Results tagged “dbiyoung”

What is TEDxTO? TEDxTO is what happens when you pack the Theatre Passe Muraille from wall to wall with a hand-selected group of Toronto's most eager social media types, ply them with free quinoa salad and chocolate truffles, and then give them a packed day full of presentations from noted local artists, performers, and professionals to watch, then discuss. Essentially, it's one part performance appreciation, and one part networking bacchanal. We've seen plenty of rooms worked in our day, but none of them so thoroughly, or so well. Even noted Twittermeister Mayor Miller made an appearance, and spent one of the event's two designated "conversation breaks" encircled by his followers.

d'bi.young's new one-woman show benu is one of the strongest pieces we've seen at this year's SummerWorks. Although this production, directed by Natasha Mytnowych, is technically a workshop presentation, and young does perform the show script-in-hand, her thrilling performance style makes her play seem more put together than a lot of non-works-in-progress.

ART: The Toronto Public Space Committee’s brilliant Art Attack! spends the day at the beach. The organization hosts a sandcastle-building day, open to anyone who shows up with a shovel and some imagination. Actually, the shovel is optional. They did send a long list of other suggested items, but it included “cute dogs,” “palm trees,” and “your engineering friend with extensive structural knowledge,” so we'll leave it to you to use your best judgement. Ashbridges Bay Beach, south of Greenwood bathing station, 4 p.m., FREE. (rain day scheduled for August 9).

WORDS: Shane Koyczan is a Canadian-born spoken-word poet who's made a huge impression both on the world stage and at home. His poem "We Are More" was commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission for Canada Day in 2007, and his book, Visiting Hours, was named among the best books of the year by The Guardian and the Globe and Mail. With all this in mind, Koyczan will be performing tonight in the group Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. Expect a mix of folksy, lyrical music and brazen, edifying spoken word. The Drake Hotel, Underground (1150 Queen Street West), 7:30–10:30 p.m., $10.

THEATRE: To celebrate Multiculturalism Day (which just passed on June 27) and the launch of a new theatre project, High Rise: 19 stories in 19 storeys (set in Jamestown/Rexdale), the good people at Expect Theatre are throwing a launch party for this ambitious three-year project. Nineteen youth who live in the area were given video cameras with which to record the community they live in, capturing the hardships and the triumphs that people in this diverse community experience. This raw material will provide the base for the project. At the launch there will be performance by award-winning artist d'bi young, a chance to share your story with film director Joel Gordon, and community members can have their picture taken by photographer Steve Carty. The Jamestown and Rexdale areas of Toronto are among the most ethnically diverse areas in the city, many of the residents being immigrants living in public housing. This theatre piece will combine several different media to produce a show in 2011, with a workshop starting next year. Albion Library (1515 Albion Road), 5–7 p.m., FREE.