RISING ABOVE
As reported here in the Straight, aboriginal Colombian dancer, choreographer, and aerial artist Diana Casas has had plenty of unpleasant welcomes from the Canada Border Services Agency in the last couple of years. According to Casas, the agents standing on guard for thee haven’t taken kindly to her whenever she’s flown in to visit and work, accusing her of everything from planning to seek refugee status to smuggling contraband in her stomach—all this despite a slew of letters of reference from local dance collaborators and sponsors. Now Casas will be showing what she came here to do with a performance of her breathtaking solo piece El Pájaro (The Bird), at the Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) tonight (November 1). Proceeds will benefit the next Talking Stick Festival, scheduled for February. Check www.fullcircle.ca/ for more.

THE BIG PICTURE
With an international reputation built on exhibitions at the Big Apple’s Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum, young New York artist Paul Chan shows his work at the Western Front (303 East 8th Avenue) from Saturday (November 3) to December 8. Chan’s video and installation works, including uncanny digital-video projections, offer philosophical takes on religion, sex, politics—you know, the little things in life. Chan himself will be in town later this month—on November 28 and 29—to give talks at the Western Front and Emily Carr Institute.

MAKING LIGHT
Diwali, the ancient festival of light rooted in Hinduism, officially takes place next Friday (November 9), but there’s a huge array of local activities slated for the days surrounding that date, covering a range of South Asian culture. Festivities kick off on Monday (November 5) with the first of five days of neighbourhood-house workshops on everything from traditional painting to Bollywood dancing. A Diwali dance party goes down next Thursday (November 8) at the Red Room (398 Richards Street), with San Francisco–based DJ Cheb i Sabbah presiding. Friday night (November 9) brings Chaihouse at the Ukrainian Orthodox Auditorium (154 East 10th Avenue), an evening of food and fusion beats inspired by hip-hop, pop, and soul, featuring vocalists Zenobia Salik and Chin Injeti. The big wrap-up happens Saturday afternoon (November 10) at the Roundhouse (181 Roundhouse Mews), where a huge showcase will highlight both traditional and contemporary arts, from classical dances to Ta Ki Ta’s blend of Indian music and jazz. See www.vandiwali.ca/ for full details.

PLAYWRIGHTS WITHOUT BORDERS
Moving from El Salvador or Mexico to Canada or the United States can involve crossing several lines—geographic, personal, and political. In Borderlines, which runs at the Playwrights Theatre Centre from Wednesday (November 7) to November 17, father-and-son coauthors Alfonso Velis Tobar and Juan Carlos Velis explore the experiences of five men involved in such journeys. The characters in this solo show, which Juan Carlos Velis will perform, include Johnny Lee, who treks from El Salvador and ends up at UBC, and Chicano, a Mexican who lands in a U.S. jail. To some extent, the writers will be drawing on personal experience. In 1988, El Salvador’s right-wing government branded Tobar, who is a poet, a threat and forced him into exile. Velis was 15 when the family arrived in the strange new world of London, Ontario.