SWITCHING GEARS
A new year is upon us. All the trappings and trimmings of the holidays have been packed away (maybe), and thoughts have turned to all the things we will and will not do (maybe) in the coming year. In our house, there was no Christmas tree to take down and haul away. We didn’t make the trek to the tree farm to labor over the decision of which conifer was the perfect size, shape and color. We never put one up at all, in fact. Our living room is in a state of semi-chaos, a rather lengthy one resulting from an enduring remodel-in-the-works. So, we made the most of the situation. My daughter Chloe recently turned 13, and part of the celebration of such a momentous occasion was a slumber party, where she and her friends Maya, Clare and Holly painted a Christmas tree on one wall of the living room, complete with decorations and presents underneath. Why not? After all, the wall will eventually be repainted when the remodeling project is complete. Maybe. There’s nothing wrong with shaking up the routine. In this issue, you’ll meet four locals who shook up their own routines, taking big detours from their chosen paths and embarking on new adventures. The payoff, it seems, often far outweighs a little fear and trepidation. We also take a look at some of the projects that have altered our city’s cultural landscape – many that made it better, a few that can’t quite get off the ground and others that hold promise for the future. All things change, and we change with them. And so we arrive at the dawn of a new year, taking stock of what is behind us and what lies ahead. We seek to correct mistakes, but will likely repeat a few, and to undertake new endeavors – large and small – that will make life better for ourselves and those around us. As you embark on your journey, we at Slice wish you peace, love and laughter in the coming year. May your approach be unique and your confidence unwavering. You never know what’s just around the bend.
A new year is upon us. All the trappings and trimmings of the holidays have
been packed away (maybe), and thoughts have turned to all the things we
will and will not do (maybe) in the coming year.
In our house, there was no Christmas tree to take down and haul away.
We didn’t make the trek to the tree farm to labor over the decision of which
conifer was the perfect size, shape and color. We never put one up at all, in
fact. Our living room is in a state of semi-chaos, a rather lengthy one resulting
from an enduring remodel-in-the-works. So, we made the most of the situation.
My daughter Chloe recently turned 13, and part of the celebration of such
a momentous occasion was a slumber party, where she and her friends Maya,
Clare and Holly painted a Christmas tree on one wall of the living room, complete
with decorations and presents underneath. Why not? After all, the wall
will eventually be repainted when the remodeling project is complete. Maybe.
There’s nothing wrong with shaking up the routine.
In this issue, you’ll meet four locals who shook up their own routines, taking
big detours from their chosen paths and embarking on new adventures.
The payoff, it seems, often far outweighs a little fear and trepidation. We also
take a look at some of the projects that have altered our city’s cultural landscape
– many that made it better, a few that can’t quite get off the ground and others
that hold promise for the future.
All things change, and we change with them. And so we arrive at the dawn
of a new year, taking stock of what is behind us and what lies ahead. We seek to
correct mistakes, but will likely repeat a few, and to undertake new endeavors
– large and small – that will make life better for ourselves and those around us.
As you embark on your journey, we at Slice wish you peace, love and laughter
in the coming year. May your approach be unique and your confidence
unwavering. You never know what’s just around the bend.
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PURSUITS | Spotlight<br />
PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) BENOIT CAMIRAND, VERONIQUE VIDAL, RICK DIAMOND, TOMAS MUSCIONICO<br />
THE WILD WORLD<br />
OF WHEREVER<br />
By Steve Gill<br />
ALTHOUGH HUNDREDS OF SHOWS AND PERFORMANCES PER<br />
YEAR FILL THE METRO WITH ENTERTAINMENT, most of them<br />
don’t bring their own entire worlds with them. Of course, there<br />
aren’t many production companies who operate on the immersive,<br />
transformative level of Cirque du Soleil, which is treating Oklahoma<br />
City to a fresh spectacle – a whole new world – this month in<br />
the form of “Varekai.”<br />
The name means “wherever” in the Romany tongue, and while it<br />
harnesses the world-class talents of athletes, acrobats and musicians<br />
to breathtakingly convey a realm of wanderers and wonders, we can<br />
nail down the location to the Chesapeake Arena. For the moment.<br />
Varekai is ostensibly about the journey and adventures of a lone<br />
wayfarer, Icarus, who falls from the sky into the namesake land atop<br />
a volcano. However, story is seldom paramount in a Cirque du Soleil<br />
production – audiences are more likely to be captivated by the elaborate<br />
custom-designed costumes and sets, the swirl of music inspired<br />
by a variety of worldwide traditions (Hawaiian chants to traditional<br />
Armenian folk melodies) and performed live by a 7-piece ensemble,<br />
the bizarrely colorful characters and the purely incredible physical<br />
performances. Juggling, tumbling, balancing on and leaping between<br />
canes and crutches, gliding through and writhing around aerial nets<br />
and hoops … performers will skate without skates, swing without<br />
swings, fly without wings and walk where there is no ground.<br />
Then, like a surreal, acrobatic Brigadoon, it will vanish. After a<br />
mere seven performances, January 28-February 1, the arena will return<br />
to its more mundane role in our world and the realm of Varekai will be<br />
gone, leaving only memories behind. But some of those memories can<br />
be yours, if you act with sufficient haste. Visit chesapeakearena.com<br />
for tickets or more information, and get ready to go exploring.<br />
JANUARY 2015 // SLICE 81
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