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Urban Planner: October 27, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
Photo of Malgorzata Nowacka and Brendan Wyatt in Blood by David Hou. Courtesy of Flip Publicity.
DANCE: In keeping with the gory theme of the week leading up to Halloween, The Chimera Project presents the return of Blood as part of the Harbourfront Centre’s Next Steps Series. Choreographed by Malgorzata Nowacka (who is also the founder of The Chimera Project), Blood explores urban mythology using some of the company’s typical style, fusing ballet with urban dance influences and improvisation. Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre (231 Queen’s Quay West), 8 p.m., $20–30.
LECTURE: Tonight, the Royal Ontario Museum’s Institute for Contemporary Culture presents the Fourth Annual Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture: Lewis Lapham. Lapham—founder of Lapham’s Quarterly and a former editor of Harper’s Magazine—will present a talk titled “Celebrity in Contemporary Culture,” which corresponds with the ROM’s current exhibit, “Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008” (reviewed here by Torontoist). After the lecture, a panel of Toronto luminaries (including writer/director/actor Don McKellar, Globe and Mail columnist Sarah Hampson, and Ryerson University film professor Murray Pomerance) will discuss cultural change. Royal Ontario Museum, Signy and Cléophée Eaton Theatre (100 Queens Park), 7 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.), FREE (seating is first come, first served).
FILM: The Fox Theatre is offering a double bill as a tribute to the late, great Patrick Swayze. Join fellow chick-flick lovers as the Fox screens two of Swayze’s most popular films (according to Fox Theatre patrons, that is), Dirty Dancing and Ghost. Dirty Dancing is, of course, the vehicle that launched Swayze to stardom in the late ’80s, co-starring Jennifer Grey and Kenny Ortega’s steamy choreography. Ghost is the 1990 flick that made pottery sexy again, and won Whoopi Goldberg an Oscar. Fox Theatre (2236 Queen Street East); 7 p.m. (Dirty Dancing), 9 p.m. (Ghost); $8 for members, $11 for non-members.
ARCHITECTURE: North York gets a bum rap. The list of grievances against North York is pretty high: there are too many shootings, there are too many rich people, it’s too close to Vaughan, it’s not downtown, etc. Those complaints may be true at times, but the North York Community Preservation Panel wants you to see that one of the many great things about North York is the modernist architecture that characterizes many North York neighbourhoods. Today, a public forum will be held to discuss ways in which to raise awareness of these landmarks, and how the city should go about preserving their legacy. Spacing‘s Matthew Blackett will moderate the panel, consisting of Lloyd Alter (president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario), Leo deSorcy (City of Toronto), Dave LeBlanc (Globe and Mail columnist), Kim Storey (Brown + Storey Architects Inc.). Some of the buildings they will discuss are the Bata International building on Wynford Drive, the Janssen-Ortho Pharmaceutical building on Greenbelt Drive, and the Exbury Apartments on Jane Street. North York Civic Centre, Council Chamber (5100 Yonge Street), 7–9:30 p.m., FREE.