Chutzpah! Festival Hits the Decade Mark

The Idan Raichel ProjectPic: Chutzpah! Festival

The well-known Vancouver festival, Chutzpah!, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. “I’m so proud of how much the festival has grown and matured over the past 10 years,” says artistic and managing director Mary-Louise Albert in a press release. “The high calibre of music, dance, theatre and comedic artists that Chutzpah! is now able to present, offers Vancouver audiences a very diverse and dynamic experience. I’m particularly excited that we will be celebrating the festival during the Olympic period as this also offers us the opportunity to show off Chutzpah! to the international stage.”

A fusion of dance, music and theatre, this year’s festival runs from March 4 to April 8 -- and the lineup does not disappoint. The festival will kick off with The Idan Raichel Project. This marks the group’s first performance in Canada. The Idan Raichel Project’s mix of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds catapulted into the Israeli music scene in 2002. With their second album, Within My Walls, The Idan Raichel Project is now one of the best-selling acts in the Israeli community.

Other 2010 events include performances by the Balkan Beat Box, Canadian Folk Music Awards winner Sagapool, Artists of the Royal Conservatory and Aszure Barton & Artists from New York. The month-long festival also features a workshop with the Israeli Artists from Odysseus Chaoticus and a dialogue presented by the UBC Alumni Affairs.

Also known as The Lisa Nemetz International Showcase of Jewish Performing Arts, the Chutzpah! Festival entered the Vancouver scene in 2001. In its debut, the David Levi Family made a generous endowment to honour the late Lisa Nemetz. Nemetz was a dancer, lawyer and a member of the Community Arts Council. Wife to David Levi, Nemetz was an advocate for the treatment of women with breast cancer.

The festival has served as the voice that supports local Jewish artists in the community. In the past 10 years, Chutzpah! has featured performances from artists such as Brave Old World, Emily Molnar and Kaeja d’Dance. Since its inauguration, it has attracted renowned Jewish artists from around the world.

As Chutzpah! celebrates its anniversary, Albert expresses the rewards of her job. “It is an honour working with such talented music, dance and theatre artists from around the world and our own back yard, both on Chutzpah! 2010 and in all my previous years with the festival,” she says. “I am continually moved by the inspiration, dedication, talent and years of hard work that all the artists bring with them. Every year the energy that the actors, musicians and dancers give, lifts us up that little bit further, and in our landmark 10th year of the Festival, I believe Chutzpah! audiences are going to soar.”

For more information, visit the website on http://chutzpahfestival.com.