The Theatre Centre’s Free Fall ‘10

A World Stage partnership

Mar. 18-28, Various Locations

A celebration of innovation and risk in performance, Free Fall is The Theatre Centre’s biennial festival, presenting a progressive menu of new performance from across the country. Free Fall ‘10 features seven new works over the course of eleven days in the Queen St. W. neighbourhood and at Harbourfront Centre.

A highly regarded arts incubator, The Theatre Centre was founded in 1979 and is a unique facilitator for dozens of independent artists and companies every year. The Theatre Centre is committed to new work and new ways of working.

For tickets call 416-973-4000 or go to harbourfrontcentre.com 

Six Images in Search of an Artist: Remix

Tanya MarsConsidered one of Canada’s most innovative multidisciplinary artists as well as a performance art legend, Mars’ new work explores and exploits the senses, as influenced by the images in the French medieval tapestry Tenture de la Dame à la Licorn: taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell and “mon seule désire” as the sixth sense. This new work marks Mars’ first Canadian performance since winning a 2008 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.

Mar. 18-19, $10

The Theatre Centre

The Bob and Becky Cabaret

Bob Wiseman and Becky Johnson

Juno Award-winning composer Wiseman co-curates for the first time with award-winning clown, comedian, playwright and performance artist Johnson, blending their unique sensibilities, various media and personal style to create one unforgettable cabaret.

Mar. 18 and 20, $10

The Theatre Centre

I’m So Close It’s Not Even Funny

Why Not Theatre

Hailed by NOW Magazine as “artists to watch,” Why Not Theatre takes you into a universe where the fabric of space and relationships tears and repairs itself, and all matter—from the smallest quacks to the most gargantuan silences—is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of time.

Dates and Location TBD, $20

Wit in Love

DNA Theatre

Wit is none other than Ludwig Wittgenstein, arguably the greatest and most influential philosopher of the last century. And who is he in love with? Well, among others, his brilliant pianist brother. Created and performed by Hillar Liitoja based on a text by Sky Gilbert.

Mar. 20-22, 24-28

Free for Free Fall passholders

Location TBA when you book your ticket

On the Side of the Road

Theatre Junction

A story of secrets, family and the sprawling Albertan landscape, On the Side of the Road centres around a young novelist who returns to his family cottage with his Parisian girlfriend to confront his past and the murky depths of identity. Calgary’s Theatre Junction juxtaposes a brave new vision in Canadian contemporary theatre while embracing the traditions of national consciousness.

Mar. 24-27, $30

Fleck Dance Theatre

KISMET one to one hundred

The Chop Theatre in association with Rumble Productions

One hundred Canadians, ages one through one hundred reveal personal stories about the role that fate and destiny play in their lives. Vancouver-based, award-winning innovators, The Chop Theatre presents a surprising and intimate work based on 100 interviews about kismet.

Mar. 25-28, $20

The Theatre Centre

Old Men Dancing: Wiser and Still Gorgeous (Do Not Resuscitate)

Bill James/Atlas Moves Watching

Renowned choreographer Bill James brings together 16 men aged 50-75 without formal dance training who share an interest in creating movement-based performance. Weathering was created specifically for the group and takes inspiration from weather forces that surround us at the same time as we interpret the climate of our bodies and the mutability of our lives. Completing the programme are commissioned works by choreographers Marie Josee Chartier, D.A. Hoskins and Allen Kaeja.

Mar. 26-27, $15

Enwave Theatre

Posted: June 12th, 2009 under Free Fall '10, June 09 newsletter.
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HATCH: emerging performance projects at Harbourfront Centre
Deadline for Proposals: July 3, 2009

Harbourfront Centre is pleased to announce an Open Call for proposals from Toronto-area artists and companies working in the field of performance for HATCH: emerging performance projects for the 2009-2010 series. Companies and artists selected to participate in HATCH will receive a one-week residency in Harbourfront Centre’s Studio Theatre.

HATCH is designed to incubate and foster invention and innovation in the local performance scene. Entering its seventh year, this programme has become an important element in the milieu of local performance development.

HATCH is a key initiative in Harbourfront Centre’s mission to develop
local artists and their unique practices. The HATCH residency and
mentorship programme provides resources and professional assistance to a
new generation of engaging and innovative contemporary artists to reach
the next stage in the development in their work and careers.

HATCH is seeking artists committed to the development of contemporary,
inventive and creative performance-based work and invites projects from
emerging creators and established artists engaging in new collaborations
or entering into new artistic territory. Proposals are encouraged from
artists working across all disciplines, including, but not limited to,
dance, theatre, performance art, music, multi-media, etc. Of particular
interest are proposals that can demonstrate how HATCH will benefit the
project or the artist during this stage of development.

Full criteria, qualification information and instructions for applicants can be found at http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/whoweare/submissions/hatch.cfm or call Laura Nanni at 416-952-7969.

Please mail proposals to:
HATCH Proposals
Laura Nanni, Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON M5J 2G8
Sorry, applications by fax or email are not accepted

Posted: June 12th, 2009 under June 09 newsletter.
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Dear Artists and Friends,

The Festival of Ideas and Creation kicks off today!  This coming week, we have a number of exciting events that explore aspects of the creative process, with some of Canada’s most incredible, visionary and provocative artists.  Plus, on Saturday night, we are thrilled to host an intimate conversation a special party with new Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn. Meet Matthew and join us to celebrate the festival’s first week!

