| The RED Letter, Oct 2006 |
Table of Contents
1. Words from Lisa Pijuan-Nomura
I like sweaters and fresh crisp air and the sound of fallen leaves under foot. The cool weather is perfect for long walks, well written novels and good food. I have added a section to the letter called Books and Bites where artists share their fave food and reads. Theatre Artists Alan Dilworth and Maev Beaty have also shared some of their fave restaurants in the city. This October, I am proud to announce that we are celebrating the 4 th Anniversary of RED. I can't believe that RED has presented over 300 artists and has become an important event in Toronto's artistic landscape. For the 4 th RED we will have a two day event which will feature Ekphrastic Collision: The Paradise Project and RED: A Night of Live Performance. When I started RED, I thought of it as a one time event. After the event in October 2002 featuring 6 artists, an audience member asked when the next event would be. “Well, RED is a bi monthly event, so the next one is in December!” When I said that out loud, I surprised even myself and decided I had better get to work and start looking for more performers. So thank you to the artists and the audiences whose talent and support make RED a unique and special event in our city. Be well and keep shining. Lisa P.S. Check out the 20% discount for the Soul-O-Theatre workshops with Tracey Erin-Smith. An offer to RED Letter readers! Thanks Tracey! 2. RED 4th Anniversary
Featured Artists at RED Plus a new event... RED Squared Doors 7:00 Performance at 8:30 Tickets $12 for Adults For more information contact Lisa Pijuan-Nomura at 416-516-4925 or lisa@girlcancreate.com 3. Feature Event: Paradise Project
The Paradise Project: An Ekphrastic Collision Ekphrastic Collision is the beginning of a series of long-term development projects that will involve the development and integration of artistic forms, processes and projects. Ekphrasis is the process by which one artist develops work based on another piece of art. The Paradise Project is a multi-disciplinary artistic reinterpretation of John Milton's Paradise Lost. Through a collision of modern dance, theatre, music, puppetry, storytelling, flamenco, spoken work, bouffon, comedy and visual art , thirteen of the city's most talented, diverse artists weave in and out of one another to retell Milton's interpretation of the classic Genesis story of Adam, Eve, God, and, of course, Satan. This feast for the eyes and ears is the first installation in the growth of an epic performance that will rival the epic itself. Creative Team Adam Lazarus – bouffon Ekphrastic Collision is a playground for artists to collaborate and produce wildly exciting and risky performances. Come and join us for our first Ekphrastic Collision! Tuesday October 10th $15 Adults 4. Feature Dance: elementale: made in Canada/fait au Canada
élémentale : made in canada/fait au canada Yvonne Ng's princess productions in association with Danceworks CoWorks proudly presents élémentale : made in canada/fait au canada, an evening of premieres from the poetic and engaging choreographer Anik Bouvrette (Ottawa) and The Dance Current publisher/founding editor Megan Andrews (Toronto). dance: made in canada/fait au canada is an annual festival of contemporary Canadian dance pairing emerging and established artists. It is a noted platform for nurturing new choreographic talent through a mentoring experience, as well as inspiring cross-disciplinary collaboration. Anik Bouvrette brings the Toronto premiere of Ludivine, which explores the passage of time and the notion that certain objects in our daily lives become witnesses to this passage. In the piece, a small living room and a series of light bulbs become a haven of memories; the action of changing a burnt light bulb marks the end of a cycle in time and the beginning of a new one. Megan Andrews performs the world premiere of her solo Stone , and two solos excerpted from Watermark: Visible When Held Against Light , choreographed by Michelle Silagy. Stone arises from a structured improvisation using a visceral and sensory movement palette to explore states of balance and imbalance. WATERMARK: Visible When Held Against Light is inspired by literature with water being the intrinsic element, as a reflection of living through the body and through memory. October 5-7, at 8:00 pm 5. Feature Festival: ArcFest
ARCfest 2006 Toronto's Social Justice Arts Festival October 22nd-29th www.arcfest.org (for a full program of events) BUY TICKETS NOW at www.UofTtix.ca or call 416-986-8849 The Art for Real Change Festival is returning to Toronto in its second year with an impressive line-up of artists, speakers,and organizations coming together with a common objective to use art as a creative means to affect social change. Running from October 22nd-29th, the festival takes place in multiple venues in Queen West, Parkdale, and a number of satellite venues across the city. 6. Feature Comedy: Hard Headed Woman(Sandra has performed at RED often and is one of the funniest women I have ever met. You might remember her doing in her famous with Bouffon Adam Lazurus. This show is sure to make you laugh..a lot! – Lisa)
