your creativity and solidarity as we all quail-antine!

CANCELLED: Birthday Present to Myself

Acclaimed Nelson dancer-choreographer-storyteller, Hiromoto Ida has now CANCELLED his latest piece, Birthday Present for Myself ​on April 3rd at the Venables Theatre.

Inspired by the subtlety and simplicity of Japanese Noh Theatre through western contemporary dance and music, Hiromoto aims to touch the hearts of audiences; to explore a shared moment through the inner world and emotions of the old man, with the hope that they will be inspired to find unexpected beauty in their own lives.

“I see western culture giving messages of aging and getting old as being a negative element of one’s life” Hiromoto observes. “I grew up with both my grandfather and grandmother in my home. Even when I was small, I could feel something special about them.” By touching on themes of love, transformation and regeneration, Hiromoto hopes the audience will gain a new perspective on aging and the last chapter of their lives.

In addition to dance and theatre, Ida is an accomplished screen actor. His first film debut in 1994, as the lead in the movie Tokyo Cowboy, won the People’s Choice Award at Vancouver International Film Festival.

Ida skillfully merges dance, theatre, classical music and voice to tell the story of an old man, raising a glass of sake to himself in celebration, on what will be his last birthday. Birthday moves beyond ideas of grief and sadness into a deeper awareness of the stages of life and the inevitability of death.

This exceptional performance was to have taken place Friday April 3rd at the Venables Theatre (6100 Gala Street, Oliver) is now CANCELLED. For more information visit www.venablestheatre.ca

Birthday Present for Myself is presented by the Venables Theatre with the support of the Community Presenters Assistance program (of the BC Arts Council and BC Touring Council) as well as The Coast Oliver Hotel.