Author Archive
Review: The Sound and Feel of It (Peggy Baker Dance Projects)
As one of Canada’s most exceptional and inspiring dancers and choreographers, Peggy Baker once again provides audiences with a remarkable and mesmerizing contemporary dance show in The Sound and Feel of It.
Debuting at the lovely Betty Oliphant Theatre to a full house, The Sound and Feel of It will certainly engage your senses to the fullest. Featuring three diverse movement pieces, Peggy Baker Dance Projects combines powerful musical scores, enthralling lighting designs, and moving poetry to present stunning choreography.
Review: City Class-An Improvised History of Toronto ( Action Slacks)
My memory of ‘improv’ dates back to my high school days when our drama teacher asked the students to perform comedy sketches at lunch based on the audience’s suggestions. It was spontaneous, engaging, fun and unpredictable.
“Class City”- An Improvised History of Toronto, created by the improv group Action Slacks, does just that in their comical, sometimes dramatic sketches that follow the journey of a fictional family that emigrates from Belfast and settles into Toronto.
The story is divided into three separate chapters, each revealing another part of the family’s experiences throughout each era and within each generation. However, the story is also set against the backdrop of Toronto’s tumultuous history which includes major events such as The Great Depression, Hurricane Hazel, and the bizarre SARS epidemic. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Cream of Comedy (Tim Sims Encouragement Fund)
I’ve really got to get out more and laugh! It was great to see so many people out on a Monday night enjoying the creative talents of people who put themselves out there just to give us some brief satisfaction in our lives! “Stand-up” Comedy has got to be the hardest skill imaginable! After all, what more pressure can one have than a room full of blank-faced ordinary people waiting to be entertained?
The annual Cream of Comedy gala event, presented by The Tim Sims Encouragement Fund and held at The Second City, was established by Lindsay Leese in 1995, and supports and promotes promising comedic performers in the early stages of their careers. The comedians not only get exposure but the winners receive the prestigious Tim Sims award along with a $5000 cash prize.
Review: Like the First Time (One Little Goat Theatre Company)
Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934 for his groundbreaking work in theatre by challenging its conventions in breaking “The Fourth Wall,” Luigi Pirandello not only influenced the likes of Samuel Beckett and Edward Albee, but current aspiring playwrights and poets like the talented Adam Seelig.
Based on the original play by Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello (Come Prima Meglio Di Prima-Like Before, Better than Before), Like the First Time, written and directed by the already accomplished Adam Seelig and produced by his company One Little Goat, is a play with a contemporary theme and a stellar ensemble of actors.
Review: Funk Fo Yo Feet 2011 (Fantastic Poppers)
I anticipated staying only a few hours. Instead I stayed the entire day. Thanks to Funk Fo Yo Feet, produced by siblings Lloyd Jackson and Boogaloo Storm since 2002, with their company Fantastic Poppers, this annual event is now in its 9th season. Not only do the Jackson brothers bring this often not celebrated dance to the Toronto scene, but they also have been offering aspiring pop and lockers studio space to freestyle or take workshops from master Poppers and Lockers.
As I make my way through the brightly lit, large space of Trinity St. Paul Church Centre, the day begins informally, with dancers warming up solo or free-styling in circles for the day’s competition in which various lock and pop dancers will battle one another. They stretch, move, socialize, high-five, and cheer each other on. Pop and Lock dance , styles which came out of the West Coast movement, though both considered funk, are technically two very different styles of dance – however, equally engaging and fascinating to watch! Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Gavin’s Menage (Cirque du Sogay)
Performing to a full house at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto, Gavin Crawford left the crowd cheering by the final act. With his hysterical original one-man show, Gavin’s Ménage blends various characters together ranging from celebrities to politicians to a Pride “virgin.”
This fast-paced satirical comedy is written with wit and keen observation, and executed with charm, detail and energy. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Celebrating Greta-Mozartiana, & Other Dances & In the Upper Room (The National Ballet of Canada)
Gracious and graceful Greta gives gratifying performance at the National Ballet in Toronto
As a child, seeing a live ballet performance presented by The National Ballet of Canada seemed like a distant dream. I remember seeing clips of prima ballerina’s dancing on the Bravo channel and marvelling at their extraordinary grace, strength and stamina. At times, I would comically try to mimic their pirouettes and jetes, to no avail of course.
It was then that I vowed that once I hit adulthood, I would see as many live performances as possible; and it is now a great honour that I have the privilege to celebrate this spectacular show.
Honouring Greta Hodgkinson’s 20 years as a distinguished principal dancer for the National Ballet of Canada, Celebrating Greta- Mozartiana, & Other Dances and In the Upper Room offers three distinct programs, combining contemporary and classical ballet with brilliance and virtuosity. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way (Chocolate Woman Collective)
By Adelina Fabiano
A chocolate tapestry from the past falls on a Toronto Stage
In Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way, produced by Chocolate Woman Collective, first formed in 2007 by a group of senior Aboriginal artists and scholars to research and create this show, principal actor and playwright Monique Mojica deeply explores her ancestral roots in Panama’s Kuna culture.
Collaborating with a diverse group of people from around the globe, such as visual artists (Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule, Erika Iserhoff), anthropologist (Brenda Farnell) and composer (Marden Paniza), Mojica integrates information and research from archives and seeks the expertise of Indigenous scholars. She reclaims and re-creates the struggle and beauty of the Indigenous culture through a dynamic and dramatic display of physical theatre.
Review: Fronteras Americanas (Soulpepper Theatre)
By Adelina Fabiano
Governor General Winner still reaches Toronto audiences
I realize I can’t speak for everyone, but I do have to say that playwright/actor Guillermo Verdecchia’s autobiographical play, Fronteras Americanas (American Borders), currently playing at Soulpepper Theatre, is something I can relate to. Some may feel that it is out-dated, however, the substance is there. It’s a story about feeling torn between two places, feeling nor here, nor there, a feeling I can still relate to even in my early thirties as a Canadian-born, first generation Italian-Canadian. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: The Atomic Weight of Happiness (Stand Up Dance)
By Adelina Fabiano
Whimsical and wonderful performance piece wins over a Toronto audience
Meagan O’Shea has been sharing and baring her soul with Toronto audiences for quite some time now. This charming, uniquely creative, intelligent solo performer once again engages us in her recent theatre/dance show called The Atomic Weight of Happiness.
Presented by O’Shea’s own company Stand Up Dance at the intimate studio space of Hub 14, The Atomic Weight of Happiness is an hour long narrative in which O’Shea challenges notions on global warming, emotional intelligence and her own inner and outer anatomy.
Melding audience interaction, modern dance, theatre, clever text and cinematic-like art direction, The Atomic Weight of Happiness, offers a memorable and original piece of dance theatre that is definitely worth exploring. Read the rest of this entry »