By Liivi Sandy
Finding Kind is an acclaimed documentary that follows Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson to schools with a mission of healing—to stop the emotional trauma girls inflict on one another. Courtesy Rendevous with Madness Film Festival
When you have a festival about madness, anything is possible.
Lisa Brown, co-founder and Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival director, is behind all the madness, which will showcase films, panels, and art installations to promote advocacy when it comes to addiction and mental health.
“We’ve broadened our reach,” Brown says about this year’s festival. “This stuff is a little edgier.”
Born of her compassion and experience working as a psychiatric nurse at the Queen Street Mental Health Centre in the 1980s—now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)—Brown has been at the forefront of the festival’s progress since it began in 1993.
“I started as a psychiatric nurse, but not your average one,” she says. “Rather than doing typical nursing duties, I was singing, playing the guitar [with patients].”
Brown ultimately decided that she was more concerned with the creative side of patients dealing with addiction or mental illness and a new idea came to life. “The Workman Theatre became an artistic hub,” she says. “We had a venue and it evolved organically.”
Today, Workman Arts (651 Dufferin St.) is a not-for-profit professional arts company that works in partnership with CAMH. Rendezvous with Madness is tantamount to its success.
This year’s festival, Nov. 4 to 12, will include a performance by comedian Big Daddy Tazz, better known as the Bipolar Buddha. He is out about his own bipolar disorder and puts a spin on mental illness, joking about some of the behaviours that come along with “alternate thinking,” which Brown explains is what may occur when you’re not thinking straight, a construct firmly rooted in our society—and one that has generated innumerable stigmas about people who stray from the norm.
So, what of making light of alternate thinking? Brown explains that people sometimes have trouble swallowing this pill—and usually they’re “straight” in their thinking. But she goes further to say that people with addiction and mental illness usually appreciate the comedy that is born of it, especially if it’s coming from someone who experiences it first-hand.
Some performances and screenings will take a decidedly more serious tone.
Workman Arts has partnered with the National Film Board and CAMH to examine suicide, and how it’s covered in the media—bearing in mind that the incidence of suicides can increase when reported on. A suicidologist will participate in “Portayals of Suicide: Shifting the Lens,” a multimedia industry panel discussion that will look at the changing attitudes around this issue. What is the journalist’s role? And how do they inform the public without creating a copycat phenomenon? This extends to the role of the documentary, says Brown. The point is to “dig a little deeper, as media and art relate.”
The opening night gala features Sisters and Brothers, a look at dysfunctional families and the bonds that hold them together.
The festival also tackles bullying in schools. Rendezvous with Madness will screen Finding Kind, an acclaimed documentary that follows Los Angeles natives, Lauren Parsekian and Holly Thompson around the United States with “a mission of healing; to stop the emotional trauma girls inflict on one another.”
Workman Arts Project of Ontario has teamed up with Parsekian, Thompson, and Toronto schools (including Kent, Lord Lansdowne, Dovercourt, Bishop Morocco, and Harbord Collegiate) so female students can attend an assembly on the project. It will also be screened at the National Ballet School in Toronto, and is aimed at reaching out to mothers and daughters. “One-hundred per cent of girls experience bullying at some point during schooling,” says Danica Brown (no relation to Lisa) of Workman Arts, who helped organize the assemblies across the GTA.
As for when the festival ends, Workman Arts will continue to hold exhibits and performances year-round.
“Most of us are excited to come to work,” says Lisa Brown. “The sky is the limit.”
All Rendezvous with Madness screenings will be held at the Workman Arts facility and the TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King St. W.). For more information on the festival visit www.rendezvouswithmadness.com.
By Karen Bliss
Liisa Ladouceur is the author of the goth reference book Encyclopedia Gothica. Courtesy Liisa Ladouceur.
Liberty-resident Liisa Ladouceur doesn’t sleep in a coffin or only come out of night, but there are a few tip-offs that she is a goth.
Her hair is jet black and straight and she fancies corsets and fishnet stockings, but there’s much more to goth culture than aesthetic.
Ladouceur, a well-respected music and ‘unpopular’ culture journalist, has penned Encyclopedia Gothica. Published by ECW Press and illustrated like an old tyme dictionary by Gary Pullin, the book is an A to Z of all things goth, from absinthe to zombies.
For the truly uninitiated, Ladouceur introduces the book with the chapter “What is ‘What Is goth?’”
“It’s the number one question that outsiders ask and people within goth ask themselves all the time — Is this goth? Is that goth? It’s kind of a joke,” she says. “That’s why I wrote the book, so that if you read it, you will have your own understanding.
“[Goth] is a very hard working word”—Liisa Ladouceur, writer, goth
“The way that I would explain it is that it is a subculture and a lifestyle, just like being punk rock or a skateboard kid or a hip hop kid. It’s heavily revolved around music and then books and fashion and then art would come after that.
So what is goth? “It’s music; it’s literature; it’s fashion; it’s history; it’s romance and death.”
Ladouceur, who doesn’t give her age, says she is a lifelong goth, but “not with a capital G,” or what she calls in the book “ubergoth: “Most definitely, excessively, exquisitely Goth. The epitome of Gothness.”
“I don’t put on my eyeliner and my cloak to go out and buy milk in the middle of the day,” she tells the Gleaner.“That’s not me, but I am a long time fan of goth music. Goth is the way I identify myself in the way that someone would say, ‘I’m a B-boy or I’m a punk-rocker.’”
Ladouceur isn’t old by any means, but she’s not a teenager anymore, which is when she first became infatuated with the subculture in Penetanguishene, Ontario.
“I was just an ordinary kid. I played Loverboy cassettes on my ghetto-blaster as I roller-skated to school,” she says. “I liked whatever was popular and then I saw the video of ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ by The Cult on MuchMusic and it totally changed my life. So it was The Cult, Love & Rockets, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, all those bands that were on MuchMusic in the mid to late ’80s and I said, ‘Oh, I like this.’”
Music is a big part of the goth culture. Ladouceur includes a “Goth Band Tree” at the back of the book with sub-genres horror punk, punk, new romantics, industrial leading to psychobilly, post-punk, batcave, synth-pop and more. But [Encyclopedia Gothica ITAL] touches on far more than music.
“[Goth] is a very hard working word,” says Ladouceur. “It describes a type of architecture, a type of literature, a font, a type of film, a tribal hoard from Eastern Europe. It’s been used to describe many things over the years, but in terms of the goth subculture, it really is it’s own unique thing.
“Yes, there is an entry in the book on the Church of Satan but then there’s also an entry on Mary Shelley. It’s a mix.”
Flip open to any page of the encyclopedia and there are wonderous and sometimes humorous entries. The entry on Doom Cookie, reads in part: a derogatory term for a goth poseur, someone who tries hard to look and act goth but comes off like a walking cliché of overwrought poetry and misguided fashion choices with no understanding of the music or subculture … See also: Mall Goth.
Blue Nun, Ladouceur explains, is a German wine, popular with some goths because Wayne Hussey from The Mission used to drink it onstage all the time. And of course, Sunglasses: Don’t leave home without them.
Encyclopedia Gothica is out just in time for when the romantic goths, cyber goths, perky goths, death rockers, rivetheads, doom cookies and other goth and fake goth types intermingle with costume-wearing fairies, French maids, Spidermen and devils: Halloween.
“You can buy goth costumes now on Halloween, which actually quite hurts my feelings,” Ladouceur admits. “I imagine how Native people feel when they see an Indian costume. ‘Really? Is that a joke?’”
Just avoid going trick or treating at her house in a goth costume — or she might sic her zombies on you.
For more information about Ladouceur and the encyclopedia, visit www.liisaladouceur.com.
By Justin Crann
Judyth Vary Baker, 68, made a rare North American appearance at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore (73 Harbord St.) to promote the paperback release of her memoir and celebrate what would have been her lover’s 72nd birthday. Justin Crann/Gleaner News
Lee Harvey Oswald was a patriotic American, a government agent fiercely loyal to his President, and a patsy framed by the conspirators who really killed John F. Kennedy.