Blending Clown, Performance Art, Video, biting social and political commentary, and dance comedy, Hard Headed Woman, directed by Mark Andrada , is as unpredictable as Sandra Battaglini herself. At one moment poignant and thoughtful, the next moment mind bogglingly absurd. Sandra begins the show with the voyage of Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the Americas. She then weaves her way through time and space playing with the tension between the Old world and the New World armed only with her voice and her singular point of view. While taking equal shots at the pharmaceutical industry, big business, the idea of family, and the idiosyncrasies that make us all human, Hard Headed Woman is, at its heart, a Clown show. Without the pretense of the red nose, Sandra's only weapon is her quick wit and her honesty. October 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 at 9pm. 7. Read this Book! With Book Lady Sarah SeleckyWriting Life PEN Canada has been working since the 1990s to free writers around the world who have been imprisoned for writing and publishing something that their government finds questionable. When you purchase this book, proceeds go to PEN Canada to support their fight for freedom of expression. The essays in this book are thoughtful and inspired. Each author (there are 50 of them) was asked to write about "the writing life". Fairly general request, non? In these 480 pages, we get 50 very different, very carefully inscribed worlds, brilliant flashes of what it means to be a writer, and the understanding that somehow, though all of these writers are working so differently, there is something of a thread that connects them - an unnameable thread, perhaps, but that doesn't stop them from trying to name it. Highlights: Alice Munro explains why she is writing her last book, Sheila Heti writes even when it doesn't "work", Michael Helm writes fiction the way he goes to church, Michael Winter sees what it might have been like if he hadn't chosen to be a writer, and Patricia Young struggles with writing about her family, a family full of other writers. And oh - there's so much more. This book is full of inspiration, whether you are a writer or a reader, or both. Here are the contributors: Here are some other contributors: Middlesex Hold the phone. This novel nudges very close to brilliance. It may be the most brilliant novel I've read. Certainly, it is the best novel I've read for years. Now, there are many books that I love, for many different reasons, but even if I love a book enough to recommend it, buy copies for everyone I know, and read it more than three times, my factors for "brilliant" are as follows: 1. The writing must be excellent. Tight sentences, consistent true feeling in the dialogue, sharp style and engaging use of words, especially verbs. The author must have a love of language, and she shouldn't be afraid to use it. If my eye glazes over even once - meaning, if I have to "skip ahead" to get to the "good part", it will never qualify as brilliant. 2. The plot must be compelling and unpredictable. It should feel organic, like it comes out of the book and characters itself, never forced. If, when reading a book, I can see the plot points as post-it notes stuck to the wall above the writer's desk, it will never qualify as brilliant. The story may be excellent, but the excellent writing (see point 1 above) must make these plot points appear seamless. Often I come across a really good novel that has one or the other - either excellent writing or excellent story - but Middlesex has both. It is the story of Calliope, now Cal, a hermaphrodite growing up as a girl in the 60s and 70s. Her relationship to her own sexuality is multifaceted and sometimes confused, sometimes empowered. The story is written from Cal's point of view, so as you read, you understand that Calliope has transformed over the years, but you aren't told the details until the very end of the book. You continue reading and you can't stop, because Cal is an incredible narrator. As I read this book, I kept marking pages so I could go back to my favourite passages and read them out loud to whoever would listen to me. Eugenides has incredible insight into human character: he raises questions about desire, history, taboo, violence, and, of course, gender, that will keep you thinking for a long time after you finish it. Read this book. Note: if you are in a book club, this would be a perfect one for discussion. You'll stay up late talking about it, especially if you have some wine on hand. 8. Classes, Workshops and Conferences“ONE-PERSON-SHOW WEEKEND INTENSIVE” SOUL-O-THEATRE – TORONTO A WEEKEND INTENSIVE to get started Everything that happens to you is potential material, from the details of your daily life to the epic moments that change everything. Whether you want to develop a full length solo play, or you just want a fantastic creative challenge this workshop will guide you. Using music, movement and improvisation allowing the writing and performing to be organic. Discover a way into your story. Have you said this? * I have an idea... how do I get started? TRACEY ERIN SMITH is a Jessie Richardson Award nominated actor, a solo-theatre Instructor at Ryerson University and Artist in