Last week, this show wasted all of our time by not eliminating any of the dancers. Dumb! This week, we have a fun guest judge in Debbie Reynolds (she sang in the rain, in case you didn’t know). Apparently, this week four dancers will go home. Exciting!

Ricky and Ryan: These two have a “sexy” jazz routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. Not that Mandy Moore, sadly. Ryan is not doing much to win me over this week…she seems annoying. Ricky is impressive with his athleticism in this routine, but Ryan just looks like prop. The judges have nothing but praise, and Nigel awkwardly says that the routine had the sexual chemistry of he and Mary Murphy. Debbie Reynolds wins me over early on by claiming that Ryan really gave it her all by coming out of both her top and bottom (wardrobe malfunctions). 

Caitlynn and Mitchell: We didn’t get to see Mitchell last week because of an injury, and this week they will be dancing a contemporary routine by Stacey Tookey. They have prop armchairs in their routine, which generally doesn’t bode well. As I suspected, the time spent in the chairs is a waste. After that, they suffer from what I saw last week in another couple, where they don’t have the emotional core in their dance. It is technically quite good. After the routine, Caitlynn is bleeding because apparently Mitchell punched her during the dance. Hilarious. Good for her for just dancing through it.

The Lexicon: an occasional feature in which we identify movie/TV lines worth repeating.

Source: Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), Arrested Development, "Key Decisions" (S1, E4)

Usage: Shit happens.

Welcome to a new show being recapped here at (Cult)ure, So You Think You Can Dance!  It is time for teenaged and 20-somethinged dancers to amaze us with serious skill, and time for me to prove, yet again, how little I know about dance. My history with this show is pretty brief, with me only having watched one full season in the past. What I remember from that season is some really entertaining dances and one “banoodles” choreographer named Mia Michaels. I am sure the show won’t disappoint in bringing us these two things again.

I didn’t watch the audition rounds, so I am meeting the dancers tonight. Let’s get to it!

Judges:  Our panel tonight consists of two regulars, Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy, and one guest, Megan Mullally. Yes, Ron Swanson’s on-screen ex-wife AND real-life wife  (I may never recover from that one) will be joining us tonight. Consider yourselves lucky. Mullally spent time in ballet academies in her younger days, and has also done several Broadway plays. 

It is being reported the Jackass star Ryan Dunn has passed away following a car accident early this morning. Dunn was a talented performance artist, stuntman, and comedian. 

First appearing in the earliest CKY videos, Dunn shot to stardom along with friend Bam Margera in MTV's Jackass television series.  Dunn also co-starred with Margera for five seasons of Viva la Bam, and most recently starred in the hit film, Jackass 3D, which grossed $170 million last fall.

(Cult)ure Magazine sends our condolences to Ryan Dunn's family and friends. 

I just finished reading "Sorry Women, Summer Films Are for Boys," Dorothy Woodend's latest on The Tyee. Though we don't always agree, I'm a big fan Ms. Woodend's work. I went into this article with the suspicion that I wouldn't agree and not just because I'm a fan of the latest X-Men. Essentially because I'm a man-boy (or is it a boy-man?) at heart.

My best friend and I have a movie philosophy that amounts to "explosions Friday; art house Saturday." We're members of the Bytowne and love it there, and we're faithful patrons of the World Exchange Centre, a theatre more likely than the rest in Ottawa to pick up smaller films. But by the end of the week, you're not always in the right mental space to go deep or thoughtful or heavy. Sometimes you just want to watch things blow up real good.

Then I got to this caveat:

I was perusing the latest Fast Forward Weekly (a Calgary-based alt weekly) when I came across Danny Austin's Super 8 review. Check the description/subtitle/abstract/whatever you want to call it:  "Finally, an original movie hits screens."

What's that you say? An original movie? Sounds like someone read a little article about this year's crop of original summer movies! 

I mean, you know, probably not. But because I am the queen of specious shout-outs, I shall claim it. Shout out!

The Lexicon: an occasional feature in which we identify movie/TV lines worth repeating.

Source: Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), Gossip Girl, "Summer Kind of Wonderful" (S2, E1)

Usage: Awkward conversation ender. It's your new "end scene."

POSITION AVAILABLE:
ADMIN INTERN

Odyssey Theatre, Ottawa’s premiere professional mask summer theatre, is offering a ninemonth Arts Administrative Intern position to a University or College graduate. The position could be extended up to fourteen months. This job is perfect for someone who is interested in exploring the world of arts administration, and/or gaining new administrative skills, which would be transferable to other fields.

