The new EAST Spoken Word & Poetry Collective

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Want to express yourself through poetry?
Want to meet other youth and mentors interested in spoken word?
Want a chance to showcase your work?
Register for FREE workshops that explore creativity and performance in your Scarborough neighbourhood!EAST Spoken Word and Poetry poster image

Scarborough Arts, in collaboration with R.I.S.E. Edutainment and the Toronto Public Library, presents the EAST Spoken Word & Poetry Collective for youth ages 12-18. This Collective provides youth with local opportunities to explore creativity and performance and develop their craft in poetry and spoken word under the guidance of emerging artists and community facilitators from R.I.S.E. Edutainment.

Taking the idea of “neighbourhood games” as a theme, the program is designed to promote youth creative expression, animate communities and public spaces, and inspire collaboration between young performers and their peers across the Scarborough. Participants in the program will have several opportunities to showcase their work, receive feedback, and learn about wider youth arts networks and resources.

The FREE workshops are anchored in four key Scarborough neighbourhoods and will take place at the following local Toronto Public Library Branches:

  • Agincourt Branch (155 Bonis Avenue) – May 13-June 14 (Tuesdays 4-5:30 p.m.)
  • Malvern Branch (30 Sewells Road) – June 21-July 26 (Saturdays 2-3:30 p.m.)
  • Morningside Branch (4279 Lawrence Avenue East) – August 2-September 6 (Saturdays 2-3:30 p.m.)
  • Cedarbrae Branch (645 Markham Road) – September 13-October 11 (Saturdays 2-3:30 p.m.)

Registration is required. Please click here for the registration form or visit the Information Desk at one of the above libraries to pick up a copy.

The Spoken Word & Poetry Collective is generously funded by the Toronto Community Foundation Vital Youth/Playing for Keeps initiative and is presented by Scarborough Arts in partnership with R.I.S.E. Edutainment and the Toronto Public Library. EAST is partnered with Agincourt Community Services Association, Boys & Girls Club of East Scarborough, Heart Beatz – Cliffcrest Community Centre, Phase One Studios, Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre, G5 Canadian Urban, JVS Toronto, and a range of other organizations that aim to build skills, provide training, and support new networks among youth in under-served communities. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Monitor 10: South Asian Experimental Film + Video

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24 April 2014 – 7:00 pm 
Jackman Hall, AGO, 317 Dundas St. W 
$10 general / $5 students / members free
Featuring works by

Shambhavi Kaul (India/USA)
Bee Thiam (Singapore)
Anahita Norouzi (Iran/Canada)
The Youngrrr (Indonesia)
Priya Sen (India)
WALA + Kush (India)

Curated by Shai Heredia

For the last decade, Monitor: South Asian Experimental Film + Video has carved out a unique place in Canada. It has held a steady engagement with an international community of artists, curators and critics, and has initiated dialogues around the shifting nature of South Asian politics, economies and landscape through artists’ film and video.

Curated by Shai Heredia, founder of Experimenta (India’s first experimental film festival), the works in Monitor 10 engage various forms of melodrama to produce wry, entertaining and complex political commentary. Foregrounding overwrought characters like seductive mothers, political villains, and campy sci fi/horror sets that seem to take on a life of their own, the videos engage with the politics of drama; linking the personal act to the political realm.

For more information: http://savac.net/monitor-10-2/

De Idas y Vueltas: Thursday April 24-Sunday April 27, 2014

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Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company presents the world premiere of

De Idas y Vueltas

Choreographed by Esmeralda Enrique, El Junco and Javier Latorre

Lo Res2014 poster

The acclaimed Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company (EESDC) proudly presents the world premiere of De Idas y Vueltas featuring new choreography by Javier Latorre, recipient of three Spanish national dance awards, Artistic Director Esmeralda Enrique and El Junco, returning guest artist from Spain who earned a Dora nomination for Outstanding Performance for his appearance in EESDC’s Portales last season.  De Idas y Vueltas is an evening of dazzling flamenco dance and music that celebrates the Latin American songs that have been integrated into flamenco. It runs April 24-27 as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextStepsdance seriesat Fleck Dance Theatre, a fitting wrap for Hispanic Heritage Month.

De Idas y Vueltas uses the transmigrations of Spaniards to the Americas to explore how things come and go in all of our lives; sometimes returning forever altered and other times, never returning at all.

