Artists: Injecting culture into the Games
by Deborah Nobes
for CBC Sports Online

The 45 young musicians, dancers and set designers gathered in Campbellton probably don't consider themselves athletes, but the task assigned to them during the 2003 Canada Winter Games is as grueling as any of the sporting contests taking place across this frozen stretch of northern New Brunswick.

In just two weeks, artists from every province and territory must write and produce a travelling musical stage show complete with movable sets, costumes and original score to be performed on two separate nights, on stages more than 100 kilometres apart.

"I'm a last minute person, so I'm used to doing things at the last minute. But this is a little bigger. It's not just me and my piano. It's a whole show," says Université de Moncton university student and musician Shaun LeBlanc, one of five New Brunswickers chosen to attend the National Artists Program at the Canada Games.

Shaun LeBlanc

The sense of deadline is palpable as the artists rush to prepare songs and dances, build sets and sew costumes in classrooms at a Campbellton school.

LeBlanc, a gifted pianist and songwriter, leads a roomful of singers, actors and musicians through the songs he has penned for the production. There are guitars and violins, a piano and even an oboe. The artists, mostly older teens, are dressed in jeans and baggy sweatshirts, and sound like they've been singing together for months instead of days.

"This is actually a really great growing experience for all of the artists. We're here representing our different disciplines but we get to take advantage of everybody else's discipline as well. We watch and learn. There's a lot of creative energy here," says Maureen Batt, 21, a Fredericton soprano who collaborated with LeBlanc on much of the songwriting.

This is the third attempt to connect arts and culture with the Canada Games. This time, artists were given the theme "celebrating Canada in winter" and were asked to write and choreograph pieces before they arrived. Then the artists put their visions together, which meant musicians who wrote songs in isolation worked with dancers who had choreographed moves without ever hearing the music. There were bumps, the artists admit, but the creative energy and willingness to adapt helped smooth the process.

The show will hit the stage in Campbellton on March 6, then pick up and travel down the highway to Bathurst for a show the next night. The set is already being assembled on stage at the Campbellton high school auditorium, a towering white backdrop made of painted plywood. The set construction isn't going well, and artistic director Justy Molinares is wringing her hands.

Musicians prepare for their Canada Winter Games performance

"I just need to sit down with a piece of paper and figure this out," she says, brushing off suggestions from the stage crew. The set is built like a large jigsaw puzzle so that it can be taken down and transported easily. But that means there are large, visible cracks in the scenery. The carpenter says he can fix it with a little adjustment, but Molinares isn't satisfied. She wants to tear down and start again.

Molinares has a vested interest in perfection. This gala production is her baby. She conceived of the theme, is coordinating the artists' work and is ultimately responsible for making the show successful. But her definition of success is about more than entertainment. She wants the artists and athletes to feel proud of their country and give them a lasting memory from the games.

"The whole objective is to create a gala where we can show off the different talents, from all the different disciplines, coming from all over Canada. That's been the big challenge, to have all kinds of different disciplines, with all kinds of different talents and levels of ability and to put it all together in a big show," she says. "It didn't have to be big, but I wanted it to be big and beautiful and do a good job and give everyone a wonderful memory of representing Canada."

Molinares may have already achieved that goal, more than a week before the artists even hit the stage. The young people gathered in these Campbellton classrooms are working hard, glowing with enthusiasm and feeling energized with the experience of working together.

"This is amazing," says young songwriter Shaun LeBlanc. "I'm actually having a really great time doing something I never expected to be doing. Everybody is so nice. We're all artists and so we all have this creative thing going, this cool vibe together. It's awesome."