LUB DUB

O Albatross—School of Contemporary Dancers

To be clear, I’m an Ally, and I’m a feminist. I was a feminist before Justin Trudeau made Canada aware that men can be feminists too.

Also, if foul language offends you, please stop reading here. My review remains true to the language and tone of the show.

Equality and fairness are very dear to me, which is part of the reason why I’m here. It’s also why it pains me that I don’t have a lot of good things to say about this show.

Strap on your seat belts folks—this may be the longest review I’ve written in my Jenny career.

First: the good – the energy, enthusiasm, honesty and openness is very much appreciated and
embraced.

Now for the bad – this show is lacking in many ways, and in some ways, it’s plain wrong.

Lacking:
“Fuck Scheer,” that’s self-explanatory.
“Fuck Trudeau.” Why fuck Trudeau? He’s not perfect but he’s done a lot of good things since succeeding the tyrant Stephen Harper. Are you making a political statement? If so, then do it. Fuck Scheer and Fuck Trudeau tells me nothing. Instead, how about “vote May? Vote Longley? Vote Di Carlo? Vote Singh? Vote Corriveau?” If you’re making a political statement, tell us what you think and why.

Lacking:
Okay, you’ve painted a picture of white male privilege. So now what do we do? If people are in your audience, there’s a very good chance they’re already on your side. I’m willing to bet that Brian Pallister will never come to your show. Tell the audience what to do to forward the cause. We’re here; you have our attention; and we’re angry—now what do we do?

Wrong:
Telling people that dropping out of school is a good thing is wrong. Education is the key to advancement, not the enemy. People need to be educated, not the opposite way around. I cannot stress this strongly enough.

Perhaps dropping out of university was the right thing for you—or perhaps you were just in the wrong program. I have three degrees but I only made it through one semester of the MBA program. It disgusted me to hear the classes talk about why Walmart is the ultimate capital machine and how mom-and-pop shops should be crushed because they’re inefficient. It made me sick. So if you want to say “fuck the MBAs,” you’d be right on target. Saying “fuck university” is very wrong.

Before I went to university, I was an elitist, sexist hard-core Conservative. Minoring in Womxn’s Studies at the University of Winnipeg taught me to be a new person. It taught me to be the person I am today.
Education is beneficial to everyone—please don’t spread the wrong message.

Wrong:
“Fuck the cops—no cops at Pride.” The entire premise of your show is inclusivity. Painting the entire police service with one brush is the essence of exclusion. The police are not your enemy. Yes, there may be police officers who are your enemy but denigrating the police institution is wrong. I work directly with the highest level of police officials and I can attest that they have invested mammoth amounts of time and resources to training their officers about fair policing. There are many Allies within police organisations—you cannot condemn the entire enterprise.

For your show, the wordplay component involving food is cute—but it has nothing to do with your thesis. This is time that can be better spent developing you argument. The tissues segment is relevant but excessive and the message is weak. I would replace those segments with something meatier. How about something like an emotional story that grabs at the heart and squeezes?

Many disadvantaged people have told me stories that left me in tears—stories told through classes, courses, lectures, over coffee, over beer – everywhere. Tell us a story that will make me and the audience connect with you on a deep level. Rather than just tell us to be angry, make us feel angry—make us feel sad—make us feel hurt—make us feel.

You have a good show, and some great components (love Love LOVE Thomas’s dance), and important
issues. You can deliver it much more effectively. Maybe going back to school can help you refine your presentation.

Ray Yuen, Ally