Odyssey Theatre is a dynamic, award-winning company that runs a successful open-air theatre in Strathcona Park. Our company produces a unique style of theatre that successfully blends various theatrical forms, including such arts as Commedia dell’Arte, mask, physical theatre and clown. We are currently celebrating our 25th season, and have many exciting plans for growth, including producing an indoor winter touring season.

Reporting to the General Manager and the Artistic Director, the successful candidate will be responsible for assisting with Odyssey’s: Marketing strategies and materials; Fundraising; Grant writing; and General office duties.
The successful candidate must possess the following skills: excellent written
communication skills; initiative; strong organizational skills; oral communication skills; intermediate computer skills preferably with some experience on an Apple operating system (Microsoft Word, Excel); and a background in the arts would be an asset.

This is a full-time position (from July 4, 2011 – March 30, 2012), $425.00/week, 40 hours/week.

The successful candidate will receive training and mentorship in marketing, fundraising and strategic planning, while being provided with networking opportunities. As well as gaining an excellent knowledge of the arts, after completing the position, Odyssey’s Administrative Intern would be qualified for numerous exciting positions in the not-forprofit, private and government sectors. This position is also a fantastic stepping-stone to a career in the arts and to succeed as an arts administrator.

Please submit a cover letter and resume by June 10, 2011 to:

Dana Uzarevic
General Manager
Odyssey Theatre
2 Daly Avenue
Ottawa, ON, K1N 6E2

Or by email: info@odysseytheatre.ca

Summit has finally, finally released a The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 trailer (November is so far away! Hurry up and distract me, True Blood!), and it looks like Bill Condon might just pull this one off. And by "this one," I mean, "easily the most ridiculous of all the Twilight books, and that's saying something." I admire the balls-out bonkers-ness of Breaking Dawn, but you're in for a doozy. In the meantime, let's examine the evidence after the jump.

JOB OPENING

POSITION:  CURATOR

ORGANIZATION:  Galerie SAW Gallery

We are looking for an exceptionally creative and energetic individual to join our small team in the role of Curator.

BACKGROUND

Founded in Ottawa in 1973, Galerie SAW Gallery is a non-profit artist-run centre dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art. Today, with its strong focus on outreach and community development, Galerie SAW Gallery boasts an annual audience of over 30,000 people. The centre’s risk-taking exhibition program presents the work of many artists who are not often considered by other Canadian art institutions. An evolving space comprised of Galerie SAW Gallery, Club SAW and the SAW outdoor courtyard, the centre is an ideal venue for the presentation of performance, media art and new artistic practices. Located in the National Capital region, Galerie SAW Gallery actively participates in political discourse around cultural diversity, the rights of artists and freedom of expression.

MANDATE

Galerie SAW Gallery

- promotes contemporary Canadian and international artists, emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds;

- presents a contemporary art program with a strong focus on Canadian performance and media art, with bilingual interpretative material produced for each exhibition;

- adapts to the changing nature of the contemporary arts by maintaining an evolving interdisciplinary presentation space comprised of SAW Gallery, Club SAW and the SAW outdoor courtyard;

- serves the needs of diverse communities through audience development initiatives;

- engages in collaborations with other arts organizations to increase opportunities for exhibiting artists and to outreach to new audiences;

- commits to paying artist fees above CARFAC recommendations.

JOB PROFILE

You will develop and organize critical and innovative exhibition programs that appeal to a wide range of audiences, in accordance with Galerie SAW Gallery’s mandate. You will work to build the centre’s relationships with artists and organizations from the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Canada and abroad. You will use your expertise in communications to contribute unique community outreach programs and public relations initiatives.

You will work closely with the Director to research, plan, manage and deliver all aspects of the gallery’s programs.

REQUIREMENTS

You will have at least three years of experience in curating exhibitions, in producing publications, in organizing events and in leading teams to deliver projects. You will have a diploma in studio arts, art history, curatorial studies or a related field, along with solid experience working in an artist-run organization, and a broad knowledge of contemporary art. You will have outstanding writing and editorial skills, including proven grant writing skills. As an active figure in the contemporary art scene, you will have exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively. You will have a strong background and interest in outreach and community development. A thorough knowledge of and demonstrated interest in performance and media art programming will be an asset. A strong command of both French and English will be preferred.

JOB TYPE

This is a full-time permanent position, with benefits.

HOW TO APPLY

Please e-mail your CV along with a statement of intent, a selection of writing samples and three professional references to sawgallery@artengine.ca. Sample catalogues of exhibitions/projects may be mailed to: Galerie SAW Gallery, Attn: Hiring Committee, 67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa ON  K1N 7B9.

