Kibbles ‘n’ Bits: Byrne, Mailer, dancing, singing, manga

One night, we had a dinner party for the express purpose of introducing Mailer to Neil Gaiman. Neil, as was his habit, was so charming that Norman wanted to read Sandman. He liked the series enough to provide a cover blurb for the next trade paperback collection. Neil later reported that bookstore buyers told him that the Mailer quote persuaded them to stock graphic novels. And the rest, as they say, is history. Ancient Evenings is an awesome book. Start there.

Zhu’s mom is obviously proud of his perfect standard answer. “We bought a lot of informative books for him, which will expand his knowledge and improve his IQ,” she says.

After his mom went to the nearby aisle to get educational materials for him, Zhu says something completely different. “Actually, I prefer the ‘Harry Potter’ series and the Japanese manga ‘Slam-Dunk,’ but my mom would be upset if she heard this.”

Choreographer Serge Bennathan plays against expectation in Manga, a new duet on view at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. The work is titled after the wildly popular Japanese comic books, but there are no wide-eyed characters with keyhole mouths and no forwardly propulsive plot line either. There is, on the other hand, a set of quirky interactions between Toronto dancers Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan.