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VICTOR SWOBODA

SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Dominic Dagenaisplays the guitar,but he can also dofull back twists onthe trampoline. Ina unique music-dance-circus showcalled Line 1, he

gets to do both at the same time.The show, which has its premiere at

the Corona Theatre this week, also has abass guitarist playing while navigatinga German wheel – two large metal hoopsjoined together that whirl him in circlesaround the stage.

Line 1 brings together 22 dancers, mu-sicians and gymnasts under the direc-tion of Debra Brown, a woman whoknows a thing or two about putting on ashow. For the past 20 years, she’s donechoreography for all of Cirque duSoleil’s productions and for big-namepop singers like Céline Dion, Shakira,Björk and Madonna.

Brown has also worked for the conti-nent’s major opera houses, includingChicago’s Lyric Opera, where Wagner-ian singers performed on bungeecords, and New York’s Metropolitan

Opera, where she collaborated on a Lu-ciano Pavarotti production (Pavarottiwas spared the bungee cord). Holly-wood’s Academy Awards, Vancouver’sExpo 86, Montreal’s World AquaticsChampionships – all had Brown’s workon display.

“I like to push boundaries,” Brownsaid in an interview last week as Line1’s 10-piece band was making a rhyth-mic sound check in the background. “InLine 1, everybody mixes. Musiciansdance. Dancers sing. If an artist has thetalent, I always ask myself, ‘What wouldI be surprised to see them do?’ ”

Brown promised, for example, “a lit-tle surprise” from one of her longtimeCirque performers, contortionist Jin-ny Jessica Jacinto, but naturallyBrown was too coy to reveal what itmight be. In a show like this, one canimagine Jacinto playing the violinwith her toes.

Other Line 1 performers includeMary Sanders, a one-time member ofthe U.S. national rhythmic gymnasticsteam and performer in Cirque duSoleil’s Corteo show; Sara Renelik, asinger-dancer in a 1994 Céline Dion TVspecial; and recent National CircusSchool graduates Hugo Desmarais andRuth Joyal.

There’s also Barbara Requesens.“She’s a biochemist who left her job todance with us,” Brown said, as thoughbiochemists regularly run off to join thecircus.

“We came together, you could say, outof necessity. Some of us had been work-ing together for quite a while. Otherscame together after meeting Wesley.”

Originally from Haiti, guitarist/com-

poser Wesley Letoussaint acts as musi-cal director, the same role that he playedlast year in a Juno-nominated album bySenegalese-born Montreal songstressSenaya. The band of brass, guitar, key-board, percussion and vocal performersplays a mix that’s “part world, part soul,part funk,” Brown said. “Music is animportant part of the show.”

The acts blend into each other as mu-sicians, dancers and acrobats share thestage in a succession of duets, trios andgroup numbers. The performers oftentake to the air in “pretty innovative”aerial acts. But the acts have been adapt-ed for the Corona’s proscenium stage.

“In a big top, it’s a house for flying. Itsupports all the rigging. Here you haveto adapt. But life is about adapting,right?”

Certainly Brown, who was born inBrantford, Ont., has adapted her choreo-graphic efforts to stages of all shapesand sizes.

“I’m the guide,” Brown said. “I ... di-rect the show in a certain way. We try tobe honest, stripping away so we getright to the soul of the movement. Thebiggest thing is fearlessness. We usenothing more than muscle, heart, boneand blood.”

In other words, what you see is whatthe performers actually do – not likemovie special effects that turn humanbeings into computer-generated stunt-men.

“Our theme: Embrace and kiss thesky.”

LLiinnee 11 is presented tomorrow, Thurs-day to Saturday and March 15 to 17 at8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at theCorona Theatre, 2490 Notre Dame St.W. Tickets cost $32 to $38. Call 514-931-2088 or 514-790-1245, or orderat www.admission.com.