“Our presentations seek to promote a better understanding of Spanish history, culture and ideas, while illustrating its complexities and inclusiveness,” says Artistic Director Esmeralda Enrique. The Latin American songs used in flamenco speak of the nostalgia of the immigrant. ‘De ida y vuelta’ refers to those songs which, through migrations of people from Spain to the Americas and from the Americas back to Spain, became imbued with a flamenco accent.“

The three inseparable ingredients in a flamenco performance are music, song and dance.  For De Idas y Vueltas, Enrique brings together a brilliant combination of flamencos from Spain and Canada with spectacular results.

The exceptional Javier Latorre (awarded Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco for choreography and former soloist with the National Ballet of Spain under the direction of Antonio Gades) brings his dynamic artistry in a lush and vivid choreography to open the evening.

El Junco (Juan José Jaén Arroyo) of Cádiz, who was a soloist with Compañía Christiana Hoyos, returns for his second season as a featured guest dancer and choreographer. His vibrant and virtuosic prowess highlights the earthy essence of flamenco for a scorching chemistry with the talented EESDC ensemble of dancers: Pamela Briz, Paloma Cortés, Ilse Gudiño, Noelia La Morocha and Esmeralda Enrique herself.

Watch a short video featuring El Junco with EESDC from last season’s Portales:
http:vimeo.com/88077957           (El Junco)
http://vimeo.com/88077961       (El Junco on the left at the start with the company)

Óscar Lago (Cádiz) joins the company for the fifth time as lead guitarist and is music director for this production. Along with with long-time EESDC guitarist Nicolás Hernández, Lago was nominated for Dora Awards for Outstanding Sound Design/Composition for Portales (2013) andAguas/Waters (2012). Toronto guitarist Benjamin Barrile, who has been playing with EESDC for numerous recent engagements, will be the second guitarist.

EESDC is equally honoured to again welcome singer Manuel Soto (of Jerez) who returns for his fourth season, joined this year by Matías López (of Barcelona), a fresh new Spanish vocal talent. Adding the remaining flavour to the music are returnees Chris Church (violin) and Rosendo “Chendy” León (percussion). Together, they express the depth of emotions portrayed in flamenco song with their intuitive, nuanced rhythms.

Flamenco, an art form like no other, speaks to the heart and touches the soul. EESDC’s talented company of musicians, singers and commanding dancers deliver the power of this expressive art with elegance and passion; never failing to mesmerize audiences, eliciting shouts of “ole” and standing ovations at each performance.

The award-winning Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company was founded in 1982 under the artistic direction of Esmeralda Enrique. Rooted in flamenco and Spanish classical dance, EESDC presents a style that holds both a classic and contemporary aesthetic in perfect balance while maintaining the values of traditional flamenco singing, dance and music.  The Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company has been presenting an annual Toronto season since 1990. It has developed an ever-expanding repertoire that has earned both critical and popular acclaim. With unique, talented dancers and musicians from Canada and regular guest artists from Spain, the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company is recognized for the exceptional level of its productions, receiving two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in addition to numerous nominations over the years (14 and counting). Esmeralda Enrique is one of the most celebrated flamenco dance artists in Canada; she reveals in her work a total mastery and love of this unique art form. EESDC enthralls audiences with its imaginative choreography and artistic excellence while bringing to life the contagious excitement and full breadth of feeling that this passionate art delivers.

 “an exhilarating two hours of intense power and sensuality…  beautifully self-possessed virtuosity of both voice and movement “ – David Bateman, Bateman Reviews Blog (about Portales, 2013)

“Fine fiery flamenco…  a hands-down winner… The musicians are first-rate…  A class act from start to finish.”
– Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail (about Aguas / Waters, 2012 

“Terrific. The dancing, the music, the singing…”
– Michael Crabb, CBC Radio (about Espejo de Oro / Mirror of Gold, 2011)

Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company presents the world premiere of De Idas y Vueltas
part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps
Choreographed by: Esmeralda Enrique and special guest artists from Spain, El Junco  and Javier Latorre
Dancers: Pamela Briz, Paloma Cortés, Esmeralda Enrique, Ilse Gudiño, Noelia La Morocha, El Junco
Musicians: Music DirectorÓscar Lago (guitar),
Benjamin Barrile (guitar), Chris Church (violin), Rosendo “Chendy” León (percussion)
Singers: Manuel Soto, Matías López
Lighting Design: Sharon DiGenova
Video Design:  Bryan Díaz
Costumes: Mary Janeiro, Esmeralda Enrique

Thursday April 24-Sunday April 27, 2014
Thursday to Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 3PM  (with a talkback with the artists after Fri. performance)
Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Theatre, 207 Queens Quay West, 3rd floor.
Tickets: $29-$45 ($23-30 for students, seniors, CADA, and groups)
Harbourfront Centre Box Office: 416-973-4000 OR online at http://www.flamencos.net