ROM Artifacts Inspire Museum Dances
The CanAsian International Dance Festival moves into the Royal Ontario Museum this weekend and next transforming select galleries into glorious site-specific performance spaces. Curated by CanAsian’s Artistic Director Denise Jujiwara, each of the four commissioned companies was invited to choose a space or artifact as the inspiration for a new original dance work.
Vancouver’s Moving Dragon (dancer/choreographers Chengxin Wei and Jessica Jone, above) sought out Toronto-based composer Michael Vincent to score their 15-minute piece; written for percussion ensemble with taped choir, the music will be performed live by Toronto’s TorQ Percussion Quartet (tonight at 7 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm, free with admission to the ROM).
City Arts Program Shines in Hot Doc
The Hot Docs film festival opens tonight but Toronto-based filmmaker Juan Baquero, left, will have to wait until Sunday for the premier of his first Canadian documentary feature, Listen To This. The beautifully-shot film tells the story of a City-funded music program in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood; conceived by pianist/teacher Thompson Egbo-Egbo and backed by the City’s Arts in the Hood progam, Listen to This zeros in on a handful of the 40 students — there’s Whitney, the confident, funny girl; the shy but talented Jasmine; and Donta, the engaging youngster who ultimately quits the class before its big recital.
“About a third of the way through filming I started to understand who the main characters would be,” says Baquero. ”In documentary filmmaking there is always an inherent tension stemming from your choices of where you stand and who you point the camera at but in this case it was heightened. At the beginning it was 40 kids, two classrooms and four teachers but there were several kids who showed signs of eventually being the fabric of a great story.”
My CMF: What a Weekend!
After hearing seeing 20 different new bands over the past four days I’ve come to the conclusion that the live music scene in Toronto is alive and well, no longer eclipsed by the trendy DJ’s and club scene. And the sizable contingent of Toronto bands represented at Canadian Music Fest proves it. Here are a few of my highlights . . .
Favorite new band – hands down, Delhi 2 Dublin, above (March 11 @ Revival). With a spunky, spitfire Celtic fiddler who seemed to be fueled by jumping jelly beans, paired with the hypnotic sounds of the dohl drummer, this fusion group from Vancouver represents an exciting new trend, blending cultural traditions with youthful energy resulting in hip-shaking danceable rhythms.
My CMF: An Easy, Enjoyable Start
It’s no secret that Canada produces compelling singer/songwriters so it’s only natural that Canadian Music Fest would feature hundreds of budding stars eager to carry the torch to international acclaim. The tiny back room of the Free Times Café on College Street was crammed last night with enthusiastic music lovers cheering on the new tunesmiths.
With a strong sense of self, Mandippal, left, took the stage and launched into a fabulous 45-minute set. His cheerful manner was engaging but it was his exquisite guitar playing and lyrically beautiful tunes that really enchanted the audience. Mixed in with his original songs, Mandippal nimbly played guitar while vocally nailing Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River”; he also performed a Britney Spears and Lady Gaga medley that was hilarious, yet poignant and still musically strong. This talented young singer/songwriter from Cambridge, Ontario is one to watch and I hope to present him later this summer at Nathan Phillips Square.
Cheat Sheet: Canadian Music Fest
Popular music fans rejoice! Canadian Music Fest (formerly CMW) kicks off tomorrow night with more than 700 bands at 45 different venues over five days (thru Sunday). How does a music lover even begin to choose what to see? From hip-hop to folk/roots, blues to alternative rock, the variety is practically endless.
As music programmer for City of Toronto Special Events I’m always on the look-out for hot new Canadian talent and this year’s CMF is loaded with rising stars. Here are my Top 10, must-see shows in chronological order . . .
