Sistering and Motion Clothing present the 13th annual Funny Girls & Dynamic Divas, a comedy and music cabaret. The evening will be hosted by leading Funny Girl Elvira Kurt on May 21 at the Glenn Gould Studio, in Toronto.
Canadian Music Week has announced nominations for the 18th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards. Among the nominees are Kiesza, MAGIC! and Hedley. This year’s award show will take place on Friday, May 8th at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. The awards celebrate first-time charted artists and honour individuals or groups with some of the most played songs on Canadian radio. This year’s show will feature performances by Dear Rouge, Andee, Virginia to Vegas and Jess Moskaluke. READ MORE
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a concert by great santur musician Sina Bathaie at the Small World Music Centre. Bathaie recently toured his acclaimed album Sound of Silence and releases of singles “I Remember,” and “Journey.” READ MORE
With two days to go, I have narrowed down my list of Top Picks at this year’s Toronto ComiCon. The three-day event takes over the Metro Convention Centre from March 20-22. In this short but carefully curated list, I give you some suggestions of places to be at, panels and Q&A sessions, as well as a film screening at the Bloor Cinema. Lots of goodies here! READ MORE
La Semaine de la Francophonie, Toronto’s premiere annual Francophone festival of arts and culture, celebrates its 15th anniversary with eight days of music, theatre, visual art, film, and food.
From March 20 to 28, la Semaine de la Francophonie will showcase the best Canadian Francophonie has to offer. As one of the biggest events of its kind in Toronto, la Semaine… will offer activities in French at various venues across the city.
Here are some highlights of events taking place across the city. Lots to sample, so take note! READ MORE
This current installment of In The City brings you some interesting listings of upcoming Toronto events that will certainly captivate your senses.
Father Figure: Exploring Alternate Notions Of Black Fatherhood
Exhibition: Feb 19 – Apr 2, 2015
Opening Reception: Feb 19 2015, 6-9pm
BAND Gallery
Father Figure offers a personal perspective into often-overlooked aspects of black fatherhood. As the viewer, you will gain intimate access to the daily lives of African-descended men whom photographer, Zun Lee, has worked with since 2011, and who are parenting in a variety of circumstances. Lee brings into focus what pervasive father absence stereotypes have distorted – real fathers who are involved in their children’s lives and who are not media caricatures.
Salon 21: Hearing Music
Feb 20, 2015
Gardiner Museum
Free Admission with RSVP
Featuring Dr. Ross Harwell, Doctor of Audiology
Audiologist Dr. Harwell, and Soundstreams Artistic Associate Kyle Brenders, will guide you through some of the tricks our ears play on us while listening to music. Experience the extreme ranges of our hearing through demonstration and discussion.
*I’ve attended other Salon 21 events and always learn something new. I highly recommend it.
The Wrecking Crew
February 20, 2015
Toronto – World Theatrical Premiere
The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Denny Tedesco’s documentary promises to take boomers back to the solid gold era when Los Angeles was a Top Forty mecca, where one session could produce several Top Ten hits. A labour of love for the filmmaker, The Wrecking Crew uses Tedesco’s memories of his late father, Tommy Tedesco, the prolific studio guitarist, as a gateway to a world of musicians who could make hits happen in any genre.
Amid a mix of archival footage and interviews, the film builds around a surviving members’ roundtable as the then-ailing elder Tedesco reminisces with drummer Hal Blaine, Plas Johnson and Carol Kaye, a single mother who was one of the most sought-after bass players in the ‘60s.
*I have not seen this film, but I often find music documentaries – regardless of reviews – are amusing, interesting, and can be thought-provoking. The Wrecking Crew should prove to be all of these for those of you curious about certain aspects of music history.
The Artist Project: Contemporary Art Fair
Feb 19-22, 2015
Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place
Tickets: Adults $15; Seniors/Students $10
The Artist Project brings artists from a variety of geographic and creative backgrounds to converge and connect with patrons looking to get a glimpse of tomorrow’s Art Stars. It is a unique opportunity to meet and buy art directly from artists at Toronto’s favourite art fair.
*I attended The Artist Project for the first time last year. Although I was unable to purchase major works of arts, I did meet some talented artists, who were gracious to answer my questions regardless of my knowledge of their work.
