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LuminaTO

Edward Skira

http://skyrisecities.com
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For Immediate Release
Luminato Announces NEW Programming for 2008 with
Alberta Ballet’s The Fiddle and The Drum in partnership with
The National Ballet of Canada
Collaboration between Canadian Legend Joni Mitchell and Acclaimed
Choreographer and Artistic Director, Jean Grand-Maître
Toronto Premiere during Luminato

TORONTO, (July 5, 2007) - Following its successful inaugural run this past June,
Luminato today announced that Alberta Ballet’s The Fiddle and The Drum, a
contemporary work inspired by the compelling music of Joni Mitchell and
choreographed by Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître, will have
its Toronto debut as part of Luminato 2008. The Fiddle and The Drum will be
presented in partnership with The National Ballet of Canada.

As a signature piece to Alberta Ballet’s 40th Anniversary, The Fiddle and The
Drum opened in Calgary in February 2007 and will celebrate its Toronto
premiere during Luminato next June with a total of 10 performances at the
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts as part of The National Ballet of
Canada’s Summer Season.

“The audience response to this year’s Festival was overwhelmingly
positive,” said Janice Price, Luminato CEO. “Over the next few months we
are continuing to develop spectacular programming that will encompass
global premieres, unprecedented collaborations and new opportunities
celebrating the creative spirit, such as Alberta Ballet’s The Fiddle and The
Drum. We look forward to continuing Luminato’s commitment and
contributions to the cultural and artistic life of Toronto.”

“We are delighted to be in partnership with Luminato and are particularly
thrilled to be able to bring the wonderful dancers of Alberta Ballet to
Toronto to perform their exciting new work, The Fiddle and The Drum as
part of our Summer Season,” said National Ballet of Canada Executive
Director, Kevin Garland.

The Fiddle and The Drum is inspired by Joni Mitchell’s stirring classics, many
of which are politically challenging, enlightening and emotive; it speaks
volumes about Joni Mitchell’s life-long concerns about environmental neglect
and the warring nature of mankind.

“As an artist creating today, quite frankly, I can see no other subject matter that is of
more importance now. We need people to awaken to this reality,” says Ms. Mitchell.
“This collaboration with Joni Mitchell was the highlight of my career so far,” says
Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director, Jean Grand-Maître. “The fusion of her powerful
and deeply moving lyrics with her imminently danceable music coupled with her
unforgettable paintings and our international roster of world class dancers created a
riveting performance. We are proud to offer the Luminato audiences a ballet which
Ms. Mitchell herself described as one the finest collaborations of her career.”
“We see this as a wonderful opportunity to enhance our province’s worldwide
image and celebrate Alberta’s flourishing artistic community,” says
General Director Michèle Stanners.

Joni Mitchell and Jean Grand-Maître have created a work that closely reflects the
issues, attitudes and spirit of Ms. Mitchell and incorporates 10 songs from her
repertoire and 40 images from her latest collection of visual artwork. With the
acclaimed choreography of Jean Grand-Maître, The Fiddle and The Drum will be a
fusion of classical ballet with influences of hip hop and urban dance.
The Fiddle and The Drum will be performed as part of The National Ballet of
Canada’s Summer Season in a program that includes Harald Lander’s
virtuoso piece, Etudes and William Forsythe’s exciting the second detail.

ABOUT LUMINATO
For more information on Luminato visit www.luminato.com.
Luminato gratefully acknowledges the generous support and vision of the
following individuals, corporations, particularly our partner in creativity, L’Oreal,
and government partners, especially the Government of Ontario:

Presenting Sponsor
L’Oréal

Founding Government Partner
Government of Ontario

Major Partners
TELUS, CTV, The Globe & Mail, St. Joseph Communications, Tourism Toronto

Program Partners
CIBC, BMO Financial Group, Scotiabank, National Bank Financial, Toronto
Star, Aeroplan, Toronto Life

Government Partners
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, Toronto Waterfront Revitalization
Corporation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council

Event Partners
Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, Hotel Le Germain, The Fairmont Royal York,
Iceberg Vodka, Amsterdam Brewing, Château des Charmes

Artistic Committee
Bill Boyle, Richard Bradshaw, Charles Cutts, Atom Egoyan, Piers Handling, Karen
Kain, Bruce Kuwabara, Bruce Mau, Peter Oundjian, Albert Schultz, Matthew
Teitelbaum and William Thorsell

The Founding Patrons of Luminato, Toronto’s Festival of Arts and Creativity

Luminaries
Mohammad and Najla Al Zaibak, Charles and Marilyn Baillie, Avie Bennett,
Helen Burstyn and David Pecaut, Kate Alexander Daniels and David
Daniels, Joan Dea and Lionel Conacher, Sam Duboc, Margaret and Jim
Fleck, Linda Frum and Howard Sokolowski, Kevin and Roger Garland,
Anthony and Helen Graham, Lucille and Urban Joseph, Michael and Sonja
Koerner, Chetan and Clara Mathur, Judy and Wilmot Matthews, Robert and
Cheryl McEwen, Sandra and Jim Pitblado, Jonas and Lynda Prince, Richard
Rooney and Laura Dinner, The Slaight Family, Marisa and Edward Sorbara,
Larry and Judy Tanenbaum, Robin and David Young