That’s the truth according to Judyth Vary Baker, author of Me and Lee, a 600-page memoir recounting her teenage years and brief romance with Oswald. Baker was at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore (73 Harbord St.) on Oct. 18 to promote the paperback release of her book and celebrate Oswald’s 72nd birthday.
“I love my country, and I love the truth, and I want the truth to come out that Lee Oswald did not kill Kennedy,” Baker, 68, said to a small crowd of reporters, JFK enthusiasts, and devotees.
During what was billed as a “rare media appearance,” Baker spoke extensively about her involvement in a secret government program attempting to create an injectable form of cancer and a short-lived tryst with the alleged presidential assassin.
Baker also talked about her passion for her country, which she said she hasn’t been able to visit in years for fear of her own life and the wellbeing of her family.
But Baker’s self-imposed exile hasn’t prevented her from making friends in the United States, and some of those friends were in attendance at the paperback release.
Linda Minor, a Texan who said she has researched Judyth’s story and a friend of her publisher, traveled from Tennessee to see them and attend the release.
“When I heard that they were coming, I had just known them through email and various Internet facilities, and I thought, ‘This is my great opportunity to meet them both at one time,’” said Minor, “and I just couldn’t pass it up.”
Jeff Worcester, a political science student from Rochester, New York, said he has been talking with Judyth for over four years.“I’d been familiar with her story ever since she was featured of the Men Who Killed Kennedy series, and I had been put in touch with her and we’ve corresponded since.
“I always look at things and try and follow-up as much as I can no matter how much I believe and I just came out saying, ‘Yeah, this lady is the real deal.’”
Jerry Lasky, a resident of Toronto and JFK enthusiast, took the day off of work to attend the release. “I’m glad that I came here, I guess because my hero [JFK] led me here,” said Lasky. “I didn’t realize it was Oswald’s birthday today.”
Me and Lee is available for purchase at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore and other select retailers. For more information about Judyth Vary Baker and her memoir, visit meandlee.com
By Perry King
A group of Annex-area educators and parents are eagerly awaiting the TDSB’s response to a proposal they put forward two weeks ago.
The working group—based at Annex Montessori school at Trinity St. Paul’s Church (427 Bloor St. W.)—formally told the board of their intent to bring a new alternative school to Ward 10 (Trinity-Spadina).
Although there are many Montessori-style programs in kindergarten programs across the TDSB, there is no specific school dedicated to a Montessori curriculum, or one that’s available for grades 1 and up. “These are for parents who want to support the public system or can’t afford the private system. There’s many different reasons why families don’t go on and continue into the elementary Montessori private school system,” said Aidan Roman-Crossland, co-chair of the working group.
Montessori schools, of which there are 7,000 worldwide, are particularly known for mixed-age classrooms, where students learn at their own pace (teachers attend to students individually rather than by class), and are traditionally located in in places of worship—although many of the schools are non-religious in nature.
“The teachers could have Montessori training, but they need to be teachers from the Toronto District School Board”—Chris Bolton, TDSB chair
Tentatively named Vista Alternative School, the school wants to provide a more self-directed, independent approach to teaching than currently offered by the TDSB, and orient more project-based activities for students. But, the school will have to comply with the TDSB’s policies and procedures for employment, and has to be cost-free for applicants.
“The teachers could have Montessori training, but prior to that they need to be teachers from the Toronto District School Board. Philosophically, we can work within certain parameters, but it does present a problem for people who may think that it’s simply going to be a Montessori school [that’s] inside the Toronto District School Board,” said Ward 10 trustee and board chair Chris Bolton.
Cristina Juarez Nilsson, outreach coordinator for the working group, says that the document will go through the TDSB’s local and central feasibility committees, who will make recommendations and referrals about how the school will be shaped. Once approved, the board and the school will look into surplus space that could house the school.
With a projected enrollment of 60 students ranging from Grades 1 to 3, and expectations of expansion once these students reach Grade 4 and up, Bolton notes the school needs to prepare long-term growth and sustainability. “We may have the space now but will we have the space in the future, and will we have the space to move from three classrooms to four or five or six in the future? Not necessarily,” said Bolton.
