Here is my round-up of events, opportunities, workshops and performances that may be of interest to the Creatives in Toronto community. Interested in finding out more? You can become a member by joining our Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/creativesintoronto
To submit your event for publication, please email me here.
Creatives in Toronto: Member Events
Open to the public, these are events and performances that feature our members. Let’s try to support our community as much as possible!
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- Queen Gallery Poetry & Music Night, Thursday October 19, 2017
We are pleased to announce our new series of monthly Poetry & Music nights. Join us every third Thursday of the month for an open stage night of music and poetry. Bring your poetry, music, and/or friends, and enjoy a fun night out at our lovely gallery. - CONTESTED, a solo exhibition featuring the artworks of Liora Salter at Queen Gallery.
Opening reception: Wednesday, October 18th from 7 pm to 9 pm
Exhibition: October 17th to October 28th
We are thrilled to present Contested, a solo exhibition featuring the artworks of Liora Salter.“ I want to challenge the commonplace wisdom that art is supposed to lift us out of the mundane. I want instead to transform how we see the mundane, to make myself and others see differently. I don’t do big and bold; I aim for quiet, detailed and thought-provoking. Even my paintings are essentially drawings in disguise.” Liora Salter - Chorus Fire – Voicebox Opera In Concert Chorus’ 40th Anniversary, October 28 and 29, 2017
For the choir’s 40th Anniversary, VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert celebrates this amazing ensemble with CHORUS FIRE and features two former chorus members as soloists: Isabel Bayrakdarian and Russell Braun, now international opera stars. They will be onstage with the choir as soloists in a stirring program of choral highlights drawn from the company’s vast repertoire.
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From the Community
Performances
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- Other Side of the Game, Oct 14 – Nov 5
Set before the rise of Black Lives Matter, this story of silenced black women who organize communities, protect loved ones, battle institutions, and live each day by a ride-or-die philosophy resonates amidst today’s bubbling tensions. Presented in Aki Studio from October 14th to November 5th, 2017, this first-time partnership between Cahoots and Obsidian celebrates Parris’ deft illumination of the resilience and struggles of a population under siege.
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Workshops
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- Artists’ Health 101 Revisited: Lessons from Arts and Sports Medicine
October 17, 2017
It is common knowledge that exercise, healthy diet and mental activity are good for one’s health, but there are many conflicting messages about what, specifically, a person should do about it. How much exercise is ideal, what type and at what intensity? What is the difference between a healthy and a fad diet? What mental activities can stave off the effects of aging?
These questions are further complicated for artists, whose professional lives can involve rigorous physical demands, unpredictable schedules and insufficient health support.Drawing on decades of expertise in arts and sports medicine, Dr. Darrell J. Ogilvie-Harris distills the essentials of healthy living and recommends how artists can put this knowledge into action. - OMDC IDM Fund Futures Applications Due Oct 19
This comprehensive two and half day program will help Ontario’s content creators build a thriving career in today’s competitive, fast-paced marketplace.Through hands-on learning and expert facilitators, participants will gain the skills to manage the day-to-day of your business with ease, while delivering value to customers, and earning revenue.
Powered by Launchpad, this program will take place October 27th, 28th and 29th. Participants will pitch their project to the class and organizers on the last day of the course.
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Funding and Awards
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- Applications Due: Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators Factory Theatre
The Recommender Grant is meant to buy time for theatre creators to generate new work and to deepen relationships between theatres and theatre creators. It is not a commissioning program, it does not fund workshops, and creators are not obligated to “deliver” a script or performance at the end of the grant period. Recommendations range from $1000 – $5000. -
Nominations Open: 2018 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts, Ontario Arts Council
Are you inspired by an outstanding Ontario artist or arts organization? Show them how much impact they’ve had on you and your community – nominate them for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts!These awards have two categories: an artist award of $35,000 and an arts organization award of $50,000. You can nominate an artist or arts organization engaged in any art form or artistic practice, including:
- book and magazine publishing
- cultural industries (such as digital media, film, television and sound recording)
- craft
- dance
- film
- literature
- media arts
- music
- theatre
- visual arts
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Events
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- Presentation of the book A BOLD AND DANGEROUS FAMILY by Caroline Moorehead October 16, 2017’Expertly alternating vivid domestic detail with lucid exposition of the gradual evolution of totalitarianism, Caroline Moorehead allows her readers not only to know, but also to feel, how it was to endure fascist oppression… . It feels like the book she was born to write’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Guardian.CAROLINE MOOREHEAD is the author of the international bestsellers A Train in Winter and Village of Secrets, nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. She has also written biographies of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo, Lucie de la Tour du Pin and Martha Gellhorn. Well-known for her work in human rights, she has published a history of the Red Cross and a book about refugees, Human Cargo. She is currently working on a book about women partisans in the valleys about Turin. The author lives in London, UK.
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inFORMING CONTENT October 20th – 22nd, 2017 at Queen’s University in Kingston.
inFORMING CONTENT is a three-day creation lab combining experimental approaches to theatre-making with expert academic presentation on the world-of-the-moment. Scholars illuminate contemporary issues from their various expert viewpoints, which serve as the starting point for artistic exploration and creation.
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Opportunities
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- 2018 Fringe Festival Lottery is Open
- Playing with Acting: Acting classes with Denise Norman (FREE Four Week Session!)
Denise Norman is a Toronto Actor/Singer, and a member of CAEA and ACTRA, who performs in a wide array of theatre including Shakespeare, Operetta, and Clown. An MFA and MA graduate of York University, she has taught Acting and Voice and Text for 26 years. She regularly teaches full time Acting students at U of T Mississauga Drama Studies Program; The Randolph Academy; and Sheridan College Music Theatre. Denise has also taught at York University; Seneca College and McMaster University, as well as frequently leading workshops, coaching and play development.Over four sessions the course will build upon the exercises from the previous sessions, therefore attendance for all four of the sessions is expected. Comfortable clothing is recommended.Introductory work: Monday, November 6th, 2017, 2 to 4 p.m. Finding the ‘play’ in performance. Physical, social awareness for character.Building Blocks-Foundations of Performance with Script: Monday, November 13th, 2017, 2 to 4 p.m. Circumstance; relationship; environment; objective; obstacle.Developing Individual Choices: Monday, November 27th, 2017, 2 to 4 p.m. Working solo with brief monologues; short scenes with partners.Performance and Direction: Monday, December 4th, 2017, 2 to 4 p.m. Scene/monologue presentations for the class with re-direction.This free program requires registration, enrollment is limited to 15 participants who are expected to attend all four workshops (please note, there is no class Monday, November 20th, 2017). Please register in advance to guarantee a spot for all four workshops by emailing playingwithacting@yahoo.com. There will be a short waiting list.
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Health and Wellness
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- Fuel for Fall: Detox Workshop October 21
Learn how to support the body’s natural detoxification cycle through daily lifestyle choices and a healthy diet of whole foods. Jenny Nicol, Yoga Tree’s own Registered Holistic Nutritionist, will guide you through a flow practice before sharing her key tips on the best foods and nutrients to detoxify and reinvigorate your body and mind. Come for the detox, stay for the plant-based treats. $50/$45
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