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TS&L

IFE

ARTS LIFE❚ ❚ ❚ THE GAZETTE | MONTREAL | MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2007 | EDITORS: ARTS, MARK TREMBLAY ■ LIFE, MICHAEL SHENKER | 514 987 2560 | arts&life@thegazette.canwest.com

CLASSICAL REVIEWS: Arthur Kaptainis grades Lyne Fortin, Université de Montréal opera and Angèle Dubeau, D4

OUTSIDE INTERESTS: With children missing the joys of the great outdoors, who will be our future environmentalists? D3

D2 Lisa Fitterman D2 Hugh Anderson D3 Dating Girl D6 Television D

SONG AND DANCE,WITH A TWIST

CHOREOGRAPHER DEBRA BROWNL IKES TO PUSH BOUNDARIES .

HER NEW SHOW IS A TUMBLING ACTOF MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

HOWARD SWAINS

COLUMBIA NEWS SERVICE

NEW YORK – One morning in Jan-uary, members of the cozy on-line community TheCatSite.comreceived some devastating news.Their fellow cat lover Amber,known to the busy discussion fo-rum as 4crazycats, had died dur-ing emergency surgery to deliv-er a baby daughter.

“I feel like I’m in some horri-ble nightmare and just want towake up but I can’t,” wrote Am-ber’s fiancé, John, on a boardusually reserved for the light-hearted exchange of anecdotesand welfare tips on all matters fe-line.

As more than 150 condolencemessages flooded in, some mem-bers were suspicious. People fa-miliar with John and Amberfrom their five months on thesite knew Amber’s death wasjust the latest in a long series ofacute misfortunes: John hadbeen involved in a car crash; oneof their cats had died; and Am-ber had suffered from depres-sion and a fall during her preg-nancy.

Their story was almost tootragic to be true.

After members were unable toverify the death by contactinghospitals and morgues, the site’sowner, Anne Moss, grew con-cerned the cat lovers had fallenvictim to a peculiar variety ofonline fraud: Amber may nothave died because she may neverhave existed. John, it seemed,had been creating five months ofdisaster-filled fiction.

“I think we’ll never know forsure one way or the other,” Mosssaid. “Maybe some of it wastrue, maybe all of it was true,maybe none of it is true. This isthe Internet, and I have no wayof finding out.”

The unique freedom offered byonline anonymity is increasing-ly being abused. As people sharetheir innermost thoughts inblogs, journals, chat rooms anddiscussion forums, some writersare muscling their way to thecentre of attention by artificiallymanufacturing tragedy. Whenan online friend gets sick or dies,things aren’t always what theyseem.

Tragic online deaths have be-come common. After discoveringa number of fabricated deaths onthe LiveJournal social-network-ing site, a group of users estab-lished a community named “fakelj deaths” in 2004 to investigatesuspicious ends to journals. Onlyabout 10 per cent of the hundredsof deaths investigated by fake ljdeaths have turned out to be real,according to the community’s ad-ministrators.

Recently, more than 50 peoplereplied to a query posted on acommunity bulletin board ask-ing for examples of such fraudu-lent claims. While their storiescannot be verified, respondentsdetailed ruses of varying sophis-tication dating back to 1998.Some were sick jokes. Othershad financial motives or mali-cious intent. The majority, how-ever, fit a clear pattern designedsimply to garner maximum at-tention: a feigned illness orbrooding melancholy leads toprogressive deterioration andthen a family member, with sur-prising access to the password-protected sites, announces thetragic end.

Online tragedy can be greatlyexaggerated

Fakedeaths thriving

DDAAVVEE SSIIDDAAWWAAYY THE GAZETTE

Performers rehearse for Debra Brown’s show Line 1, which brings together 22 dancers, musicians and gymnasts in a succession of duets, trios and group numbers.

Please see FAKE, Page D3

FROM GAZETTE FILES

Debra Brown is renowned for her workwith Cirque du Soleil.