Closing Date for Applications: Friday, June 24, 2011

Start Date of Position: Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Galerie SAW Gallery is committed to employment equity and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, ethnic origin, gender identity, age, creed, disability or sexual orientation.

Please be advised that we are only able to contact candidates selected for an interview. Thank you for your interest in this employment opportunity at Galerie SAW Gallery.

Internship opportunity - Young Canada Works at Building Careers in Heritage

Job title: Education and Outreach Assistant
Location: Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG), Ottawa, ON
Duration: 37 weeks
Dates: June 20, 2011 to March 2, 2012
Salary: $15.00/hour
Full time: 35 hours per week
Language of work: English

Description:
The Education and Outreach Assistant will work with CUAG’s Director and Curator to research, develop and implement a wide-ranging program of education and outreach activities, including but not limited to panel discussions, symposia, gallery tours, workshops and lectures. They will work to expand awareness on the part of academic units of the art gallery’s rich resources so as to facilitate the use of its collections and exhibitions in teaching and research; identify and pursue opportunities for collaboration between the art gallery and faculty members; design, coordinate and evaluate student-oriented activities that enhance university life; liaise with local schools and community groups in order to identify and understand their needs and interests and to promote the art gallery’s activities; design, coordinate and evaluate school activities to complement and promote understanding and enjoyment of the art gallery’s exhibition program.

Qualifications:
The candidate will possess a university or college degree in art history, art education, or museum studies. Preference will be given to candidates who possess an M.A. in one of the above-mentioned fields. Previous museum experience or work experience involving youth and/or retirees is an asset but not mandatory. The candidate will need basic word-processing skills (MS Word) as well as experience working with Excel spreadsheets or the equivalent. Fluency in English is required and basic or superior knowledge of French is an asset but not mandatory.

Eligibility Criteria:

This is an internship funded by the Young Canada Works at Building Heritage Careers in Heritage Program.

To be eligible for this internship, you must meet the following criteria:

1)     be legally entitled to work in Canada;

2)     be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (Note: Non-Canadian interns holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent status are not eligible.);

3)     be between 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;

4)     be an unemployed or underemployed college or university graduate, that is, not employed full-time;

5)     be a recent graduate who has graduated from college or university within the last 24 months;

6)     not be receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits while employed with YCW;

7)     must not have previously participated in or been paid under this or any other Career Focus internship program funded under the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy;

8)     be willing to commit to the full duration of the work assignment;

9)     not have another full-time job (over 30 hours a week) while employed with YCW; and

10)  be registered in the YCW online candidate inventory (www.youngcanadaworks.gc.ca).


To apply:

If you meet the above criteria, please visit the Young Canada Works website (http://www.pch.gc.ca/ycw). You can register in the online candidate inventory and apply for the internship there.

Application deadline is Wednesday 8 June 2011.


For any questions, please contact Alisdair MacRae at (613) 520-2600, ext. 2929, or emailalisdair_macrae@carleton.ca

Friday

PATRICK MIKHAIL GALLERY is pleased to present STATE OF THE ART, a group exhibition featuring eight innovative, young Canadian artists exploring a range of contemporary issues and ideas.  The artists featured include LINDA CHALMERS, DAVE AND JENN (pictured: In the end, don't worry about me, I don't need you), KRISTOPHER KARKLIN, JENNIFER LEFORT, ANDREW MORROW, JAMES OLLEY, and AMY SCHISSEL.

MAY 25 TO JULY 20, 2011

ARTIST RECEPTION:
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011
5:30 P.M. TO 9 P.M.

Remember last year when I was constantly distracted during the first half of the season of True Blood by Bill's sudden hotness? You know, back when he was wearing dinner jackets? Then he got back with Sookie and stopped being hot. Well, good news! I saw some new images from the upcoming season (June 26th cannot come soon enough), and Bill's hot again! Check it out for yourself:

I mean, pocket squares? It's like he's undergoing a Chuck Bass-ification. Which probably explains shit like this:

By dropping period trappings on that ass, of course! Playbill has series of two minute shorts called "Jersey Shore Gone Wilde" in which dialogue is lifted from Jersey Shore and given an Oscar Wilde treatment. The results are far more hilarious than they should be. Check it after the jump!

