I don’t think it can be overstated what a pleasure it is to return as an audience member to a live dance performance or how magical it is to attend a well curated program presented in the High Park Amphitheatre. Making my way to the venue on a Thursday evening to meet up with a […]
Les Ballets Trockadero has returned once more to Toronto, and we couldn’t be more excited. The crowd was a varied wonder on March 8, ranging from eager children, to professional dancers, to drag artists, and everyone in between. I had been one of those children growing up- ever since I saw my first Ballet Trockadero […]
Red Sky Performance’s AF is true to brand a force of nature. The rhythm is urgent, the energy is youthful, and the choreography showcases the athleticism of the dancers. The driving beat of the vocals and percussion carries an urgent intensity throughout the work, with the dancers using percussive movements heavily influenced by locking and […]
Jennifer Dallas, Artistic Director of Kẹmi Contemporary Dance Projects, says that she is inspired by choreographers who are playing in the cracks between disciplines. Dallas herself has been able to turn this “playing” into award-winning productions. In Kittly-Bender she successfully brought the worlds of dance and theatrical clowning together on stage, exciting audiences and winning […]
Crossing and blending the line between dance and circus, Sigma is an absolute joy of a show. Cerebral, enticing, entrancing… this show is everything. The result of an experimentation of working with jugglers and dancers of different backgrounds, Gandini Juggling has found a niche working with traditional Indian dancers of the Bharatanatyam style and contemporary […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards…
The proof is in the pudding is a strangely apt synopsis of The Art of Degeneration, a solo show by Louis Laberge-Côté. Why so? Because the climax of the show is him dipping his hands in chocolate pudding and smearing it all over this body. But here is the crazy part: it is absolutely appropriate […]
Toronto-based choreographer and dancer Esie Mensah’s Shades premiered at the Factory Theatre with a short run, September 27 to 20, 2018. Shades is an exploration of the discrimination between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned members of communities of colour, known as shadeism. This work addresses how the privileging of skin tones leads to fractures in communities of […]
Directed by Jackie Gosselin, this DynamO Théâtre production takes well-known and well-loved work, turns it a little bit on its head, and sets it back down for a younger audience. ‘What if?’ is a dangerous and compelling line of questioning that sparks reflection and regret… It can also be the spark of deeper contemplation. What […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Café Sarajevo episode 1 (A+) A surprising diversion from the usual SummerWorks lineup, Café Sarajevo is a live SummerWorks LAB podcast discussing the nature of humanity, the implacable human spirit, the importance of language and the heartbreaking struggles of war. Inspired by a famous […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews A Kev n’ Cal Mystery (A+) A comedic play that is very reminiscent of the Hardy Boys, a Kev n’ Cal Mystery is riotously funny and nostalgic. Live ukelele accompaniment (Matt Gerber) is the perfect touch and tone, and very tastefully delivered. The timing of […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Katharine Ferns is in Stitches (A) Get ready to laugh. Get ready to cry. Get ready to do both at the same time. This is dark comedy that is surprisingly uplifting. Katharine Ferns lays out her past, which is pretty horrible, on the table […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Harvey and The Extraordinary (A+) At once exploring childlike glee and darker undertones of more adult concepts of coping with loss through the lens of youth, Harvey and the Extraordinary is a stripped down play in a garage of one young Mimi, or […]
Sitting in the audience of a dance performance, feeling fully enveloped by the movement, is one of the most delicious experiences I can think of. The Cuban based Malpaso Dance Company brought to Luminato 2018 three mesmerizing performances that, along with the superb accompaniment of Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, suspended time […]
Luminato 2018 promised to interrogate the issues of human-rights, justice and inclusion, and Swan Lake/Loch na hEala does not disappoint with its dark themes of loss—of innocence, of purpose, and of hope—rape, suicide, police brutality and populist politics all feature. Written, directed and choreographed by Michael Keagan-Dolan, performed by Teac Damsa dance theatre and accompanied […]
Last Thursday I had the privilege of attending Finding Wolastoq Voice, a collaboration between playwright and composer Natalie Sappier -Samaqani Cocahq of Tobique First Nation and dancer/choreographer Aria Evans (Mi’kmaq/Black/British). Finding Wolastoq Voice is a Theatre New Brunswick Production presented by Native Earth Performing Arts as part of the Niimi’iwe: Indigenous Dance Showcase. The naturalistic […]
The Overcoat: a musical tailoring (Canadian Stage with Tapestry Opera & Vancouver Opera) This new opera is a strong achievement for Tapestry- a smallish contemporary opera company that suffers for exposure while staying admirably dedicated to their fresh-feeling operatic ideals (James Rolfe’s score is pretty and the opera is light, modern and distinct in a […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Kay Brattan has worked as a stage manager, writer, and, since Lysistrata, a director. St. Stella is an established member the Toronto burlesque scene. Together they combined their talents and inspiration to bring us an adaptation of […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual…
Featuring vivid characters and a dramatic story of jealousy, love, and redemption, The National Ballet of Canada’s adaptation of The Winter’s Tale is a beautifully choreographed, magical ballet that absolutely everyone should see at least once. Like the Shakespeare play on which it is based, the ballet opens with Polixenes, King of Bohemia, visiting his […]
The best word I can think of to describe The 7 Fingers’ new show triptyque is magical. I know, I know, cheesy. But when a show can really make me feel, bring me into a zone where the rest of the audience fades away… I mean, that’s magic. The 7 Fingers return to Toronto for the 30th […]
The 2017 Dance: made in / fait au Canada Festival was a four day biennial repertory celebration of Canadian dance, presenting a cross-section of contemporary dance makers from across the country. This year’s event featured three curated main stage series of three works each, an art installation series that included digital and virtual reality projects, […]
Athena Reich’s #ARTBIRTH was so unexpected, such a witty and subversive spectacle. Reich, as her pregnant Lady Gaga alter ego, drops a line early in the show warning us that this experience will transcend everything we think we know about music, theatre, and performance art… and it’s true. #ARTBIRTH is a parody, but it is […]
Read All Our SummerWorks Reviews HERE Icône Pop (A) The scene for Icône Pop is set as the audience walks into the blackbox theatre at The Theatre Centre with singer Mykalle Bielinski crooning in the most beautiful ghostly way, and with dancer Mélanie Demers silhouetted in the doors of the studio thrown open onto Queen West, […]
Read All Our SummerWorks Reviews HERE Pearle Harbour’s Chautaqua (A+) [Ed. Note: A+ is the highest grade we give but, just for the record, MM’s official submission was “A+++++++”] This is everything I want to see, want to hear, want to be. Pearle Harbour’s stage presence is strong enough to cause you to fall in love, […]
Read All Our SummerWorks Reviews HERE August, Augusta (A) Created, choreographed, and directed by Jocelyn Mah, and winner of The Winchester Prize, this piece depicts two musicians and a trio of female dancers. The first dancer comes out dressed as a man, dancing not unlike how I recall male characters dancing in old Warner Brothers […]