Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 31, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba FRIDAY JANUARY 31, 2025 ● ARTS & LIFE EDITOR: JILL WILSON 204-697-7018 ● ARTS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ARTS ● LIFE SECTION C CONNECT WITH THE BEST ARTS AND LIFE COVERAGE IN MANITOBA ▼ Enthusiastic smash-up of B-movies, backwoods cult gore anchored by bone-crunching performances WRESTLING WITH GENRES IN this deliberately deranged Ca- nadian horror flick, Saskatchewan filmmaker Lowell Dean (WolfCop, Die Alone) taps into the hammy overlap between low-rent indie wrestling and no-budget B-movies, tossing in a back- woods satanic cult for good measure. It’s a barn-burning bit of Canuxploi- tation, leaning into its ’80s VHS-tape esthetic and enjoying its violent grind- house gore with a blend of enthusiasm and comic irony. Dean has some good characters, brought to bone-crunching, smack-talking life by strong perfor- mances. Still, as wrestling fans might say, he needs a better angle. It’s the late 1980s, and skeevy small- time wrestling promoter Rusty (Jon- athan Cherry) runs a crew of mostly has-beens and never-wills. When the cash-strapped Rusty gets a lucrative offer for a gig in a remote rural com- munity, he jumps on it. Unfortunately, Rusty and his wres- tlers are heading into a secretive com- pound run by “The Prophet” (played by Winnipeg-raised pro wrestler and actor Chris Jericho). ALISON GILLMOR MOVIE REVIEW DARK MATCH Starring Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Chris Jericho ● McGillivray ● 94 minutes, 14A ★★★½ out of five SHUDDER The silent masked luchador Enigma Jones is imposingly played by pro wrestler Mo Adan. ● CONTINUED ON C2 Kickspinned by Olympic dreams, Graffiti Gallery breakdancing program throws down for much, much more UPWARDLY MOBILE B-BOYS Y OUTH Olympic Games hopefuls kickspinned, helicoptered and baby freezed inside the Graffiti Art Gallery last Saturday at the Get Back event. The young breakdancers — vying at the qualifying event for a chance at na- tionals in Ontario and then, if they’re successful there, a spot on Team Cana- da at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics — have had good instruction. Some of the best, even. Many are students of Gordy Lopez, whose b-boy name, Flexum, rings out well beyond the studio at Higgins Avenue and Gomez Street where he teaches breakdancing. The Winnipegger is a past member of the California-based Jabbawockeez crew, the closest thing hip-hop dancing has to a household name. (They were winners of the first season of Ameri- ca’s Best Dance Crew in 2008.) “We’ve got one of the top 10 b-boys on the planet living in Winnipeg, teaching classes,” says Stephen Wilson, the Graffiti Gallery’s founder (with Pat Lazo) and executive director. “He met a girl from Winnipeg!” Since its establishment in 1999, the Graffiti Gallery has blended hip-hop culture, exhibitions and youth outreach with a focus on serving the downtown and North End communities. When breakdancing’s inclusion in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was announced, the gears started turning in Wilson’s head. “It just got everyone in the commu- nity buzzing,” he says. “So, now a kid can aspire to go to the Olympics with breakdancing? And the idea was that’s going to inspire a whole generation of young people that they can have that Olympic dream.” When Wilson discovered Lopez had moved to Winnipeg, the stars seemed to align. So, I approached (philanthropist) Jim Richardson,” says Wilson, referring to the great-grandson and namesake of the founder of James A. Richardson & Sons. “And I said, ‘Mr. Richardson?’ (He said), ‘Call me Jim.’” For the past few years, the Graffiti Gallery and the Manitoba Breaking Alliance, of which Lopez is an organiz- er, have been working with the Siobhan Richardson Foundation and other supporters to help bring the Olympic dream to life. Wilson singles out Richardson’s patronage as particularly vital to this project, which has shifted focus somewhat in the past year, after host city Los Angeles announced it wouldn’t program breakdancing at the 2028 Summer Olympics. For the time being, the collaborating parties are working to cultivate a crop of young athletes for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, which will feature the sport. Lopez says there’s lots of local interest in the sport, but until recently, compar- atively little infrastructure to meet that interest. “But in one year, we’ve excelled above anybody’s expectations. We’re way above Ontario, we’re way past what people thought we were gonna do. I’m really happy about that.” Lopez says it’s also about much more than competitive results and excel- lence, and points to the positive impact that breakdancing can have on self-esteem and discipline. ● CONTINUED ON C2 CONRAD SWEATMAN PHTOOS BY BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Silas Comia, 6, performs at last Saturday’s Breaking Alliance Youth Olympic Qualifier in Winnipeg, one of the events Graffiti Gallery uses to cultivate a crop of young athletes for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal. Among local breakdancers competing last Saturday with Olympic ambitions are: (back row from left) Nehemiah Natoc, Eli Lopez, Silas Comia, Josiah Natoc and Nico Lopez; (middle row from left) Caleb Reyes, Stella Dandoneau and Misa Comia; and (front row) Danny Adams. Since 1999, the Graffiti Gallery has focused on serving downtown and North End communities. ;