Super Nova Program Development Fund
Margaret and Jim Fleck, Gretchen and Donald Ross

Donors
Michael de Pencier, Rosamond Ivey, The Hal Jackman Foundation, Candy Lee,
Susan McArthur

Corporate Luminaries
BMO Financial Group, Ivey Foundation, MacLaren McCann, Manulife Financial,
St. Joseph Communications, TELUS, Tourism Toronto

In Kind Supporters
CIBC, City of Toronto, MacLaren McCann, Searchlight: Partners in Executive
Search, Stikeman Elliott LLP, The Boston Consulting Group, Toronto City
Summit Alliance

This list includes funding commitments as of July 5, 2007.
 
So it will be an annual event for sure.

I thought the festival was madly off in all directions and had no single cohesive theme, but I'll take it. Hopefully next year they'll meet demand better as to not deal with all those sold out ticked events.

And three different municipal agencies are listed as supporting Luminato: TWRC, Tourism Toronto and the City of Toronto (in-kind). I am also surprised by the number of private donors - many of the corporate donors weren't all that prominant either.
 
Let's hope they will do a better job next year. There will be NO ROM to anchor next year...so not gonna expect too much.
 
Yes, there's an AGO next year. But Luminato should NOT rely on these big grand openings to draw people in. What happen after AGO?

I think it lacks big names to boost its awareness, which I think it needs since this event is new.
 
1.03 million visitors in it's first year...
Yeah, it was a horrible disaster. What ever are they going to do to try to get more people next year? After all, none of the non-ROM events were worth going to, and well.... noone did go to them. Not a single person.
 
Tewder, we should demand a new cultural institution every June. Following the AGO in June of next year...

For 2009 I will accept a rehashed SONY/Hummingbird Centre.
By 2010 the Film Festival Centre will be ready.
In 2011 one of several new Aquariums will suffice.
In 2012 the new City of Toronto Museum in the heritage banks across from the Eaton Centre can take the spotlight.
For 2013 we can use Pearson's new Pier G a year before its insides are built out for an aviation themed Luminato. International visitors won't even have to brave gridlocked downtown traffic.
2014 will see the opening of the Downsview Park Memorial Centre, where a new museum dedicated to the various abandoned redevelopment schemes for the park will be opened.
By 2015 the CBC HQs will empty and ready to house a Memorial to the Oversight of Canadian Politics by the Press.

This list should go on and on.

42
 
FESTIVAL LINEUP TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAY
TheStar.com | entertainment | Diversity on Luminato bill

Diversity on Luminato bill

New York’s Mark Morris Dance Group is coming to Toronto for next summer’s Luminato.

Dec 05, 2007 04:30 AM
Martin Knelman

Luminato, Toronto's new festival of arts and creativity, will embrace the city's multicultural identity with a South Asian version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that features actors speaking eight languages, the Toronto Star has learned.

Another Luminato 2008 highlight to be announced at a media launch today is a rare Toronto appearance by the Mark Morris Dance Group.

This much-loved New York avant-garde troupe will perform its sparkling Mozart Dances and two mixed programs at the University of Toronto's MacMillan Theatre.

Morris is considered the most exciting American choreographer around, and for anyone who loves contemporary dance this is an unmissable opportunity to catch up with a troupe that has been absent from this town for far too long.

It's also a chance to erase what happened in 1998, when a Morris performance at Mississauga's Living Arts Centre was cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

As for Dream, call it Shakespeare with a dash of curry.

This first India/U.K. theatrical co-production is unlike anything ever seen on the stage of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Having played to rave reviews and packed houses in both England and India, it is sure to be a highlight of Luminato's second time around, June 6 to 15.

The festival offers a range of innovative work in theatre, dance, music and the visual arts. Janice Price, its CEO, does a juggling act by collaborating with some local arts partners as well as importing events from far away.

Tim Supple, one of the most talented stage directors in Britain, went to India seeking a new twist to one of the world's most familiar scripts. Only part of the dialogue is in English, but that has not stopped Anglo audiences from hugely enjoying it.

Supple's production was a highlight of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival, wherein all the Bard's plays were staged in a 12-month period. This Dream was favourably compared to Peter Brook's famously acrobatic 1970 staging.

Although this contemporary version explores the influences of India, it stays faithful to the text, translating the words with strict line-by-line accuracy.

This Dream is an audience-pleaser that has proved to have a life beyond Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of 2007, there was an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, including a London run.

Now the cast of 22 young and athletic performers from Sri Lanka and many parts of India is crossing the globe.

Toronto is probably the one city in the world outside India where this show is most likely to find a large, receptive audience. It's a huge coup for Luminato, which was accused of elitism by some naysayers after last year's inaugural festival. Staged at a non-traditional venue, it will have ticket prices designed to make it accessible.

In Toronto, according to new statistics, 93,590 people claim Tamil as their mother tongue; Hindi is favoured by 33,545 and Bengali by 25,060. Also spoken onstage: Malayalam, Sinhalese, Sanskrit and Marathi.

