A FREE Community celebration in Regent Park
(first come, first served)
A Performance by Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie in collaboration with the Regent Park School of Music and Presenting Sponsor
The Daniels Corporation
Saturday October 20, 2012 from 2pm-5pm
Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park
585 Dundas Street East, Toronto (between Sumach and Sackville Streets)
TORONTO (October 15, 2012) Space is the Place is a free theatrical performance, site-specific event and gathering rolled into one that will bring alive the Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park with music and dance, and connect the newly opened Centre to its surrounding community. It takes place on the afternoon of Saturday, October 20.
Performed by the legendary 15-member Sun Ra Arkestra, students from the Regent Park School of Music and the artists of Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, the event will consist of a ‘lobby sound symphony,’ and a special adaptation of Bill Coleman’s celebrated performance Hymn To Universe, followed by a community gathering.
The Sun Ra Arkestra, founded by African-American visionary Sun Ra and featuring three generations of musicians, is directed by Marshall Allen, considered the world’s premier avant-garde saxophonist.
Choreographer Bill Coleman, best known for his ground-breaking site-specific works, will be joined by eight dancers, including Carol Prieur, voted Female Dancer of the Year by Europe’s respected Tanz Magazine, and Andrea Weber of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
This wondrous extravaganza features breathtaking, sumptuous visual creations, puppetry, tap dancing and the Arkestra’s trademark mix of big-band jazz and free-form, space-age improvisation. Visual design and costumes are by award-winning Métis visual artist Edward Poitras and Toronto fashion icons, Hoax Couture designers Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell.
Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie: Based in Regent Park, CLC have performed throughout Canada and the U.S. as well as in Scotland, Brazil, China and Mongolia. The company has been an intrinsic part of the Regent Park Revitalization, presenting innovative site-specific works on construction sites and in street openings since 2009. In association with The Banff Centre, CLC most recently presented Inverted Mountains in various locations throughout Banff National Park – the results of which will soon be seen in an upcoming film featuring state-of-the-art 3D macro photography.
Regent Park School of Music: Since 1999, the Regent Park School of Music (RPSM) has offered quality, subsidized music lessons to youth-in-need from Regent Park and other neighbourhoods across the City of Toronto. This event – a once-in-a-lifetime performance utilizing many RPSM students – marks RPSM’s launch in Daniels Spectrum , their new home, where they aim to expand their programs and continue to act as a leader in community music education.
Hymn to the Universe Reviews follow:
“Performance Highlight of 2010”
– Montreal Mirror
“ … some of the best dancers in Canada … ”
– Montréal Express
“Moments of reflection, moments of madness, moments of celebration … ”
– Voir
“ … see this show … ”
– CIBL 101.5FM
“La surprise 2010 … irrésistible … ”
– Le Devoir
“… nothing short of a gift to the senses. … the jam of the dance matches the mystique of the music,
harnessing something distinctly spiritual,
cosmos-oriented and eye-opening. …
a harmonious revelation, and
a distinctly sensational place to be.”
– – Hour