“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” – George Orwell
Sometimes people insist on repeating a myth. Case in point: Ottawa is regularly mocked as the city that fun forgot and where creativity goes to die. There is just one problem with this critique: It is a massive pile of bollocks.
I have been fortunate enough to live in several cities around the world, visited more than 30 countries and been to each Canadian province. This has allowed me to compare Ottawa with other urban centres around the globe and across Canada.
What have I learned? The cultural life in the National Capital Region is probably among the top 10 per cent in the world.
Of course, the army of Debbie Downers in town would likely scoff at this suggestion. For doesn’t everyone know that Ottawa’s arts-related offerings are unworthy of the capital of a G7 country?
Fortunately, even a cursory look at what is taking place in the Ottawa-Gatineau region disproves the lie that we are not an artistic hotbed.
I could point to the various writers, actors, musicians, artists, chefs and other creative folks who are featured on Apartment613 to make my point. Given that I have written a fair bit about dance this year, however, I will focus on this art form.
Photo by Lisa Hébert courtesy of the Ottawa Dance Directive
Our Nation’s Capital is blessed with a very active dance community, from the collective (gulp) dance projects, to the Ottawa Dance Directive, to talented young dancers performing for charity.
Do you want to learn how to dance? Google “dance studios in Ottawa” and you will have numerous places to choose from.
Then there are the truly impressive performances at the National Arts Centre. In fact, I would wager that the 2013-14 dance season at the NAC matches (and likely surpasses) the programming of any theatre in Canada.
As someone who has been lucky to attend performances in various countries, including Broadway musicals and the brilliant theatre district in London, England, I would also argue that the NAC can go toe-to-toe with any arts institution in the world.
Like ballet? This year offered the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Rodin/Claudel, with Coppélia coming up in early-May.
Want to see cutting-edge work? Maguy Marin pushed artistic boundaries to their breaking point, while the Face 2 Face festival in February showcased brilliant individual artists.
If you are a fan of flamenco, tango or modern dance you were in luck. Then there was my personal favourite, the magical Akram Khan.
With this amazing program of events, it’s no wonder that the April 23 performance of FAR by British choreographer Wayne McGregor is almost sold out, with only a handful of tickets remaining.
If you live in the suburbs, meanwhile, you don’t have to come downtown to see high-quality dance, as the recent performance last month of Romeo and Juliet at Centrepointe Theatre demonstrates.
There is so much going on in Ottawa in terms of dance, one could say that the only limits on attending shows are how much free time you have, and your personal budget for purchasing tickets.
But that’s only dance. If we include other artistic genres (which I plan to do in future posts) then we can easily see that the mantra “Ottawa is the city that fun forgot” is, to put it mildly, a lie.