According to Benedict Nightingale, critic for The Times of London, even those unfamiliar with the text should not be confused, because many of the key lines are delivered in English.

And when the actors move into other tongues, their body language makes the meaning clear.

Even if you don't understand the words spoken by a domineering father who has arranged an unwanted marriage for his daughter, you get the drift by the way he pushes her around.

I look forward to watching Shakespeare's court figures and creatures of the forest find themselves "ill met by moonlight" in an enchanting new way.
 
this and Nuit Blanche are the real popular festivals now..
 
Joni Mitchell's photo show coming to Luminato

Joni Mitchell's photo show coming to Luminato

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

March 27, 2008 at 3:17 AM EDT

Toronto - Luminato, Toronto's "festival of arts and creativity," has scored the Canadian premiere of a photographic exhibition by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The exhibition, called Green Flag Song, has previously been shown in New York and Los Angeles, and is composed of 60 green-tinged triptychs of digitally modified images, printed on canvas, that Mitchell originally photographed in 2006 from a malfunctioning TV set in her Los Angeles home.

At the show's debut, Mitchell described its theme as "being about war, revolution and torture." Included are images of exploding atomic bombs, soldiers, U.S. President George W. Bush and Jesus. Produced in association with the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Mitchells will be exhibited June 6-22 at CTV Queen Street, former home of CITY-TV. Luminato is also presenting Mitchell's ballet The Fiddle and the Drum June 13-14 at the Four Seasons Centre.
 
Fantastic idea! I hope it engages the public.

Hello, and welcome to the StreetScape Blog. Here we will be documenting the progress of one of Luminato 2008’s most exciting exhibitions as it comes together, as well as investigating some of the larger ideological and art historical questions that underlie the project.

We all know Luminato: it’s Toronto’s festival of creativity, a ten day celebration of art, music, film, theater, dance and literature that transforms the city into a vibrant and inviting mecca for cutting-edge culture of all varieties. But what is StreetScape? Officially, it is the following:

Blank, vacant, abandoned, and derelict walls are reimagined as monumental canvases as Toronto becomes host to the world’s best large-scale wall-painting, drawing, and street art. Locations throughout central Toronto and along the waterfront will form a new type of exhibition space.
Drawing together artists who have sidestepped the limitations of the canvas--and in some cases, of the institutional gallery system entirely--and on the legacy of the graffiti and street art movements as the organic reaction of human creativity to adverse circumstances, this exhibition will serve as an awe-inspiring example of the transformative power of public artwork on disenfranchised regions of our urban topography. Large in scale, sophisticated in their technique, bold, colorful and beautiful in their content and inherently in dialogue with their environment, these installations will mark the City as a destination for cultural sightseers. At the same time, the ephemeral nature of many of these works along with the performative and interactive properties of the latest technological approaches to street art in digital media will make the exhibition into a time-specific event not to be missed. As these buildings virtually burst with color and light, they will serve as a shining example of a new and engaging approach to constructing aesthetic experience: renegotiating the relationship between artwork and audience, reimagining the very nature of the art exhibition and suggesting that unconstrained creativity is the best form of urban revitalization.

Setting aside the curator-speak for a moment, however, the question remains: what is StreetScape really? In short, it is an experiment, a set of questions that over the next several months we will set about trying to answer in the form of an exciting, interactive and thought-provoking public exhibition.

Over the next several months this blog will tackle some of the most important questions that underlie this project, as well as introduce you to the history of some of the very talented artists and fascinating locations that will comprise StreetScape. It is our hope that this space becomes a venue for fruitful exchange, so be sure to take advantage of the comments section as the blog grows, and in the meantime welcome again and thank you for reading—this will be an exciting journey.


Sam Rauch
Curator
Streetscape Art Project
Part of 2008 Luminato Festival
June 6-15, 2008
 
Luminato Gets $15 Million from the Province

BIG NEWS for the future of the Festival:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/408947

Returning for its second year in June, Luminato, the festival of arts and creativity, gets $15 million to maximize its long-term potential, including the creation of new work as well as securing major bookings. The government plans to announce this gift at a Canadian Club lunch next week when Luminato co-founders David Pecaut and Tony Gagliano are honoured as Canadians of the Year.

This long term support from the province will ensure Luminato's success and will drive increased tourism in the future. I can't think of another major Arts Festival in the world with that kind of government support.

I also can't think of another major Arts Festival in the world that IS NOT supported by its local municipal government.

In its first year the city of Toronto was at least listed as a "supporter" - strickly in-kind. Of course, we all know that Mayor Miller was not at the Luminato Kick-Off/ROM Opening. This year, I'm shocked to find the city of Toronto is not listed anywhere on the sponsors page.

I would hope the city of Toronto and the Arts & Culture Department will seriously consider supporting this very important festival in the coming years.

Louroz
 
I'd love to see Black Watch, Homeland, something by the Mark Morris Dance group, A Midsummer Night's Dream and maybe The Fiddle and the Drum.

And there's throat singing, too!
 

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