Residence in various Retreats throughout the U.S. She is an alumni of The Creativity Workshop (NYC), Writers Boot Camp (L.A) and studied Solo Theatre with Ann Randolph in New York. Tracey has performed her one-woman shows in: Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton and New York. Her latest show, “THE BURNING BUSH!” was held-over at the Diesel Playhouse in “The Best of the Toronto Fringe 2006”. COURSE DATES: *20% Discount for Equity members AND RED LETTER READERS $50.00 deposit required. CONTACT: cre8_tv@yahoo.com 9. Calls for SubmissionsThe 2nd RED Festival is accepting submissions. RED Festival is a four day celebration of some of Toronto's artistic and cultural diversity. For the past 4 years, Curator Lisa Pijuan-Nomura has presented over 300 artists in eclectic evenings at the Lula Lounge in Toronto's West End. The 2 nd RED Festival will grow to include a handful of downtown locations to present new and existing performance pieces. We are looking for
5 minute to 30 minute performance pieces that are Pieces that could include
From both emerging and established artists. Please send:
Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2006. Please send submissions to:
88 Hallam St, CrossCurrents 2007 Celebrating six years of diversity, Factory Theatre's CrossCurrents Festival is seeking new original stage plays by writers of colour from across the nation.The only festival of its kind in Toronto, CrossCurrents celebrates the diversity of today's artists and their unique stories. This year CrossCurrents will run from April 27 to May 6, 2007 in the Factory Studio Theatre. Returning after last year's successful record-breaking festival, is producer Nina Lee Aquino , Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre. CrossCurrents is a play development festival open to both emerging and established artists, presenting work at varying stages of development. Selected works will receive dramaturgical support, professional workshops and a staged reading presentation. Out-of-town playwrights will receive travel expenses and per diem. One act plays, works-in-progress and proposals are welcome,though full-length pieces are preferred. There is no prescribed theme, and playwrights are encouraged to submit all styles of work, including innovative pieces that involve multidisciplinary collaborations or test out new theatrical boundaries. Submission Details: Send to: Deadline for submission: October 23, 2006, 5:00 PM Nightswimming and the OAC Theatre Creators Reserve Nightswimming is participating in the Theatre Creators Reserve Program funded by the Ontario Arts Council. Nightswimming is particularly pleased that "creators working in forms other than text" are eligible to apply and we are eager to review applications from creators working in those fields. If you're interested in challenging dramatic forms and bold visual storytelling, visit our website at http://nightswimmingtheatre.com for more information about our theatrical interests and ideas. Please review our current and past projects to get a sense of our work. We will only accept applications for new projects, in keeping with Nightswimming' s commitment to working only on projects from their initial conception. Here are the questions we'll be asking when we review the applications: * Does the project intersect with at least two of Nightswimming' s artistic interests? These include: * Does this application establish a new relationship for Nightswimming, or extend an existing relationship in a new direction? If you have a new project that you think would fit with Nightswimming' s mandate and interests, please send us your application by November 1st. We look forward to reading it, and will respond by November 30th, 2006. Please keep applications to three pages; a short script sample is sufficient as we are more interested in the nature of the ideas you want to explore than reading your past work. Don't forget to include the application form from the Ontario Arts Council. No email or fax applications please. We are accepting applications until November 1, 2006. Send or drop off applications to: Nightswimming XPACE Call for Submissions and Proposals XPACE is seeking submissions from students, artists, designers,curators and communitymembers for exhibitions and events. THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2006, 6pm Artists or Designers: please include 10-15 images of your work on CD or DVD and film or video compilations/ submissions on DVD, an artist's statement or project proposal as well as a CV or a resume. A CV AND ARTIST'S STATEMENT WRITING WORKSHOP WILL TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 17TH at 7pm at XPACE (303 AUGUSTA) Curators: please include curatorial stance/research or concept,names of artists and digital examples of their works. Submission of artist's statements are highly encouraged. Event proposals must include detailed descriptions of theproposed event, the genre (i.e. theatre, dance, performance,music, fundraiser, party, etc.), technical requirements and timeframe (including set-up and tear-down). Please include 10-15 images or documentation on CD or DVD, an artist's statement and a CV or a resume wherever applicable. Please include