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Imperial Ice Stars
:: The world's leading theatrical ice
skating company, The Imperial Ice Stars, comes to the Sony Centre to the Performing Arts (formerly The Hummingbird Centre) in Toronto as part of their first North American tour! Their new production, Swan Lake on Ice
, will transform the stage of the biggest theatre in Canada into an intimate skating rink for 14 performances only.
The timeless story of Swan Lake, which is performed to Tchaikovsky's glorious music,
tells the tale of Prince Siegfried, who falls in love with Odette, a woman transformed into a swan by an evil curse. Odette is destined to remain a strange composite creature, until rescued by a man's undying love. Only
the evil Rothbart and his daughter, the black swan Odile, stand in her way of release from the curse.
The Imperial Ice Stars beautifully portray the story of Swan Lake and thrill audiences with their skill and
sublime acrobatic dexterity. The production showcases stunning Olympic-level skating in the intimacy of the theatre – breathtaking triple flips, awe-inspiring aerial gymnastics, double axels, death spirals, bielmanns,
triple throw axels and spectacular high speed lifts, unique to the Imperial Ice Stars' performance.
April 30 - May 11 Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (formerly The Hummingbird Centre),
1 Front Street E. | Tickets: $35 - $95 Phone: Ticketmaster at 416 872-2262 or order online by clicking here
CONTACT: Toronto Photography Festival
:: An annual month-long celebration,
CONTACT features the work of more than 400 local, national and international artists, exhibiting their photographs in over 170 venues across the Greater Toronto Area. Exhibition venues include coffee shops, restaurants,
gallery spaces, retail stores, and many other interesting spaces. Admission is free to most of the exhibitions. CONTACT also presents public art installations, a lecture series, Magnum workshops and many other exciting
programs.
This year's festival will examine thematic focus is Between Memory And History. This theme will be illustrated in featured and public outdoor exhibitions and programs.
For further details and a listing of all participating galleries, please click here
May 1 - May 30 Various venues and galleries
Deep Wireless Festival Of Radio Art
:: A month-long celebration of radio
and transmission art, radio artists, sound artists and enthusiasts can experience performances, sound installations, new commissions, special radio broadcasts, workshops, and other special events
For a more detailed look at the festival, please click here
May 1 - June 1 The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. | Tickets: Conference Pass $150/130 (+$20 discount for earlybird
registration) Performance Festival Pass $50 (5 performances) The early-bird registration deadlineis April 14 Day rates available
16th Annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival
:: The 16th annual
Toronto Jewish Film Festival
is serving up a menu of dozens of films, documentaries, shorts, animation, panel discussions and special guests May 3-11 at three venues – the Bloor Cinema and the Miles Nadal JCC (Al Green Theatre) downtown, and the Sheppard Grande in North York.
Films from the world of sports – soccer, basketball, skating – even a feature on an Orthodox Jewish boxer! For children of all ages, there is a beautiful concert film, made for TV in 2003, to celebrate Sharon,
Lois and Bram's 25th anniversary entertaining children. Now, five years later, the festival is presenting this film as well as a live performance with an up front and personal meeting with Sharon, Lois and Bram for
questions and autographs as a free event.
May 3 - May 11 Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor St. W. at Bathurst) and the Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (750 Spadina Ave. at Bloor W.) and
Sheppard Grande | Phone: 416 967-1528 Tickets: n person at the Box Office @ 17 Madison Ave. or buy tickets online by clicking here
Small World's 6th Annual South Asian Music Series
:: Small World Music has produced
another stellar lineup for one of their annual signature programs; the Sixth Annual South Asian Music Series. This year's program truly offers something for every kind of South Asian music aficionado, in a similarly
varied range of performance environments.
One of Small World's longest-standing friends, the legendary tabla master Zakir Hussain, brings his astonishing Masters of Percussion concert to Roy Thomson Hall (May
9). The Enwave Theatre at Harbourfront hosts rising Indo-Canadian vocalist and dance star Bageshree Vaze (May 4) and the Hindi poetry singers, Gundecha Brothers (May 24).
