CARVA
CARVA is both a live act and an object to be viewed. The massive larger-than-life ball of pink cotton candy dwarfs the human form, and then slowly molds to it in a sticky embrace. The crystalline, surrealist pink globe compresses and deforms into a grotesque, munched-on fetish.
Presented at HIVE by progresslab, November 2006.
CARVA was created by Vera Lubimova and christine stoddard, with production assistance from Joel DeStefano and Heidi Taylor.
The Cry Pitch Carrolls
by Ruth Magraff
What would you do if a stranger bearing the full-grown son of god showed up on your front lawn at Christmas? Opera visionary Ruth Margraff takes us to small-town America where three widows—Alice, Norma and Edith—are faced with the arrival of the son of god on their front lawns as Christmas approaches. The Bible Smuggler’s Wife finds a chilly reception with her Small Christus when she returns to her hometown of Ishpeming, Michigan. As fragments of memory and broken faith emerge from the under the snow, the widows and the Bible Smuggler’s Wife discover surprising truths about themselves and the nature of the divine.
A seasonal pageant for a non-denominational audience, The Cry Pitch Carrolls reflects on faith, community and nostalgia for Christmas past. It’s a story about going home when home doesn’t exist any more, and the gap between our nostalgic memories and our unsatisfied present. There is an emotional logic in its songs that embraces the poetry of the New Testament, even as it condemns the evils done in the name of Christianity.
The Cry Pitch Carrolls was perhaps an unlikely offering from a group of agnostics, atheists, lapsed Catholics and Anglicans, Pagans and Jews. But this collection of carols honours our own “fragile and nostalgic christmas industries” – and reminds us all to recognize the stranger in our midst.
Presented at Performance Works, December 2005
Director: Heidi Taylor Music Director: Joel DeStefano
Production design: Vera Lubimova Lighting Design: Julie Martens
Stage Management: Earl Wadden, Mike Dickinson
Cast: Carol Sawyer, Christine Stoddard, Paul Ternes, Bessie Wapp, Melanie Yeats
Band: Shanto Bhattacharya, Ben Rogalsky, Joel DeStefano
Happyland!
Proximity Lab leads the freaks and geeks
After a successful debut at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Happyland emerged on the streets of Strathcona to shock and delight the citizens of Vancouver. Encounter the oddities, curiosities and hucksters who inhabit the side show… and didn’t even make it into the circus! The Labs’ fearsome foursome recruited sideshow stars with diverse talents to entice and amaze before Leaky Heaven's Bonobo took to the indoor stage. Entrance to the carnival is free, but every carnie has his price…
Meet Rosie the ferocious Dog-faced Girl; see Liza in a death-defying act of courage; beat the odds at our games of chance.
Happyland was an artist-in–residence project with the Britannia Community Centre, funded by the Vancouver Parks Board, presented by Leaky Heaven Circus.
Presented at the Vancouver International Folk Music Festival, July 2005 & on Campbell Avenue, August 2005
Happyland was created by:
Proximity Lab (Joel DeStefano, Vera Lubimova, Christine Stoddard, Heidi Taylor)
Leaky Heaven Circus (Steven Hill, Manon Beaudoin, Peter Anderson, Ben Rogalsky)
Anouska Anderson-Kirby, Elena Anderson-Kirby, Kristian Ayre, Lili Beaudoin, Camille Beaudoin, Sarah Brown, Rachael DesLauriers, Gretchen Epstein, Lisa Gough, Liam Hill, Yasser Ismail, Sara Kendall, Slavica Kuzmanoska, Sheila Langston, Jay Makar, Gabrielle Martin, Colin McLaine, Mosey, Corinne Mundell, Duane Murin, Keir Nicoll, Archie Pateman, Laura Quigley, Alexandra Rea, Audra Ricketts, Russel Scholberg, Jon Schubert, Amelia Slobogean, Sally Stubbs, Ruthy Tabata, Bessie Wapp, Pendra Wilson
Thanks: Brenda Racanelli and Britannia Community Centre; Vancouver Folk Music Festival; Dolly Hopkins, Elliott Neck
Faustian Rodeo
In the land of horses, cattle and hurtin’ tunes, Faust makes a pact with the devil – his soul in exchange for the dark arts of the rodeo. Riding the backs of The Fallen Angels Band, he makes his descent into hell. In this raucous cabaret, the Proximity gang join forces with some local musicians (who later joined forces to start The Breakmen) for a ramble through Hell’s Country Fair. Combining original song, classic country tunes, shadow puppets, and twangy spoken word, the Faustian Rodeo was a playful send-up of the classic temptation narrative... and a damn fine party.
Presented at the Anza Club, December 2004
Joel de Stefano as Mephisto
Christine Stoddard as Faust
Vera Lubimova as Lucy
Heidi Taylor as Annie Mae
The Fallen Angels Band
Jayson Makar on guitar
Archie Pateman on banjo
Ben Rogalsky on bass
With special guest Terry Larkin as the Carnival Talker.
Cold War Cabaret
Corruption, intrigue, sex and scandal: it’s Ottawa circa 1945-65. Communism’s rise gives birth to a mythological cast of characters battling for the hearts and minds of the free world. Mixing original song, dance, poetry, drag, video installation and sculpture, Proximity Arts (Lab) set the stage for an entertaining inquiry into Canadian mythology. Meet the Beat hipster who chronicles the deep freeze that came from the south, the German spy that shagged the Defence Minister, the Russian defector who wore a bag over his head on Front Page Challenge, and the Mountie who tangos with the best.
Cheeky, sexy, and full of obscure tidbits of Canadian spy history, the Cold War Cabaret returned to a time when men were women and women were men and everyone had a secret to hide and a story to tell.
Presented at Lick Club, March 2004
Joel DeStefano as Yellowbird
Vera Lubimova as The Red Snapper
Christine Stoddard as Agent Orange
Heidi Taylor as The Blue Lady
What makes a loyal servant
Change to a defector
Go ask Igor Gouzenko
He changed sides after the war
Hoped Canada would welcome him
Trade Stalin for the Queen
Are you or have you ever been?
Twas postwar cold war Ottawa
The Russkies moved on in
Are you or have you ever been?