curatorial stance/research or concept, names of participants and digital examples of their work are highly encouraged wherever applicable. Xpace Mandate XPACE is a non-profit artist-run and student-run center committed to the 'exposure of multi-disciplinary emerging artists in a professional context that is recognized within the local and international contemporary art and design community. Our goal is to build a bridge between art and design students and their professional counterparts by offering a platform in which they may exhibit their works and be externally recognized, which in turn promotes relevant programming that instigates public discourse and propels the development of contemporary art and design'. XPACE 10. Websites I likewww.librarything.com - Have you ever dreamed of cataloguing all of your home library but didn't have the technology to execute it? Librarything.com is a cataloguing system that allows you to organize your books and share your literary information with the world. A perfect site for nerds and bibliophiles alike! www.dailylit.com - Don't have enough time to read? Would love to read the classics but spend too much time in front of the computer. Well, Daily Lit sends you daily digest with a few pages of your chosen novel until you finish the novel. www.bookmooch.com - A online book swap! www.blogto.com - A blog that let's us know what is happening around our great city! www.toronto.craigslist.org - I thought that everyone knew about craigslist until I found out that they don't. Craig's List is a dating site, a buy and sell, an online community and job search site all for Free. If you ever need to sell anything, post it on Craigs List. Our set went in three days. It's an amazing resource... although the whole personal ad section is a bit creepy! 11. Books and Bites(I asked a bunch of artists from across the country what there fave books and restaurants were. This are a handful of responses I got! – Lisa) Right now I'm reading books relating to upcoming projects, including two biographies of Carl Jung and the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. For enjoyment, however, I'm on the last book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It's a series that's written for young adults, but it's great reading for anybody. It's a metaphysical adventure story, dark and brooding. Good campingreading. I am reading Voices of Time by Eduardo Galeano, who i am now in love with. LOVE, love – even though i might never meet him. What's my favourite book is a massively difficult question for me to answer, but I'm going to go with the short story collection Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link - her stories are magical and addictive and perfect. They look like your strangest dreams and you should stop what you're doing right this second and track down everything she's written (she has a second collection of short stories too, Magic for Beginners. Her books, and lots of other great stuff, are available online from Small Beer Press. (smallbeerpress.com) I have recently been re-united with my favourite book: Dreamspeaker by Anne Cameron. This is a story based on a Native myth about a young boy running from Sisitul, a two-headed snake monster that steals souls too frightened to stand and face their fear. I first read this book when I was 17 and bawled. It seems to have the same inspiring and emotional effect on me today. A beautiful and moving story, suitable for 12 year olds and older. My favourite book of all time is John Crowley's Little, Big . A close runner up would be Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. The Heart is an Involuntary Muscle by Monique Proulx (great book, love the title and cover and takes place in Canada) 12. Yummy Food with Alan Dilworth and Maev Beaty(Last year at the Lab Cab, Alan and Maev hosted the Lab Cab. Instead of doing a staight ahead hosting style, they admitted to being “foodies” and shared their favourites with the audience. I think that Alan and Maev should have a food show. That would be cool! – Lisa) Ali Baba Falafel What Maev and Alan say: ************************************** South Indian Dosa Mahal What Alan and Maev say: ************************************ Cafe Polonez What Maev and Alan say: ******************************************* Arabesque What Alan and Maev Say: 13. Upcoming Performances of InterestOctober 7, 10, 11 and 13 October 12 October 19 to October 23 The Winchester Street Theatre October 4- October 15 October 1 to October 15 October 17 October 12 - 14 October 16 and October 17 October 19 to October 21 October 26 to October 28 October 22 October 13 October 11 to October 29 October 1 to October 15 October 21st October 31 14. Photography by Dave Pijuan-Nomura
15. Last ThoughtEach of us has a spark of life inside us, and our highest endeavor ought to be to set off that spark in one another. |
I love autumn.
Sandra Battaglini. Researcher. Historian. Consultant. Performer. With a Masters in History, her undergrad in Political Sciences and work experience that has taken her from a brokerage firm to branding to the pharmaceutical ad world Sandra brings her life and work experiences to the stage with a voice that is unmistakably her own. 
