Angela Sun is a Toronto-based fat East Asian performer, theatre creator, poet, and writer. She is currently a member of the environmental theatre company, Broadleaf Theatre. In her spare time she enjoys reading and writing about art, feminism, pop culture, identity, body image, mental health, and social justice. Ironically, she fell in love with Canadian theatre after seeing a televised production of Kristen Thomson’s I, Claudia on CBC. (She finally saw the remount on stage 5 years later and was over the moon.) You can follow her exploits on her sporadically-updated Twitter @21sungelas.
Playing first in a SummerWorks dance double bill with vərˈbadəm, noyé/e/ is a collection of contemporary duets that beautifully explores the feelings of longing, desire, connection, and oneness. Creator Simon Renaud and Performer Joanie Audet test the limits of space and balance with their slow but emotionally-fraught choreography.
To put it bluntly, the SummerWorks Live Art presentation of Burnish is what you get when you combine a live art installation with a therapeutic tarot card reading. While I was a bit skeptical at first, I grew to appreciate creator Erika Batdorf’s whimsical attempt at helping me cleanse my soul.
Burnish can be experienced in two ways: you can participate in a one-on-one session with Batdorf for the price of a ticket, and you can observe the installation for free at anytime during her sessions. I had the opportunity to experience both on separate days.