Putting the Multi in Disciplinary
When I interviewed choreographer Andrea Nann last week following a rehearsal of Tumbling into Light (left), the multidisciplinary show was still coming together, far from nascent but not yet fully formed. With music by artistic director David Buchbinder and Dave Wall, the show features a live band, video and dance from a diverse cast of local pros working with emerging artists and non-professional members of the Thorncliffe Park community.
Playing at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre December 1 – 4, Tumbling into Light is the latest creative offering from Diasporic Genius, whose first show, last January, was a critical and creative hit.
This year’s effort explores “a journey through the darkness of our times to arrive at a new illumination . . . Tumbling into Light questions some of our basic assumptions about who we are and how we got here,” according to the press materials.
“The idea,” explains Nann, “is to work in an interdisciplinary manner so that no one form really stands out, there’s always a movement of the audiences’ attention from one area to another as opposed to, oh, there’s a dance number, and oh, there’s a vocal number. We’re trying to blend and blur those lines.” READ MORE
Luanda Jones at Home On Lula Stage
Singer/songwriter Luanda Jones never imagined she’d leave Brazil. She was born in Ipanema, she lived one block from the world-famous beach, the rhythms of Rio bubble in her veins. And yet here she is as the snow threatens to fly for what will be her sixth winter in Toronto.
Much to her surprise, the singer fell in love with her adopted city, and even though the relationship that brought her to Canada has since ended, Jones chooses to remain in the Great White North. She plays the Uma Nota Festival at Lula Lounge this weekend, sharing the stage with musicians from around the globe in a celebration of Latin, Caribbean and Afro-Brazilian funk, soul and jazz.
Preludes for a Sister City
Toronto composer Omar Daniel has never met the players who’ll bring his latest work to life with a free concert premier tomorrow (October 1) at the Royal Conservatory of Music (273 Bloor Street West). And that’s one of the points of the exercise, initiated by Chicago’s Access Contermporary Music (ACM): “We’ve done this entire exchange using the internet,” says Daniel, “Facebook, email, etc.”
“I was required to provide them with four installments of the work and then they’d send me a recording that I could comment on. They’re very good players and I didn’t even know that until I’d heard the first installment. Then I understood what they’re capable of.”
ACM commissions a work this way each year as part of its Composer Alive series, always looking to a creator living and working outside the USA. Palomar, the performance arm of ACM (led by Francesco Milioto), is an octet dedicated to presenting ground-breaking works by composers of all eras but with a special interest in contemporary works.
Scream If You Have To
Saidah Baba Talibah may hail from a musical family – her mother is Salome Bey and her cousins, aunt, uncle and sister have all performed – but she is very much her own woman. With tight, blonde dreads and a nose ring, her image is fierce, more rock chick than soul sister. And that’s how she sounds on her debut disc, the just released (S)CREAM.
Talibah and her band will be dropping the hammer on Harbourfront Centre’s West Jet stage tomorrow night at 8 pm after winning the venue’s first Soundclash Music Award, presented by NOW.
It’s a great gig for an artist who is still paying her dues and trying to make enough noise to get noticed above the din of indie attention seekers. With CD sales in a death spiral and fewer and fewer new artists being signed by the major labels, artists like Talibah have little choice but to exploit any and all opportunities to get the word out.
Rocking Out at Taiwan Fest
Being in a young, heavy-rock band should be a great lark but when your members are all Chinese immigrants to Canada, it’s a bit of an uphill climb. Riff-rocking quintet Violets & Viruses steps out on Harbourfront’s Redpath Stage Saturday at 6:30 pm for what promises to be a rollicking appearance at Telus TAIWANfest.
“For a white person to play in a band, they’d probably get a lot of support and find friends who supported that,” says drummer Kevin Mok. “But for us it’s been hard to find a community of our own. Rock music isn’t a big thing for Asian people, even for younger people.” READ MORE
