The holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, is back at Soulpepper in its thirteenth season. Scrooge, the loveless and stingy character, played by Joseph Ziegler for the past eleven seasons of its run, gives even more meaning to my favourite holiday insult: “Bah humbug!”
The Nutcracker arrives in Toronto for the Holiday Season!It’s Nutcracker time! Performed every holiday season without fail it is the world’s most popular ballet, with many different adaptations (or lack thereof) about the magical toy.
Toronto International Ballet Theatre was back with stars of the Bolshoi Ballet, Anastasia Stashkevich and Vyacheslav Lopatin, at Meridian Hall. Presenting a traditional take on the ballet, this performance features over fifty dancers of all ages, dazzling costuming, delectable set design and, of course, delightful dancing. The company has been performing The Nutcracker each year since 2008 and is the only one to show the original Russian story in Toronto.
Continue reading Review: The Nutcracker (Toronto International Ballet Theatre)
Student showcase offers a wide variety of dance pieces, now on stage in TorontoThe School of Toronto Dance Theatre (STDT) presents IMPULSE 2019 at the Winchester Street Theatre, showcasing work from all three years of their professional training program. Celebrating fifty years of dance education, the modern/contemporary conservatory program produces some of Canada’s top performers.
Since it’s a student showcase we’re not offering a traditional review, but instead an overview of the piece. Giving you a flavour of what to expect.
Continue reading Overview: Impulse 2019 (School of Toronto Dance Theatre)
In Absentia is an imaginative work that sparks childlike wonderA mature fairytale in an absurd universe, IN ABSENTIA presented by JD Dance and Danceworks takes to the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. A fantastic work of dance, puppetry and lots and lots of cardboard.
The stage is riddled with cardboard boxes and slabs, over 1000 pounds of it. Boxes of all different sizes are stacked, at some points to the ceiling, into different towers and walls. Many small slabs of ripped cardboard pieces hang above the stage like a bleak baby mobile. However, the space is continually shifting as the performers move and manipulate the set through the strange spectacle.
Continue reading Review: IN ABSENTIA (JD DANCE / DANCEWORKS)
Bangarra Dance Theatre brought traditional Australian Aboriginal dance to TorontoBangarra Dance Theatre, one of Australia’s top dance companies, make their Toronto premiere with Spirit, performing a collection of stories and dances in a celebration of the Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander’s traditions. With mesmerizing movement and captivating physicality, the large seventeen member company take to the Bluma Appel Theatre, co-presented by Canadian Stage and TO Live.
Continue reading Review: Spirit (Bangarra Dance Theatre/Canadian Stage/TO LIVE)