Results tagged “dancemakers”

MUSIC: We've been following the qualifying rounds since the first week, and tonight the Fifth Annual Karaoke Superstar Contest Finale hits the Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar. Go cheer on your favourite finalists from the previous three weeks as they battle it out in front of a panel of local celebrity judges, featuring two former Canadian Idol contestants (Sebastion Piggot and Katelyn Dawn), the "trashtastic" Ryan G. Hinds, and the Gladstone Cowboy himself, Hank Young. The winner will receive a grand prize of $1,000 and the coveted title of Karaoke Superstar! Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West), 9 p.m.–2 a.m., FREE.

CRAFTS: As we mentioned in our Valentine's Day preview post last week, there is lots to see and do today. For a relatively inexpensive but unique shopping experience, there’s the Gladstone’s annual Erotic Arts & Crafts Fair. The event showcases romantic and erotic art in the form of handmade lingerie, jewelry, cards, silk-screened prints, posters, and other memorabilia. Check out their website for a sampling of sale items from last year. Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West), 12–8 p.m., FREE.

Dancemakers just closed its latest show last night at Harbourfront's Premiere Dance Theatre. Called Double Bill # 1, the show consisted of two pieces danced by the company choreographed by different artists. Though quite different, both pieces explored the repetition of physical actions and the idea of "covers." The music was provided entirely by local curiosity The Reveries, a group that exclusively covers love ballads. The twist is that they play the covers with cellphone speakers in their mouths, each playing back the music of one of the other musicians. The result is hauntingly beautiful. The music was not performed live, instead, the dancers would choose which songs they would dance to by putting their CDs into the stereo they had on stage with them. This notion of "covers" was also carried over to the dance. In the first piece, "It Was a Nice Party" (choreographed by Ame Henderson), the dancers move around the stage in a way that at first seems random and violent, though somehow reminiscent of a party. At their own pace, the audience discovers that they are actually copying the physical actions of a group of revelers in a wild party scene from Fellini's La Dolce Vita (it is eventually projected behind them). The result is energetic, funny and completely delightful.