Toronto Comedy All-Stars presents Your Hood’s A Joke, a series of knock-down drag-out comedy battles between Toronto’s most uproarious neighbourhoods. Local comedians duke it out with their hilarity at Comedy Bar, the ‘Thunderdome of Comedy’. Your Hood’s A Joke promises a clash of epic proportions with comedic titans teaming up and squaring off in honour of their respective hoods.
On Saturday, February 21, Your Hood’s A Joke presents a battle featuring crusading comedians hailing from two Toronto hoods, Bloordale vs. Cabbagetown. The Bloordale Needle Knights consisting of Lianne Mauladin (ABC’s The View), Amanda Day (SheDot Festival) and Megan Myke (Absolute Comedy) will go head-to-head against the Cabbagetown Cow Tippers; represented by Nails Maloney (Host on Q107), Jesse Owens (Funny business Inc.) and Ryan Dylan (BiteTV Award Winner) as they fight for comedic domination. Who will rule the Toronto comedy roost? The gentrified neighbourhood or the neighbourhood currently being gentrified?
The founder of Toronto Comedy All-Stars, Danish Anwar, will host this battle. An accomplished stand-up comedian, Anwar is trilingual, a finalist in JFL42’s Funniest Torontonian Award and will be appearing in this year’s Winnipeg Comedy Festival.
Call me biased, but I will root for the Bloordale Needle Knights, as it is very close to my own West-side Toronto ‘hood. So we’ll have to check out the show to see how the teams fare, and see who survives the battle!
This latest installment of In The City features music, theatre, film and visual art events taking place around T.O. this weekend and for the rest of the month.
Imaginary Friends
Gabrielle De Montomollin
The Red Head Gallery
February 4 to 28, 2015
Reception: Saturday February 7, 2-5 pm
Falls, on the shores of Lake Muskoka and the wintery streets of Montréal, sailing the Atlantic to points further East, de Montmollin’s real-in-art imaginary friends travel the world and send home visual “wish you were here” messages.
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| Roussillon, 2010. Gabrielle De Montomollin. |
The Backward Class
Hot Docs 2014 Audience Award Winner
Opens in Toronto Friday, February 6
The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
In the depths of rural southern India, in a small school devoted to backward caste students, aspiring graduates Vijay, Anith and Mala are studying. At seventeen years old, they are the inaugural graduating class and are preparing for final exams no class of their background has ever had the opportunity to write, the Indian School Certificate high school graduation exams.
Mooredale Concerts
Walter Hall, U of T
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Tickets: $30, or $20 for under age 30,
available online or by calling 416-922-3714 ext. 103
Mooredale Concerts brings together violinists Erika Raum and Scott St. John, violist Sharon Wei and cellist Thomas Wiebe. Three great classical works for duo and trio comprise their program – Schubert’s Trio for Strings in B flat major, D. 471; the Sonata for Two Violins in A minor by Eugène Ysaÿe; and Bach’s massive Goldberg Variations for String Trio in G major, BWV 988, arranged by Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
On the same afternoon, you can bring the kids to Music & Truffles – Classical Music for Family Enjoyment. The artists also perform a one-hour interactive version of the concert for young people age five and up, and their families. Sunday, February 8 at 1:15 p.m. at Walter Hall, iTickets, only $13, include a chocolate truffle for all.
Twisted
Factory Theatre with b current
Runs until February 22
Written by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman and Joseph Jomo Pierre
Directed by Nigel Shawn Williams
Starring: Susanna Fournier and Ngabo Nabea
Twisted is a modern-day reimagining of the Dickens classic, Oliver Twist, set in the heart of Toronto’s urban centre. In this retelling, Ollie, an orphaned black youth, and bottom girl Nancy are trying to survive the gritty streets of Toronto. Ollie has been in and out of foster homes and Nancy suffers from a loveless childhood, but they find love in each other, at least through their cell phones. Through their intimate and poetic text messages, they forge a powerful real-time connection – and plan a dangerous escape for a better life. Together.
