PERFORMANCE/CABARETS
What's
Becoming of Our City?
Saturday May 7, 8 pm, $15
The
Garrison, 1197 Dundas Street West
With the recent municipal elections, there's a lot of talk about our city: whose voices are represented, who gets to speak, what do we want it to look like? Four women poets representing a wide spectrum of experiences and styles tackle all these questions and more in What's Becoming of Our City? Our opening night will be graced by poet/emcee Motion, whose art form spans the worlds of music, drama and spoken word. The author of two books of poetry, Motion In Poetry and her newest release 40 Dayz, Motion captivates her audiences with her spoken word performance. Also joining us will be Michelle Muir, who is a teacher, poet, spoken word artist and two-time winner of CBC radio's Poetry Face-Off (2006, 2007). Her recently published first book of poetry, Nuff Said, captures the mood and rhythms of the city through poems that reflect on life, music, community pride and education.We also welcome newcomers jamilah malika and Ghadeer M. to the Mayworks' stage! jamilah malika is a storyteller in search of deeper connection and community through conversation, whether on a stage or a page. GhadeerM. is a Palestinian activist and feminist. She writes and performs spoken word poetry, is part of the arts collective AQSAzine and isn't afraid to tell it like it is! Her honesty cuts like a knife - an exciting new poet to watch! Hosted by dub poet/playwright D-Lishus.
The evening will be bookended by the musical offerings at the beginning of the night by Dinah Thorpe and at the end of the night by DJ Leila. Dinah, a musician, composer and producer, makes alternative electro-folk-pop with a little bit of country and a little bit of blues, with political commentary woven in. And after the show, stay and dance to the tunes of DJ Leila as she closes out the night.
Co-sponsored by AQSAzine and Diaspora Dialogues.
Family
Fun Day!
Sunday
May 8, 1-3 pm, Free
Steelworkers
Hall, 25 Cecil Street
In partnership with Art City Toronto, this year's Family Fun Day! brings you active, fun filled and fully participatory arts for kids and their families. Visual artist and educator Paul Boddum will invite Family Fun Day! participants to create a large-scale mixed media painting that celebrates people who work in the arts! Children will explore basic stenciling techniques, painting and drawing. Paul is an established artist who's been a passionate participant in Toronto's local art scene for the past twenty years. Joining Paul will be Carlie Howell, a Toronto based performer, songwriter and educator with a passion for learning and creative music making! Carlie will lead Family Fun Day! participants in creating dramatic soundscapes through explorations in creative movement, body percussion and vocal sound effects. Kids young and old will have fun working together to create an auditory 'landscape to behold!'
Co-sponsored by Art City Toronto in St. James Town.
Stop
Wage Theft! Campaign Launch
Friday
May 13, 7 pm, Free
Beit
Zatoun, 612 Markham Street
Join theWorkers' Action Centre at the community launch of their Stop Wage Theft! campaign. Hear from Workers' Action Centre leaders on their fight to stop employers from stealing wages and watch undercover footage of how employers break the law in a new video expose. See also how workers are resisting through 'bad boss' actions around the city. Celebrate our shared resistance with live Afro-Colombian percussion from Ruben 'Beny' Esguerra, a Columbian born multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and arts educator who will be accompanied by New Tradition Drum and Dance; Lishai, an award winning poet and powerful performer who uses her words to create dialogue and tell her story; and Rehaset, a Saudi-born Ethiopian who grew into being an independent musical artist out of necessity and whose mission is to bridge the gap between Afrikans and the world! Come learn about the Workers' Action Centre's vital organizing work for precarious workers.
Organized and sponsored by the Workers' Action Centre.
Young
Voices: Work It!
Saturday
May 14, 2 pm, $12
Theatre
Direct Christie Studio, 601 Christie Street
Young Voices, in its fifth year, is a program of Native Earth Performing Arts that fosters emerging Indigenous writers as they work toward developing their voices for the stage. This program strives to de-colonize the mind from its limited imperialist public-school-system thinking, and celebrates the creation of a new Native canon. Mayworks is proud to present this workshop presentation of works-in-progress from writers whose roots span Turtle Island. The Girl Who Talked to Stars is a comedic spin on one young woman's experience in the uncreative world of institutionalized mental healthcare by first time playwright Ashley Bomberry. Sea creatures, indigenous roots and blood ties span continents and oceans in Wagosh Kwewag,a lyrical look at family, loyalty and love by emerging actress and playwright Lisa Cromarty. In Tyler Pennock' s Al and the Snake, Al, a First Nations man who grew up outside of his birth community, battles inner demons externalized as he fights to return to his roots for the first time. All Around You, by playwright Jessie Anthony,takes a tragic-comedic look at the journey of a young Mohawk woman who struggles to balance life and love while striving to succeed on the honourable path stretched out before her.Rife with dark comedy, An Interesting, Amusing, Biographical Incident by Sundance Crowe explores one man's nightmarish experience with reconciling the debacle that is the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings with his home life. An excellent opportunity to see the wealth of emerging Indigenous playwrights.
Co-organized and co-sponsored by Native Earth Performing Arts.
Cake
With
Opening Performance by MataDanZe
Saturday
May 14, 8 pm, $12
Theatre
Direct Christie Studio, 601
Christie Street
Mayworks presents a workshop production of Cake, a new play by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, which humanizes the dynamic between Niger and Iran around the clandestine trade in uranium. Cake fits into a larger body of work called The 54-ology which aims to look at each country in Africa - all 54 of them - in a different piece of performance work. The overall project aims to question our perception of the continent to see more specific issues than the common Westernized images of hunger and HIV - both of which are significant issues, and neither of which exists in a vacuum. It seeks to acknowledge the internal and external pressures of politics, economics, international trade, cultural and spiritual divergence, colonial consequence and natural resources. This play addresses both local and global scenarios, in which aid is offered to persons and nations in exchange for the perpetuation of systemic poverty. Cake is directed by Clare Preuss, with assistance by Aura Carcueva. Opening the night is a new multidisciplinary performance entitled Desaparecidos, choreographed by MataDanZe collective. This work will expose Canadians to the ongoing social and political phenomenon of disappeared working people in Latin America - often little known about. This work will shed light on these issues, but despite the heavy subject matter, delicate threads of hope and survival of the spirit are woven throughout the piece. MataDanZe is comprised of Victoria Mata, Olivia Davies, Misset Parata,Corrie Sakaluk, Gricel Severino and Irma Villafuerte. Both of these new works, by up-and-coming artists to watch for, will provide insight into some global issues with far-reaching impact.
Co-sponsored by New Harlem Productions.
Working
Songs: Maria
Dunn and John Wort Hannam in Concert with Fiona Coll
Sunday
May 15, 4 pm, $15
The
Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West
For our closing day event, folk singer and Juno-nominated musicians Maria Dunn, alongside John Wort Hannam, join us this year all the way from Edmonton in an exclusive concert about the lives of working people. Described by the Edmonton Sun as "... a remarkable singer-songwriter, think of her as a distaff Woody Guthrie", Maria Dunn combines North American folk and country music with the influences of her Celtic heritage. Maria's songs tell stories of everyday working people, their lives, their struggles and their triumphs. Likewise, with comparisons to Gordon Lightfoot John Wort Hannam is a born storyteller with a keen eye for the quirky and lyrics that create stories behind the songs. In 2010, his album Queen's Hotel won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year! They will be joined by Irish-Canadian fiddler Fiona Coll.
Co-sponsored by Agricultural Workers Alliance/UFCW
