Local Arts

Valerie Mason-John and Bertha Clark of Gibsons have stories to tell on subjects that have affected their lives deeply. They are also accustomed to performing and getting their message out to a wide audience.

Live opera is rarely heard on the Sunshine Coast, although for the past few years, fans have enjoyed satellite video presentations from the New York Metropolitan Opera. This Sunday, Jan.

This Friday, Jan. 10, the School of Music in Madeira Park presents its monthly coffeehouse that brings in a new year of local talent.

Driftwood Theatre School is expanding its programming into Sechelt with the addition of teen and pre-teen drama classes at St. Hilda's starting in January.

The annual Friends of the Gallery (FOG) exhibition returns to the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre's Doris Crowston Gallery in Sechelt with an opening reception on Jan. 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. Members of the Arts Council can submit one artwork in any medium.

From the opening Christmas party scene to the magnificent pas de deux of Act II, danced by the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier, the recent performances of The Nutcracker by the Coasting Along Theatre Society were an artistic and technical success.

Jasmyn Evered at age 11 brought home a silver medal after dancing for Team Canada at the International Dance Organization competition in Poland in December.

At last week's rehearsals for The Nutcracker, eight young women were performing en pointe, the ballet term for dancing on their toes. They have not yet donned their fancy snowflake costumes, but already they look fabulous.

Host to one of the first Christmas arts and crafts sales on the Coast, the Sunshine Coast Arts Council has decided that it's time to make some changes. The result is a four-day fair.

Harbour Publishing's Raincoast Chronicles series has been highlighting the people who have defined life on B.C.'s coast for more than 40 years. Join local Sunshine Coast contributors Heather Conn and Peter A. Robson, along with guest editor David R.