Remember last year when Gossip Girl finally learned how to do a finale right? This year, with Monday night’s “The Wrong Goodbye,” they went us one better: not only was Georgina on the scene to wreak adorably unhinged havoc, she sniffed out a kindred in a matter of minutes. Attagirl. Otherwise, Serena and Dan finally admit the truth, Blair gets her fairytale, and Chuck and his beloved get back together in style. AND my prediction that Ed Westwick would make up for last week’s dearth of exquisitely expressive faces proves so right I may have to get a swooning couch.

Not unless the thing was twisted and nasty, in which case my help could prove invaluable.

Vanessa and Serena have teamed up to find Charlie. Vanessa doesn’t know that Serena’s a certified crime fighter, so she’s boo-hooing all Serena’s ideas and generally being Vanessa up in this cab. Serena finally shuts the bickering down and decides that they should just work together until they know the status of the currently unfolding murder-suicide they’ve imagined. Also, as suspected, Charlie Single White Female-d her roommate in college. That was her bugaboo.

We are down to the last four (minus Romeo who was sent home last week), and the show promises a visit to the hospital for someone! Excitement abounds. I may have missed three of the four first dances this week…my bad! There is no excuse, but I have a bit of a crazy life at the moment. We are frankly lucky I still have cable tonight (and by “we”, I mean me).

Ralph Macchio and Karina: Due to the aforementioned craziness, I missed their first dance. I am the worst. Ralph seems to have healed from his injury last week, thank goodness. Their second dance is a salsa, and Karina looks so, so scary. She has gigantic hair and is wearing a skin-tight leopard print body suit that is open in the front, revealing a red bra. She looks incredibly trashy. So much so that I am barely noticing Ralph’s dancing. I guess it ok? He looks pretty trashy too, so it is hard to say. Len says there was no rhythm to the dance, which I agree with. The censors have to bleep Bruno, I think because he calls Karina a “pussy”- it does seem like he really meant as in “pussycat”, a term the Brits are known to use (Bruno is not British, but I don’t know!).  Carrie Ann liked the dance, but his technique wasn’t great. Scores are 8s from Bruno and Carrie Ann and a 7 from Len.

Kirstie Alley and Maks: Missed the first dance, but I did see that Kirstie is looking very slim these days. She (apparently) got three 9s for her first dance, which looked like some sort of waltz while on mute. The second dance is a paso doble. Kirstie is wearing a dumb headband and I am worried she is going to fall on this cape she is swinging around at the beginning of the dance. The paso is ok…Kirstie isn’t a terribly precise dancer, and I keep seeing where she is missing the beat on what are supposed to be powerful movements. At the end of the dance, she jumps up and bonks coconuts with Maks. The judges seem to only have praise for her, but I really thought she was off on a lot of it. 9s all around from the judges.

The Department of Visual Arts of the University of Ottawa is actively seeking  a Technical Assistant (studio).

For more information, please consult the following link :

https://uottawa.njoyn.com/cl2/xweb/XWeb.asp?tbtoken=ZlhRRFUSMRsHFAF3MVFJHSBNdnlddyQpb1xRJl4RfxEpWDYZWUsbexByPApXUxVaSD5m&chk=dFlbQBJf&clid=27081&page=JobDetails&jobid=J0511-0056&lang=1

The application deadline is June 15, 2011.


Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
L'Université canadienne / Canada's University

Fringe is looking for volunteers!

The Fringe us upon us again! June 16-26, 2011

Ottawa will once again host the 15th annual Ottawa Fringe & Arts Festival.  We are looking for energetic and dynamic volunteers to join our ranks, to make this year’s Fringe the best yet.

Volunteers make up an essential part of our festival, operating box offices, running security and keeping things running smoothly for both patrons and artists

THE GOODS

All volunteers recieve a volunteer T-shirt, to be worn during all shifts, and yours to keep after the festival.

For every shift worked, volunteers get passes to see some of the spectactular shows in this year’s Fringe.

The chance to meet enthusiastic, passionate and wonderful people like you!

INTERESTED?

Come join us at one of our Volunteer Orientation sessions to get all your questions answered and to sign up for your first shifts.

Wednesday  June 1,   6:30-9:30pm – Arts Court Library
Sunday June 5,    2-5pm – Arts Court Courtroom
Saturday June 11, 2-5pm – Arts Court Courtroom

For more information, email volunteer@ottawafringe.com
or call (613) 232-6162

Friday

La Petite Mort Gallery presents
Five Day Exhibit
Andre Perron
New Sculptural Work
MAY 13-19, 2011
Vernissage: Friday May 13, 2011 / 7 - 10pm
The artist will be in attendance from Montreal for the opening.
306 Cumberland Street

Saturday