Their latest production is called Sexy Beton — a play about the tragic collapse of a highway overpass. Five people died. The conclusion? The collapse was “nobody’s” fault. The survivors went on to be further victimized by evasion and bureaucracy. Here’s the video:

Pretty amazing, huh? Sexy Beton is playing next week — from November 24 though to December 1st. I’ll likely go on the 28th. Here’s the ticket info.

Why is Porte Parole so important? Because much of our public discourse is what I lovingly call polarized and paranoid. People ferociously hold on to their weird little theories about how the world works and talk at each other instead of l-i-s-t-e-n-i-n-g. Yeah, I know, listening is hard work. I suck at it most of the time. But it’s important. Another reason: The most critical social issues are complex and overwhelming. Enough to make you run in the other direction. Or go shopping. Shoes or the healthcare system… Hmmm….

Porte Parole humanizes controversial social conflicts. They do a ton of research: conducting interviews and combing through legal documents, transcripts, and newspapers. They use all of this to create great theatre. Theatre that becomes the spokesperson — the porte parole — for the issue. Theater that brings you the people and stories and voices (literally!) from all sides. The actors embody the people within the conflict, animating and defending them in a public space. You’re compelled to listen. Dialogue becomes possible. And as you sit at the edge of your seat — laughing, feeling angry, frustrated, touched, wanting to jump in — something has just happened: you’ve become engaged. You’ve taken on step into participating in democracy and in your public life. It’s a gift.

Kudos to Laurence Miall and Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet for putting together the Porte Parole Pecha Kucha presentation. You guys rock.

I managed to shield Liam from the worst of it. (I wonder if the need to do that sustained me, because we spent wonderful time together in the middle of this.) My mother was less fortunate, as were some of my friends.

I desperately — not a pretty word, I know, but accurate — sought something, anything to hold on to. To comfort me. To stop the descent. Some of those somethings were not, ummmm, productive. Or very healthy. Then I stumbled upon Naada Yoga.

Now, if you know me, this is where you start giggling. You know that I HATE yoga. The whole visualize-the-yellow-light-and-breathe-in-the-universe bullshit of it. I would point out, and still will, that this practice is from the same folks who brought us sati. Chew on that. Twenty years ago I spent a month in an ashram learning to do massage — and I managed to skip yoga most every day.

But I desperately needed to take care of myself. And I knew that part of this meant physically. Getting out of my head and negativity and into my body. Consistently. So I decided to research Ashtanga yoga teachers in the Mile End. I had done some Ashtanga in the past and found it to be less annoying than most.

At Naada, Elizabeth Emberly and her partner, Jason Sharp, have created a wonderful, welcoming space. Their approach to yoga is practical, simple, and supportive. The mixing in of sound sends me to a far away (or far inside) place. The best part? They serve tea afterward and folks are invited to stay and chat. And they do. Aaaaaah, community space. My favorite thing. Feels good.

Naada is sanskrit for sound, vibration, rumbling. Like a river. I’m going most everyday. Helps (miraculous?) that it is five minutes from my house, and right next to Station C. Last week I did seven hours of yoga. It does make a difference. Making space for myself matters. It is healing.

Liam beatboxing from Christine Prefontaine on Vimeo.

This is a great opportunity for a designer who wants to build their portfolio and work with a creative team, as well as support urban ecology, the reclamation of the commons, and local history. Main contributors to the project (designer, artist, publisher) will invest time in developing the book and then split the profits from the book and related merchandise. The project will contribute to the commons — all outputs will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license, allowing subsequent creators to remix and build on it.

Interested? Visit Emily’s site for more details.

I’m (through Artefatica) helping Montreal artist Emily Rose Michaud, the force behind the Mile End’s Roerich Garden, to produce a book that will document community happenings and uses of the lovely and (for the time being) wild field that lies between the east end of St-Viateur street and the Carmelite nun’s residence. The book will be published in the spring of 2009.

To contribute content, contact Emily before the end of November. If you’d like to help produce the book we’re also looking for a designer. See Emily’s blog for more details.