showing 1 to 10 of 14
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Best Book
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Africville, Shauntay Grant
Silver Winner First Degree, Kayla Hounsell
Bronze Winner Worthy of Love, Andre Fenton
Shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the upcoming Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masters Arts Award, Africville is a look at the history of a community through the eyes of a little girl. Grant calls her gold win “a lovely surprise” and lets readers in on what to expect next: “I’m in the early stages of several writing projects—picture books included. My next publication for children is a baby board book called My Hair Is Beautiful. It’ll be released in the fall and I’m planning for a launch event and a few book signings locally starting in November, and festival dates in the new year.”
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Best Choreographer
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Cavell Holland
Silver Winner Sara Steele
Bronze Winner Monique Ryan
“Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me and the incredibly talented folks and organizations nominated,” says Cavell Holland, dance instructor and choreographer at House of Eights Dance Studio, your choice for Best Choreographer. “Halifax is my home, and it means the absolute most to be recognized and supported for doing what I love, by the city that I love, and I am forever grateful.” Holland gives credit to the city’s “strong dance scene pioneered by so many amazing artists” for the richness of dance talent here. “This new wave of dancers is so strong, talented, hungry, diverse and self-aware that it’s truly incredible to see the creativity and performance of the new generation innovate, evolve and shape the community.”
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Best Comedian
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Lindsay Dauphinee
Silver Winner Dan Hendricken
Bronze Winner Travis Lindsay
“I’m extremely grateful to the folks who voted for me but equally worried about how messed up they must be to think so highly of me.” Lindsay Dauphinee has a love/hate relationship with stand-up, which sounds about right based on every comedian ever. “I love performing, but I also really enjoy writing and producing, and I’d love to do something in the city that hasn’t been done before,” she says. “For me, the toughest part about stand-up is you have an audience of people watching you fail on a pretty regular basis. But the validation of a laughing audience is the best feeling in the world, so it balances out.”
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Best Crafter
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Nicole McInnis, Oh Dina!
Silver Winner Tyrone Goodwin, Classic Soles
Bronze Winner Nicole Decarufel, My Tiny Creatives
Nicole McInnis of Oh Dina! has had a busy year. With her new baby Sonny, she’s on a short break until 2020. But new collections are coming, likely featuring some of her latest favourite materials, dried florals and botanicals from local flower farms like Humble Burdock. “I’m so delighted I won and, quite frankly, surprised. There are so many amazing makers here in the city, I’m just so stoked that I’m even on the list,” she says.
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Best Comedy Night
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Adam and Lindsay Present
Silver Winner Hello City
Bronze Winner The Pickled Frog at The Fickle Frog Pub
Adam Myatt and Lindsay Dauphinee (your vote for Best Comedian) have been busy, and as a result have slowed down on shows slightly. But expect a triumphant return to form with the third annual Gay Ol’ Christmas Comedy show at the Seahorse Tavern on December 19. “Most of the first-time performers on our stage have been queer and/or female-identified, so seeing yourself represented on stage and in the audience is really powerful and makes trying something scary a little easier,” they say. “We’ve been lucky to have a kind and encouraging audience so coming to one of our shows feels like coming to hang out with your friends.”
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Best Dance Company / Group
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner House of Eights Dance Studio
Silver Winner Maritime Bhangra Group
Bronze Winner Halifax Dance
Abady Alzahrani’s House of Eights has only been going since January, but already, he says, his drop-in dance studio—the only one in the city—is “like a second home to people. Some people are here four and five days a week.” A latecomer to dance, Alzahrani used to travel to LA, New York and Vancouver to take drop-in classes: “It bothered me so much for so long that I’d go to other cities and get my dance fix and come back to Halifax and not have that,” he says. “I used my own self as a case study for the market I should reach out to."
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Best Dancer
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Cavell Holland
Silver Winner Monique Ryan
Bronze Winner Jessica Lowe
“When I was younger, I always wanted to entertain. I always had my hand in a few different pots creatively, but there was something about dance and the energy exchange that just clicked for me,” says Cavell Holland, who also was your choice for Best Choreographer. Holland calls dancing “therapeutic” and you can see some recent work in singer Kelsey Mae Crawley’s video, “Friends Don’t Dance Like This” which Holland choreographed and also performs in. “For me, dance is a reciprocal relationship. You get what you give,” he says. “If I can give one person a feeling of connection, happiness or an escape, that makes it worth it.”
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Best Film / TV Actor
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Susan Kent, This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Silver Winner Koumbie, Diggstown
Bronze Winner Christopher Shore, Cavendish
“Maybe my mom might be behind it. She watches our show in every time zone on Tuesday night,” says This Hour Has 22 Minutes’s Susan Kent. “The reason why I started doing this is the connection you make with people when you get sparks between you and the people you’re working with,” she says. “I’m a transplant here,” adds the Newfoundlander, “so it means that much more to me. Going forward I want to make shows and movies here because this community has really embraced me and given me a lot.”
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Best Filmmaker
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Megan Wennberg, Drag Kids
Silver Winner Thom Fitzgerald, Splinters
Bronze Winner Andrea Dorfman, The Girls of Meru
Megan Wennberg’s documentary, Drag Kids, features four youth exploring (and excelling at) the art of drag, and the community and friendships they discover in the process. Wennberg says it’s “a film about the importance of self-expression and finding community—and I think we can all relate to that, whether or not we love the art of drag.” Currently working on another documentary for CBC’s POV program, Wennberg hopes her film can help us connect with ourselves. “I am so grateful for this award, and honestly was also completely shocked when I found out I won. I hope it means more people will get to see Drag Kids, because I think they have a lot to teach us about being our fiercest, most fabulous selves.”
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Best Gallery
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Silver Winner Argyle Fine Art
Bronze Winner The Dart Gallery
“Receiving recognition for the Best Gallery by The Coast readers tells us we’re succeeding in connecting Nova Scotians with art and inspiring them to think differently about the world around them,” says AGNS director of marketing Colin Stinson. Not content to rest on the laurels of a great year of programming, AGNS has even more in store. This month they present Althea Thauberger: The State of the Situation, “an overview of Thauberger’s work that gives visitors direct access to her collaborative art-making practice over the course of a decade’s worth of work,” says Stinson. On top of that will be NSCAD Lithography Workshop: Contemporary Editions.