Given the precedent of numerous local alternative schools and a supportive local trustee, the proposal is expected to be approved.
Enrollments for Vista could begin as early as the 2012–2013 school year.
In our print version of this article, it was reported that Bolton had referred to the Waldorf Academy as a school that operates as an alternative school in the TDSB. In fact, the Waldorf Academy is a privately-operated institution.
By Perry King
80-year-old Lillian Jarvis, front, has been teaching Somatic stretching in Seaton Village since 1980. Perry King/Gleaner News
Lillian Jarvis’ stretching and strengthening techniques loosen tight muscles, strengthen weak ones, and align posture—including my own.
A former principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada who holds classes in her Seaton Village studio (681 Markham St.), Jarvis has been teaching a movement education system called Somatic Stretch since 1980.
“I like to make a difference between this exercise—which I never even felt that I could call it exercise—because when I started teaching, it was back in the ’80s, exercise meant jogging, aerobics, sports,” said Jarvis, who celebrated her 80th birthday in March.
With a strong stature and confident voice, Jarvis looks and moves like a much younger woman. She attributes a lot of that to her stretching exercises. “What I was doing did not look like exercise. It was passive looking, very un-energetic looking. In fact, it works muscles that most people don’t even know they have. It’s very internal kind of work, and the whole experience is one of developing sensory awareness—so that you become aware of the muscles that you’re actually using when you move yourself in whatever movement or activity you’re doing.”
After playing intense basketball and soccer in the weeks preceding my visit with Jarvis, I didn’t understand why my upper and lower back were experiencing pain, even though I was stretching before and after activities.
Jarvis explained that her stretches, poses, and exercises, based on elements like ballet and modern dance, give the muscles the grounds to correct themselves in the body’s postural alignment. She was largely inspired by elements of modern dance created by dancing legend Martha Graham. “As a ballet dancer, I was used to working externally. We looked in the mirror in class, and we made shapes with our body. We were always corrected from somebody looking at us saying ‘drop your hip, lift your shoulder, don’t lift your shoulder, open your chest,’” said Jarvis. “We were manipulating the parts of our body externally. The Graham technique, it took me a whole year to learn how they were working because they didn’t work that way. They worked from producing a movement by being aware of the muscles.”
From this fundamental approach, she believes that “the ground floor of the body is the pelvis, and very many people have tilted pelvises.”
“I did myself, years back, I had a very sway back. There’s no way you can get your posture straightened with a pelvis that is tilted,” she said. “All of the exercises that we do have the intent of helping the body, change those things that are not allowing posture to actually straighten.”
I have a tendency to slouch and slump when I am standing and sitting. I asked about how Somatic stretching for my back distinguished from consciously keeping my back straight or having confident body language. “To talk about straightening the back, that’s imposing something on the body. You’re trying to find a way to straighten the back, but you’re not really connected with what it is that does straighten the back and hold it straight,” she said.
It was at this point that she talked about “sign board” muscles, which are at the bottom of the shoulder blades. “If you have two fingers like a sign board, those sign boards on the highway that they used to have, if you have two fingers … do you want me to do this on your back?”
She took two fingers, and gently pushing the middle of my back upward. I could feel the muscles contracting to keep my back straight. As she lets go, my chest is out and my shoulders are drawn back slightly.
“You should gradually start feeling it tiring,” she said. “Now you’re in touch with the muscles that actually straighten your back, and produce this result in the front—of opening the chest and the shoulders coming to the side—without ‘trying’ to do anything. That’s what I mean by being very internal, you’re not making shapes with your body. You’re producing shapes by what you’re doing inside your body.”
With some effort, I am trying to take her tips to heart. That one exercise has help to relieve my tense shoulders, and forced me to be more conscious of my posture.
As for Jarvis, after 30 years, her studio has grown to five instructors who teach hundreds of local residents and friends. Feeling as good as ever, she wants to continue the exercises for her own health, and to continue helping others.
For more information about Somatic Stretch classes and Jarvis’ story, visit somaticstretch.com.
