The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

arts editorial Note From the E d i t o r A i r t s A l i v e m a g a z i n e has t w o m a i n goals. O n e : to be interesting and useful for people interested i n the v i s u a l and p e r f o r m i n g arts. T w o : to he interesting and useful for artists. S o w h i l e A r t s A l i v e ineludes the " p e o p l e file" section about the N o r t h Shore artists and groups w h o are m a k i n g names for themselves i n the arts (interesting) and the C a l e n d a r o f E v e n t s g u i d e to the v i s u a l and p e r f o r m i n g arts o n the N o r t h S h o r e (useful), we also i n c l u d e arts industry events affecting a l l C a n a d i a n artists. O n e important subject that has m a n y p o s s i b i l i t i e s for artists and arts c o n s u m e r s is the presence o f the arts i n cyberspace. I have a friend w h o t h i n k s I ' m t a l k i n g about v o l l e y b a l l w h e n I say the N e t and w h o assumes W i r e d M a g a z i n e is a " h o w - t o " g u i d e for e l e c t r i c i a n s . W e l l . I think m y friend needs to get o n - l i n e and p l u g g e d into what's a v a i l a b l e o n the Internet. T h i s month 's feature o n the Internet and the A r t s (page 6), barely scratches the surface o f what is a v a i l a b l e for u artists and arts c o n s u m e r s o n the N e t . F o r artists there are a host o f o p p o r t u n i t i e s to market o n e s e l f and to g a i n access to audiences a r o u n d the w o r l d - at a fraction o f the cost m a n y artists have t r a d i t i o n a l l y had to pay i n o r d e r to "get £2 < 2 05 known." F o r arts c o n s u m e r s there are virtual galleries in w h i c h one can b r o w s e and order w o r k s o f art. T h e v i e w e r can even put different frames and m a t t i n g a r o u n d a p a i n t i n g until satisfied the w h o l e l o o k is what he o r she is after (see A r t s A l l i a n c e o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s virtual g a l l e r y on page 8). A r t s c o n s u m e r s can also listen to s o u n d s a m p l e s o f artist's m u s i c o r read concert r e v i e w s - often c o m p l e t e w i t h photographs - i n one o f the new o n - l i n e arts m a g a z i n e s . T h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n cyberspace seem endless because access is easy a n d a l l g e o g r a p h i c a l borders (and the c o n straints that g o w i t h them) d o n ' t exist. N o b o d y c h e c k s for y o u r c i t i z e n s h i p or passport w h e n y o u h o p from a site i n C a n a d a to a site i n S i n g a p o r e . In c y b e r s p a c e n o b o d y k n o w s i f y o u are a m a n o r a w o m a n , h o w m u c h m o n e y y o u have, what race y o u are or what religious beliefs y o u hold - unless you tell them. A n d even then there's no reason to believe you. In Cyberspace it just doesn't matter. A n d it is this e q u a l i z i n g e n v i r o n m e n t that makes it so right for artists. B u t don't get me w r o n g . I d o n ' t see the Internet is a s a v i o u r o r replacement for a c t u a l l y getting out to see w o r k i n g galleries o r listen to l i v e m u s i c . T h e beauty o f the arts is the real thing a n d n o t h i n g can e q u a l the j o y s o f live performance. A r t s A l i v e is also aware the Net and the advancement o f digital art is not the only story o f what's happening in the arts. H e n c e , we get back to s o l i d g r o u n d i n our coverage o f the traditional First N a t i o n s d a n c i n g as was seen at the S q u a m i s h N a t i o n P o w w o w i n A u g u s t (see page 4 ) . A s w e l l . S u s a n C o x , A r t i s t i c D i r e c t o r o f the V a n c o u v e r P l a y h o u s e , talks about what g o i n g to the theatre used to d o a n d s t i l l c o u l d d o (see page 16) i n terms o f c o n n e c t i n g people and h e l p i n g them to c o p e w i t h their d a i l y p r o b l e m s . T h e idea o f theatre b e i n g a tool for p r o c e s s i n g l i f e ' s p r o b l e m s is also e x p l o r e d i n an article about a p l a y c a l l e d " m y s t i c s " w h i c h l o o k s at a w o m a n ' s experience w i t h abuse and s e l f - m u t i l a t i o n (page 10). T h e p l a y is not o n l y f o r c i n g d i s c u s s i o n about abuse and b r i n g i n g it out o f the closet, but also is u s i n g theatre to h e l p people take r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . T h i s m u l t i - m e d i a performance piece was a head-line event at this year's M e n ' s Fest. T h e reason? M e n ' s Fest D i r e c t o r R i c h a r d Lett says it's because their theme this year is " T a k i n g R e s p o n s i b i l i t y " and a p l a y l i k e " m y s t i c s " is a w a y for m e n and w o m e n to e x a m i n e the source a n d repercussions o f abuse. F i n a l l y , A r t s A l i v e asked some people in the arts o n the N o r t h Shore what it is we c a n l o o k f o r w a r d to i n the u p c o m i n g 1995/96 season. T h e i r answers are o n page 2 0 ? E n j o y this issue a n d let us k n o w what y o u think about A r t s A l i v e . Is it useful? Interesting? I l o o k f o r w a r d to h e a r i n g from y o u . Gloria Loree