Here are some of the week’s highlights.  To reserve your seat please call the Box Office 416-368-3110 or email festival@canstage.com

Visit www.canstage.com/festival for the full festival lineup. 

All events listed are FREE and are at the Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, unless otherwise noted.

In Conversation: Daniel MacIvor with designer and collaborator Kimberly Purtell

Wednesday June 10, 7 p.m.

Meet the Governor General’s Award-, Siminovitch Prize- and Obie Award-winning writer, director and performer behind See Bob Run, Wild Abandon, The Soldier Dreams, You Are Here, Marion Bridge, A Beautiful View, How It Works, His Greatness and solo works House, Here Lies Henry, Monster and Cul-de-sac created in collaboration with creative partner Daniel Brooks. MacIvor and Brooks will be presenting their newest collaboration This Is What Happens Next at Canadian Stage in April of 2010. Join Daniel MacIvor, one of Canada’s most seminal artists, and design collaborator Kimberley Purtell as they discuss projects of the past, present and future.

In Conversation:  Electric Company’s Kim Collier, Zuppa Theatre’s Alex McLean and the TD Dream in High Park’s Sue Miner, with the Cooking Fire Festival’s Kate Cayley on creation in outdoor spaces

In Partnership with The Cooking Fire Festival

Thursday June 11, 7 p.m.

Canada’s public spaces have long been used as performances venues, offering professional productions in unusual locations to the surprise and delight of audiences. This conversation with directors who work in outdoor spaces across the country examines the relationship between experimental theatre, outdoor venues and public spaces and looks at how the interaction of art and public space challenge both the space and the art. Hosted by Kate Cayley, artistic director of The Cooking Fire Festival of Theatre in Dufferin Grove Park, this conversation features award-winning theatre practitioners from Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver.

In Conversation: Activism and the Arts: Toronto Voices

With Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Catherine Hernandez, Marilo Nunez and Chy Ryan Spain

Friday, June 12, 7 pm

Join us for an interactive conversation with theatre artists making a difference in their communities. Hosted by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, General Manager of Native Earth and Playwright-in-Residence at Obsidian Theatre, this roundtable discussion features acclaimed theatre practitioners who consistently push the envelope and ensure their voices and issues are heard on stages across Toronto. The evening also features rhymes and rhetoric by Donna-Michelle’s thinly veiled alter ego, Belladonna the Virtuous, and readings by distinguished artists, including excerpts from Catherine Hernandez’s Coyote and Future Folk, Marilo Nunez’s Three Fingered Jack & the Legend of Joaquin Murieta, and the provocative poetry of Chy Ryan Spain.  Stay after the show to mingle and share your voice with the artists! 

Reading: Our Lady of Lost and Found by Daniela Vlaskalic

Directed by James MacDonald, featuring Jane Spidell and Gina Wilkinson

Saturday June 13, 4 p.m.

Do miracles still exist? Are we capable of faith? Is there room for it in our lives today? A middle-aged writer goes into her living room to water the plants and finds a woman standing there. She is the Virgin Mary. Invited to stay for lunch, Mary explains that after two thousand years of petition, adoration, and traveling she is tired and needs some R&R. An exploration of what faith means now and what it is that we believe in. A staged reading of a new play by Daniela Vlaskalic (Sister James of Doubt: a parable, and co-creator of the award-winning The Drowning Girls), adapted from the novel by Governor General’s award-winning author Diane Schoemperlen.

Special Event: Matthew Jocelyn, The Canadian Stage Company’s Artistic and General Director Designate

Saturday June 13, 7 p.m., party to follow

Meet the new Artistic and General Director in an open exchange on the state of theatre and the performing arts in Canada and around the world, and share your ideas for the future of The Canadian Stage Company. Following this open forum, we invite you to join Matthew for a celebratory party, where the conversation can continue late into the night!  Based in Europe until recently, Matthew is an internationally acclaimed director of theatre and opera, a producer and an arts administrator. He was the Artistic and General Director of the Atelier du Rhin in Alsace, France, for the past 10 years. He was responsible for establishing the organization as a major centre for theatre, opera and contemporary dance - the only multi-disciplinary artistic centre of its kind in France - and for launching the Jeunes Voix du Rhin, an internationally recognized training centre for young singers.  He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture in July 2008, one of the country’s most prestigious arts honours.

Special Event: BASH! at The Power Plant

In partnership with The Power Plant

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Sunday June 14, 2 p.m.

Join members of The Canadian Stage Company’s BASH! Artist Residency Program for a guided tour and talk about the exhibit Universal Code, as part of The Power Plant’s Sunday Scene Series. Every Sunday, speakers from the world of art and beyond offer their responses to the current exhibition. Whether focusing on a single work/artist or on the entire exhibition, guest presenters draw provocative connections between the gallery’s programs and broader cultural and intellectual debates. Timed to coincide with the International Year of Astronomy, Universal Code presents responses from a broad range of contemporary artists to cosmology and ideas of the universal in our current information age, a time of significant scientific and technological development as well as rampant globalization. The Power Plant is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted exclusively to the art of our time.

Questions?  Please contact festival@canstage.com.

Sincerely,

Natasha Mytnowych                  &          Claire Calnan

Festival Director                                    Associate Festival Director

Posted: June 10th, 2009 under June 09 newsletter.
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