Mayor Proclaims National Ballet Week
Members of the arts community were out in force at City Hall today to cheer as Mayor Rob Ford proclaimed this National Ballet Week in Toronto, a recognition of the launch of the company’s 60th anniversary season. Artistic Director Karen Kain graciously accepted the proclamation and noted that about 300 National Ballet of Canada alumni will be at the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts on Wednesday when the curtain rises on the premier of the company’s new Romeo and Juliet, created by internationally celebrated choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. Kain presented the Mayor with a copy of Passion to Dance, James Neufeld’s lavish new chronicle of the history of the National Ballet. READ MORE
Sixty Years In the Life of a Brave Lady
Mi Young Kim begins our interview by apologizing; the Korean dancer, choreographer and educator has been in Canada for 32 years “but still my English not so good,” she says.
And while it’s true that her syntax is less than perfect, Kim has no trouble conveying the passion for dance that has been the hallmark of her 60 years on the stage and in the classroom.
That legacy is being celebrated Tuesday (November 15) with a gala celebration at the Toronto Centre for the Arts featuring Kim herself, plus guest performers Sampradaya Dance Creations, York Dance Ensemble, Keiko Kitano and Daniel Schnee, Kozakura Sensui and Samulnori Canada.
The evening is likely to be Kim’s swan song as a dancer: “Sometimes I’m ashamed because of my age. I’m not young anymore,” she acknowledges. “My family say this is my last chance to perform on stage, and then just teach.”
The Memory Project
If you’ve never visited The Memory Project, Remembrance Day provides a great excuse to dip into the wealth of stories and digital artifacts assembled by this noble web initiative. The project is a nationwide bilingual initiative documenting Canada’s participation in the Second World War and Korean War via first-hand remembrances from hundreds of veterans. The website provides audio files and transcriptions of veteran accounts, plus digitized memorabilia.
CANstruction 2011
Now in its 13th year, the annual CANstruction exhibition is currently on show until Friday (November 11) in the lobbies of the various TD Centre buildings along King Street West (west of Bay). CANstruction is one of the city’s most inventive charity drives in which design teams build monolithic and whimsical structures out of canned goods, all in a single night. The entries are then judged in a range of categories from jurors’ favorite (Angry Birds DefEAT Hunger, above, by Dialog) to structural ingenuity and best use of labels. At week’s end the structures are disassembled and all the cans are donated to Daily Bread Food Bank. A few of my favorite entries are included below . . . READ MORE
Ballet Jorgen Wins NAC Award
Congratulations to Bengt Jörgen and the entire Ballet Jörgen company for being honoured with the 2011 National Arts Centre Award for Distinguished Contribution to Touring. The award recognizes Ballet Jörgen Canada for its leadership role in the development of touring by professional dancers and companies in Canada, and is the first time the recognition has been bestowed on an Ontario performing arts organization. Pictured above from left are Simone Deneau of NAC, Erin Benjamin of the Canadian Arts Presenting Association, Bengt Jörgen and Cameron Smilie of Ballet Jörgen Canada.
