Results tagged “arts”

When you go to The Nutcracker, what you notice first are the girls. The little ones. You see the first little girl, squirming while her harried mother untucks taffeta skirt from tights, and then you see them everywhere. Little girls in festive plaid or their first favourite colour, pink. Little girls in ringlets and lip gloss, in patent mary janes, or still in snowboots, refusing to change into their fancy shoes.

If you didn't already have an excuse to visit the lower Don Valley, Canadian playright and Fringe favourite Dave Carley will be on hand this Tuesday for a special fundraising performance of After You at Todmorden Mills. Performed by the East Side Players, the resident theatre group at Papermill Theatre, the two-act drama is a reflection on how the aged see things differently than the young. It tells the story of Adele and Jean, two cousins in their late seventies and dying, who return to their family cottage to enjoy one last summer. But memories invade their sanctuary, forcing them to relive the summer of 1938 when one young man determined the paths of their lives. The local press has called the show "deep and dramatic," and strong performances "ranging from sarcastic and humourous to angry and emotional."

The organizers of Nuit Blanche held a launch event at OCAD this morning to announce this year’s curators—Wayne Baerwaldt, Director and Curator of Exhibitions at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery at the Alberta College of Art and Design; Dave Dyment, Director of Programming at Mercer Union, Toronto; Gordon Hatt, a writer and curator who lives in Kitchener; and Haema Sivanesan, Executive Director of Toronto’s South Asian Visual Arts Centre—and allow them to outline their individual visions for the event.

Image: Cicada Design/Diamond + Schmitt Architects

Torontoist Environment Editor Chris Tindal is currently engaged in a federal by-election campaign. This weekly column is an attempt to offer a behind the scenes glimpse into what it's like to be that mysterious Other: a politician.

Photo of d’bi.young.anitafrika and her son, Moon, courtesy of Women’s Press.

According to Rafael Fajardo, absolutely.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the Oscars this morning. Canada done good.

Here's something to clear away your post-NYE doldrums: the Fringe, everyone's favourite early-summer theatre festival (don't worry, SummerWorks, you're our favourite late-summer theatre festival) has had a baby. Aw! Last Wednesday, something called The Next Stage Theatre Festival began at Factory Theatre. Next Stage really is like a baby Fringe: a smaller festival of only 8 shows running in rep at a single theatre, complete with a heated beer tent.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

The Toronto Public Library is an undeniably important public space in this city. Beyond offering a sanctuary for quiet study and learning, library branches provide after-school programming for youth as well as settlement information and language resources for newcomers. It’s little wonder that this fall, even as he was threatening budget cuts, David Miller remarked: "Our libraries are where people become Torontonians." Striving to remain relevant and innovative, the public library constantly introduces new programs, such as this year’s Museum and Arts Passes, free Wi-Fi access, and downloadable books, movies, and music.

"Upper Canada Lower Bowel Clinic Inc."

If you are saddened by your procrastination that cost you Richard Hawley and Jose Gonzalez tickets this week, you can direct your attention to the eclectic choice of shows as a mild substitute. It does, however, appear as if local label Arts and Crafts have successfully cornered the market on this week's moderately sized shows (read: tickets that cost no more than $35). Tuesday you can catch Jason Collett with a surprise guest at the...

Proving that print’s not dying, just aging gracefully, Toronto’s 23rd Annual Book Arts Fair happens this Sunday, December 2. Held at OCAD, the hopefully bomb-free event is a celebration of all things typed, pressed, cut, bound and illustrated. Watch live demonstrations of skills you didn't know existed—printing from litho stones, anyone?—in the school's printmaking studios. And if you like a little commerce with your art, take a stroll through the Central Hall, where items...

This weekend, resist the urge to do the same old bar hop and try a more sophisticated means of indulging your party ADD: the art show hop. Okay, so we just invented that term, but the city does have three rad art happenings going on almost simultaneously this Friday, November 30. And we say, why choose? To start your adventure, knock back a whiskey for warmth and head down to the Harbourfront, where the...

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. While Toronto has been making headlines in recent years for its investment in artistic institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Ottawa has been in the spotlight of late because...

Martin Knelman, writing in the Star, once apologized for the lacklustre exterior of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts by describing it as a building that "has to be experienced from the inside out rather than the other way around." What better way to reinforce the impression that the performances showcased inside are principally targeted at an elite class than by plopping down a building that offers little to those standing on...

We don’t tend to post too often about video games here at Torontoist, what with basically the entire rest of the internet being devoted to it (well, that and anthropomorphic Star Trek slash fiction), but we do like to make special note when some pleasant news of local interest comes up, such as Toronto as a Half Life mod or the Toronto Indie Game Jam (Which we, er, forgot to mention this year. Our...

Fresh from this year's successful stab at World's Largest Thriller Dance, Toronto is looking to weasel its way into the Guinness Book yet again. This time, with a big-ass Christmas stocking.

Ballet Jorgen's Anastasia is making its way around the country, and if you missed its Toronto stop on Saturday, you missed quite the treat. Audiences packed into the Toronto Centre for The Arts to see Bengt Jorgen's intricately choreographed tale about the infamous Russian Grand Duchess, which follows the four years leading up to that fateful day in 1918 when she disappeared forever. Jorgen is known for his eccentric ballets, but with Anastasia he...

If there’s one thing Torontoist likes to do, it’s moan about stuff, but on the face of it, that Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days receiving a theatrical release here is something that should be received without complaint. After all, journalists have praised the film, including Norm Wilner at Metro, who calls the film "marvellous filmmaking." But really, it just gives us a chance to moan about the lack of a theatrical release for Reprise (also distributed by Mongrel Media) again. Nice to see they have faith in a Romainian flick about abortion that won an award in France, but not, you know, just about the best film ever that won an award right here in Toronto.

Tomorrow night, November 2nd, a new CaseCamp-format un-conference will touch down in Toronto. Combining two sessions from the art community and one session from a related industry, ArtSmash is a unique speaker series that will generate a room full of creative ideas. The event is being coordinated by Ella Cooper and presented by the Emerging Arts Professional Network.

Ballet Jorgen is notorious for its unique, original ballets, and they are leaping into their 20th year with their largest undertaking to date. Anastasia tells the story of the famous Russian Grand Duchess over four years during the Russian Revolution. Complete with an original score composed by Russian-Canadian composer Ivan Barbotin and an award-winning crew on hand, this piece is bound to mesmerize its audiences.

The Scarborough Arts Council and The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College are doing something neat—they're recording podcasts about technology in front of a live studio audience.

If you were a child passing through Toronto since the early 1970s, there's a good chance you may have eaten at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Kitschy antique decor, the pots of whipped garlic butter that arrived with the loaf of bread and a family-friendly atmosphere have kept the crowds coming for nearly four decades.

Policy Monday is a weekly feature during the lead-up to the provincial election where Torontoist will dive into the mean and gritty world of public policy, turning a critical eye at a specific area of the policies and machinations of the four major provincial parties.

As Torontoist reported yesterday, the Hummingbird Centre is changing its name to the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, marking the second change in corporate naming rights during the venue's half-century existence. Support of the site has ranged from a philanthropic brewer (O'Keefe Brewing head E.P. Taylor) to a multinational media company.