From this list, I can tell you that I have attended previous Mooredale Concerts and have always enjoyed myself. I have also seen the documentary The Backward Class twice at Hot Docs Documentary International Film Festival last year. It is uplifiting, moving, and definitely a crowd pleaser. For the rest, I suggest you take the time to check out either the art or theatre show. They always make for an entertaining afternoon or evening out, especially in the winter.
A couple of weeks back, I came across the article in The Toronto Star about Daniel Rotsztain‘s drawing / art project showcasing all of our Toronto’s public libraries. And thought to myself, what a neat project!
Although Rotsztain has been receiving a lot of media attention already, I was curious about his work and set out to do a virtual interview with him. This is what he shared with me.
HM: You are an Urban Geographer. For those who have yet to discover your website, can you tell us how you define your profession?
Daniel Rotsztain: I first discovered Urban Geography during my undergrad at McGill. I remember taking a class called “The Canadian City” and being overjoyed that there was a discipline dedicated to things that I was already passionate about: urban spaces and their magic, good city design, social justice in the city, the importance of transit, the messiness and organic nature of the city.
By the end of my undergrad, I realized academia wasn’t my thing… So I turned to art. I find that Art is undefined in its pursuit of communication, and there’s more freedom to say the things you want to say the way you want to say them.
I suppose my quick definition of an Urban Geographer would be: someone who understands the spatial relationships within a city, tries to make sense of the city, tells the stories of cities, and perhaps, someone who is dedicated to making the experience of living in cities better.
HM: I noticed you have and are working on various projects. What is Carolinia, Toronto’s Bioregion about exactly?
DR: These days, a lot of people think of cities as unnatural. I think otherwise: cities are as natural as any ecosystem. The bricks that old Toronto houses are made of, literally came from the earth that Toronto is built on top of. Carolinia: Toronto’s Bioregion proposes we change the way we think about Toronto to make its ecology more prominent in its identity, and make us feel more connected to the earth beneath our feet.
A bioregion is a geographic area identified by distinct ecology, geology, climate, watershed and human culture. It’s a way of parcelling human cultures into regions not by random political borders but by meaningful borders: mountain ranges, rivers and ecosystem. Toronto is at the northern tip of a very southern deciduous forest that stretches all the way to the Carolinas. Known as the Eastern Deciduous Forest in the US, it’s called the Carolinian forest in Canada.
Looking at the characteristics of Toronto’s underlying ecology explains a lot about its human culture: it’s densely populated flora- and fauna-wise, and one of the most diverse ecoregions in Canada, which is also true about its human population. Our older buildings have a distinct architectural style that can be related to the materials they are made from and the local weather conditions.
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| Carolinia Map. Photo courtesy of Daniel Rotsztain |
HM: Your All The Libraries project, in which you draw every branch in the Toronto Public Library, was written up in The Toronto Star. I find it super interesting! What are your hopes for this project moving forward besides the website and publishing a book?
DR: By visiting all the libraries in Toronto, I learnt that the Toronto Public Library is a system that is working incredibly well post amalgamation. Many people focus on the divisions and inefficiencies that amalgamation caused, without looking at constructive solutions.
The successful Toronto Public Library can be a model for systems in the city post amalgamation. It benefits from being centralized but allows its various outposts to have a meaningful amount of independence. Beyond writing the book, I am going to continue to research what is making the Toronto Library so successful and how that can be applied to other parts of the city.
HM: Out of the various projects you have going on, I’d like to learn more about the Learnt Wisdom Lectures. How did these come about?
DR: The Learnt Wisdom Lecture Series was inspired by the Fuller Terrace Lecture Series in Halifax Nova Scotia, an storytelling series I attended when I lived there hosted by some friends. They started inviting people to their backyard to share stories with a different theme every week.
When I moved back to Toronto, I missed the weekly Fuller Lectures, and the community it created, so my partner and I decided to start our own version. But ours is a bit different. Our venue is roving: we host the lectures in often overlooked or neglected spaces all over Toronto, with a different space every month. In this way, urban exploring becomes a critical part of the event… Each [one] has a theme, and each talk culminates in a one liner take-away wisdom. Look out for the next ones!
HM: Lastly, any upcoming Toronto events where people can meet you, hear you speak, or see your work?
