KIAC COLUMN

by Palma Berger

Fall is here and the courses are filling up. The drawing class taught by Eleanor Whidden from Nova Scotia, is pretty full but has a few spaces available. This begins this week.

Gwen Bell is teaching creative rhythm and movement class. Sorry, it is for toddlers and is very popular.

The fiddle lessons as offered last year proved so popular that they are being offered again this year. Dean Tower from Whitehorse teaches this. There are but a few spaces left.

Arts for Employment has begun. There are students from Carcross, Teslin, Marsh Lake as well as Dawson.

There is a slight change this year. As well as the full time students, arrangements have been made for people who want to take individual courses. There have been requests for this.

The following are the courses offered along with the instructors.

Drawing and painting (Art Foundations ) is being taught by Ava Christal. Her work can be seen at the current show in the Odd Gallery.

Other courses are multi-media based as in computer graphics. Chera Hunchuk will be teaching Graphic Design, Photoshop and In Design.

Doreen Bicknell will handle computer graphics. Michael Edwards (from Whitehorse) will teach Illustrator. Again Ross Burnet from Whitehorse will teach film making.

Jorn Meier and Mindy Potoroka will teach Web Design. Mario Villeneuve will teach career development.

Arts for Employment runs until April next year.

Fearless Trio Begins Musical Yukon Odyssey in Dawson

by Dan Davidson

The Mike Allen Trio stopped in Dawson City on Friday night (September 24) for the fourth gig on a road trip that will see them play eighteen communities and thirty concerts during their five week tour.

“It’s an odyssey of touring,” Allen told an enthusiastic crowd at the Oddfellows Hall, “with five to six hours

Mike Allen, Sean Cronin and Julian MacDonough entertained at the Oddfellows’ Hall on September 24. Photo by Dan Davidson

in the van between shows.”

When they hit the stage, however, no one would realize that the members of the trio, consisting of Allen on sax, Julian MacDonough on drums and newcomer Sean Cronin on bass, were the least bit tired. Their music was full of energy.

The two forty-five minute sessions covered quite a bit of the original content on the trio’s last two CDs, “Dialectic” and “Fearless”, but paid tribute to other tune smiths and styles as well, including John Coltrane, Sonny Greenwich, Frank Foster and Thelonius Monk, among others.

The trio provides its listeners with a strong sense of the original composition before heading off on tangential solos that manage to retain a sense of the opening bars while still breaking new ground. Allen uses the full range of his instrument, keeping his runs fluid without dissipating into disorganized squawking. MacDonough manages to make each extended drum solo different than the one that came before, and plays with such evident enjoyment that he leaves the audience wondering what he will do next. Cronin, the latest addition to the band, was showcased on several of the tunes, and sustained the solid beat of the trio even when his band mates were off on musical excursions.

Allen said he was surprised that the crowd, which had come out for an evening of fancy desserts, drinks and music, was still hanging in at 11 pm, but he shouldn’t have been. That was what they came for.

After a late breakfast in Dawson City (timetables go out the window when the power is out for 45 minutes) on Saturday, the trio hit the road for Whitehorse, where they had a concert at the Arts Centre on Sunday night. Tuesday would be their last day in the territory, at Watson Lake, before heading down the Alaska Highway, east across the northern route to Manitoba and back through the Prairies to B.C.

The Yukon Tour was put together as part of the Jazz Society of the Yukon’s Jazz on the Wing series, with financing from NorthwesTel, Yukon Tourism, Lotteries Yukon, Westmark Whitehorse, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Dawson coordination was by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture.

GATHERING STRENGTH

by Palma Berger

“Just after noon on the summer solstice, June 21st, 2001, myself and ten other women, all living with the effects of breast cancer, embarked upon the first river race of what would become an annual event. We climbed into our big, orange, voyageur canoe, pushed our paddles into the water ÉÉ.and entered the river at Whitehorse as participants in the Yukon River Quest, a canoe race of some 720 kilometres between Whitehorse and Dawson City.”

Ava Christal adjusts one of her paintings. Photo by Palma Berger

Thus, artist Ava Christal gives us the setting for the inspiration for her large canvasses that are now on display at the Odd Gallery.

They are 48 inches by 48 inches as needed to depict the vastness of the landscape through which they travelled. The colours are rich, and the rivers wide, and at times the natural surroundings dwarf the canoe.

At the start of the race they enter Lake le Berge. The painting of this gives the feeling for the beginning of the trip. The dark waters are broken by light catching certain areas, but there is nothing really defined. The waters seem never ending. The proposed journey seems daunting. One gets the feeling that there is no hint of where it will lead.

In “Undercurrents” the canoe seems to be resting lightly on top of the water, not appearing as if it is part of the scene. The immediate water is dark but indicating undercurrents are areas of moving and lighter coloured water.

“For me, the river became metamorphic ­ a body in motion, evolving, constantly changing course, seeking new routesÉ”

“Reflections” shows two islands which are darker as they are back lit, and the darker water in the foreground is broken up as the river goes off into the distance and becoming a lighter and brighter sea green where water and sky seem to blend. “The images in this body of work consider the word ‘reflection’ :the reflected light on the water and the light in our livesÉ..”

The lovely pinks of the fireweed with its green leaves, are defined by the remnants of black burnt timber. Again the reflections repeat these colours. “The work also considers the miracles of life all around us as seen from the canoe: the profusion of wildflowers Éthe re-growth of flora following wild fires.”

“Haven” has a large orange cloud coming from the left and it would appear as if it will dominate the painting, but at the lower part there is a rectangular area enclosing a scene of peace and calm with water and island. “The river taught us patience and endurance.”

“Sunburst” has a blaze of yellow, orange and red light seemingly enveloping the stationary canoe, and making its colour fade by comparison. The burst of this vivid colour makes the painting feel alive as it fills the sky and reflects in the water. “..it gave us light and laughter”.

“Gathering Strength” expresses the feeling of having conquered a long and difficult journey. The canoe is in the absolute foreground and stretching away from it is the river so wide and yet so distant as it appears as a narrow stream as it disappears around the distant bend. The hills on the left firmly remind the viewer of the size of this land. “As the river gathered strength, so too, did I.”

“Sunrise through the Rapids” is the journey through the Five Finger Rapids. The canoe is dwarfed by the size of the rocks. On the distant shore a fire is lit to help guide the canoes through. The colourful sky melts into the colours of the water, while a shaft of light shines beautifully between the two huge rocks on the near left.

“The images speak to the experience of moving forward: physicallyÉÉ and spiritually and emotionally as we gathered strength through all we endured.”

The paintings are a moving tribute to these river journeys, and to their effect on the travellers.

The show runs until October 3rd.