THE FREE PRESS ENTERTAINMENT BHiHiHBHHHHBBHHHBHHBHHHHBIHHHHiHHHBBHIHBHBHIHHBHHHHBHHHIHHHIHiHHIIiiHBBHHiBHHHHBHHHHIB VOL.5 NO.91 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1999 PHONE 564-0005 Dancing with Mickey-san Shauna Stewart takes a cultural side trip for half a year Shauna Stewart (second from left) of Prince George Is knocking them dead as part of this routine at the Disneyland theme park in Tokyo. Photo contributed ARTSBRIEFS ► Good folk The PG Folk Society season begins Saturday with little-known but gifted triple threat Clive Greg-son. The transplanted Englishman, who now lives in Nashville, is revered for his songwriting, guitar playing and singing. Out Of Alba and Derek McCandless are also on the bill, which begins at 8 p.m. at the Ramada Hotel. Tickets available at Studio 2880, Mosquito Books, Books & Company and downtown Sight & Sound. ► Rae’s release Local group The Rae King Blues Band is holding an evening of entertainment Saturday at the PG Playhouse to celebrate the release of their debut CD Coming In For A Landing. The public is invited. Call the Playhouse (563-8401) for ticket information. ► A good read Williams Lake author Christian Petersen will be at Mosquito Books for a reading from his first book of short stories Friday at 7 p.m. His stories have been anthologized in Best Canadian Stories and West by Northwest: British Columbia Short Stories. Call 563-6495 for more information. ► Reel good time Anyone interested in film is welcome to attend the Reel North Film Society annual general meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the public library. Call 564-4322 for more information. ►Truckin' You’re running out of time to buy a truck for five bucks. The PGSO is raffling a truck for the fourth straight year. Tickets, also available in a three for $10 deal, will be sold at Pine Centre Mall through Saturday. They'll be sold Sunday at Costco until 3:30 p.m. The draw is 30 minutes later. Shauna Stewart is one of the better-known dancers to hail from Prince George in recent years. She left Odyssey Dance Studio in PG about three years ago to attend Ryer-son Polytechnic University to pursue a professional career. Before she was even finished she landed her first long-term contract. For the past six months she has been a part of the show at Tokyo Disneyland, dancing for the thousands of tourists and visitors. Even Mickey Mouse comes to watch the show on occasion. Shauna has been keeping the Free Press updated via email on her progress in Tokyo. Now, just prior to her return, we will share some excerpts with you. FP: Tell us about Tokyo Disneyland and what you do there. SS: 1 am one of 52 foreign performers (foreign being from either Canada or the United States). Foreign performers are in The Diamond Horseshoe Revue. Hoopdee Doo (The two shows I am in), Feel the Magic, or are face characters such as Snow White, Aladdin, etc. There are eight foreign performers in my cast (five of whom are from Canada, rah, rah, Canada!), in addition to Japanese cast members. Our shows - one a lunch show the other a dinner show - take place in the Diamond Horseshoe Theatre which is in West-emland. The shows are comparable to what the Musical Theatre and Stage categories of the Prince George Dance Festival are like. There is dancing and singing and acting, none of which are independent from the other. We get right down into the audience talking to audience members and getting them involved, so the shows are very social and participation-oriented. Many of the Japanese performers that we work with have been with Disney for quite a long time. Some have been (there) up to five years! Despite this however, they pay attention to detail with the same rigour you might expect of someone who has just started. They have to go back into rehearsal every 6 months when a new batch of North American performers arrive, but they are still at every rehearsal a half-an-hour early practicing their parts in the show. Every rehearsal is done full-out. Even in front of the mirrors they perform as if they are on stage and they act like our faces are those they have seen for the very first time! It’s amazing! For example, there is a part where one of the singers asks the audience to pick up their napkins and swing them over their heads. The North Americans sat there watching him swing a napkin over his head, but the Japanese performers joined him every single time. Every single time without fail! The energy they came to rehearsal with was contagious. How could it not be?! We were swinging our napkins in no time! We learned that putting in an effort to respect their culture and way of doing things was very appreciated, and that a little effort went a long way. FP: How have you adjusted to the Japanese culture? SS: What an experience to be the minority. What an experience to be at the mercy of others just by leaving your house! People don’t have to help you. I am in their country. This isn’t my turf. In Toronto, on occasion, 1 would notice that 1 was the only Caucasian on the streetcar and wonder what it must feel like to be the minority all the time. I am always the minority here. Most of the people here will never understand why I look at them straight in the eye when I talk to them. They won’t see why I get frustrated when I haven’t got at least a foot of space around me on the train, or why I think their education system is so extreme. Nor should they. 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