DR: Prints of my work are on display and available for purchase at the Toronto Comic Arts Fesitval‘s pop-up shop at the Toronto Reference Library. When the 100th branch of the Toronto Public Library opens in the Spring, all 100 drawings will be displayed there.
I am speaking at the April Edition of Nerd Nite on Thursday, April 9, at the Tranzac Club, and am scheduling a talk at the Riverdale Library in the coming months. I’m also hosting a Jane’s Walk in May, come explore some of the city’s branches with me!
I’d say Rotsztein leads a very interesting life, and his answers have definitely made me think of Toronto in a different way. I encourage you to visit his website, and find out more about his projects. Here is hoping you join in his adventures in the upcoming weeks and months, too! There is a Nerd Nite with my name on it for sure.
Part of Toronto’s Little Terrors‘ Short Film Showcase, Serpent’s Lullaby will have its exclusive Toronto screening tomorrow, January 28, at the Carlton Cinemas.
Serpent’s Lullaby is picking up praise on the festival circuit with successful screenings which started at the Cannes Film Festival’ “Coup de Coeur” selection of the highlights at the Short Film Corner. From there, the film had multiple subsequent screenings all over the world at Fantasia, HollyShorts, Oaxaca FilmFest, Rhode Island, Blood in the Snow, among others.
I had the pleasure of meeting the film’s producer, Byron A. Martin, and director Patricia Chica (via Skype) during The Blood in The Snow Film Festival last November. The film had caught my attention not only because of the story, which presents Medusa in a new light, but also for its aesthetic. I was rather impressed with the look and feel of the film, as well as its ability to convey a good story in less than 15 minutes. With short films, time is essential in order to engage the audience.
Chica shared she had come accross Charles Hall‘s screenplay for Serpent’s Lullaby after he had submitted it for the ABC’s of Death 2 anthology. At that point, it was supposed to be a 3-minute short. Lullaby contained all the ingredients that generally attract Chica to the psychological genre. She liked the script very much, but wanted to add more depth to the Medusa character.
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| Richard Cardinal, Lover. Serpent’s Lullaby |
The story thus evolved into a tale of confrontation with oneself, and rituals of acceptance and salvation. It examines the mental state of a woman searching for her inner strength and trying to find redemption and resilience within her life cirscumstance. Chica suggested making Medusa not a victim nor a monster. Without giving too much away, Chica and Hall opted to emphasize that Medusa sacrifices herself to save humanity, as well as, a sign of her love for her partner.
Stephanie Miramontes, responsible for the visual make-up effects, worked closely with Chica in order to come up with the right texture that would have a “stone sculpture feel”. Jenimay Walker (Medusa) and Richard Cardinal (Lover) needed up to 4 hours to get the stone/sculpture look completed. Even with this make-up, one is able to discern the emotions of both Medusa and her lover.
Some other key points on this film include the fact that Chica does all her own edits. In some cases, the director serving the dual role of editor can make or break the film. At 13-minutes in length, Chica does a great job in keeping Lullaby cohesive. There is enough here to tell a complete story. The film also features next to no dialogue, yet nothing is lost. Part of what helps the film is that Chica and Walker worked together doing breathing exercises. These helped Walker be able to remain still like a statue. Chica also suggested some yoga exercises that would help Walker to give the illusion of a serpent-like undulating body while on-screen.
From the production point, Martin explained Lullaby was filmed by the Laurentians, near Montreal, at an old mansion. The crew took over this old house for 6 days solid. An interesting yet ‘creepy’ bit of information is that this old house was also haunted. Things were moving around the house, which adds an interesting sidenote to this film.
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| Annabella Hart (Mother) and Jenimay Walker (Medusa) Serpent’s Lullaby |
Chica is hoping Lullaby will serve as an eye-opener and a discussion trigger to talk about taboo subjects such as depression, the sentiment of loss and suicide. For that reason, it was important for her “that the film ended on a poetic note and present a new unexploited twist in Medusa’s story.” In this, I think she and collaborators have succeeded.
You can catch this lovely, poetic short film, along with other genre shorts, on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 at 9:00pm. Producer Byron A. Martin will be in attendance. The screening takes places at the Carlton Cinemas. For a full list of films and more tidbits on the Little Terrors monthly screenings, click here.