Home base for the series is Toronto's
foremost world-music destination, the Lula Lounge, with three diverse and spectacular evenings: a Toronto Indo-jazz celebration with Tasa and Monsoon that will kickoff Lulaworld 2008 (May 8); groundbreaking Indian
classical-chillout fusion sensation Abhijit Pohankar (May 15); and the infectious Juno-nominated Indian classical/jazz/funk/fusion of Autorickshaw will close the series (May 29).
For a complete listing of the series and artist's bios, please click here
May 4 - May 29
Lula Lounge, Harbourfront's Enwave Theatre, Roy Thomson Hall | For prices and times please click here
Esprit Orchestra: New Wave Festival
:: Highlights include a gala opening
concert Sunday May 4 at the Jane Mallett Theatre with World Premieres by Canadian composers Vincent Ho and Maxime McKinley, also featuring works by Canadian composers Wolf Edwards and Scott Good. The amazing soloist is
Wallace Halladay on saxophones.
Pre-concert chat - 7:15 pm; Concert - 8:00 pm
Wed. May 7, a free mega event showcases students from Rockcliff Middle School, Claude Watson School of the Arts, St. Elizabeth
Catholic High School, North Toronto Collegiate and Etobicoke School of the Arts interacting in various works with musicians of the Esprit Orchestra under Alex Pauk. A blockbuster event in an unusual space featuring
"Threnody" (revised 2008) and "The Falcon's Trumpet" of R. Murray Schafer, Canadian Premiere of "Mechanik" by Philip Cashian (England), Charles Ives "The Unanswered Question" and World Premieres of works by student
composers from these schools. A community partnership mirrored on innovation and excellence.
Concert 8:00 pm, MaRS Centre 101 College Street at University Avenue.
Another free concert of World Premieres takes
place at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue. St. George St. south of Bloor St.) on Thursday May 8 with works by Eugene Astapov, Nick Martin, Fuhong Shi, Lee Parkin and Chris Mayo. Also included in the evening is a
John Rea Forum. The paper he will present for discussion and debate is titled "How Do You Know When You're Good? (on value and imagination in new concert music)".
Concert begins at 7:00 pm.
The New Wave
Festival concludes on Sunday May 11 with a concert called "Energized Sonic Impact" featuring percussionist Ryan Scott. World Premieres by Canadians Petar Klanac and David Adamcyk along with music by Brian Current of
Canada and Maki Ishii of Japan.
Pre-concert chat - 7:15 pm; Concert - 8:00 pm
May 4 - May 11
Various Locations | Tickets for the May 4 and May 11 concerts phone 416 366-7723 or 1 800 708-6754
Sante, The Bloor -Yorkville Wine Festival
:: Santé is the ultimate wine and culinary festival
experience designed to appeal to all wine lovers - Oenophiles to enthusiasts. Experience one of the world's truly outstanding wine festivals that features amazing vintages, world-famous winemakers, celebrity chefs
and spectacular cuisine in a wide range of entertaining events at spectacular Toronto venues.
Highlights include: 75 to 80 international wineries, Deconstructing Dinner Seminars and the festival's newest
addition, Santé in the City wine tasting events, meet nternational wine makers and sample their premium vintages at the International Tasting, and savour the flavours of the focus region wines of California and
Australia, at two spectacular evening events.
Food Network Canada's team of Celebrity Chefs will be on hand, throughout the Festival, Cooking delectable dishes perfectly paired with Festival wines, and for
Santé's grand Finalé event, celebrating the 10th Anniversary year, featuring Bon Appetit magazine and Internationally Renowned Chef, Cat Cora
The festival also features the always popular Sip, Savour & Shop and Sip, Savor and Learn events.
For a complete listign of events, please click here
May 5 - May 10 Various Venues | Tickets range from $20-$150 depending on the event. Ticket prices include all wine samples. For more
information on the festival, please click here
18th Annual Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
:: Inside Out is now one of Canada's
leading cultural institutions representing the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) community. It is the largest Festival of its kind in Canada, and one of the top five in the world attracting more than 100
filmmakers from 30 countries to Toronto with its slate of shorts, docs and features
International Focus this year is on Australia – a country that never ceases to amaze with its filmmaking achievements. Inside
Out is proud to present the first major focus on queer Australian cinema including a few queer classics like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
.Queer Here! Queer Now! Symposium brings together artists, activists and academics to explore the
presentation and consumption of queer visual culture. Growing academic interest in queer cultural theory and practice makes this two-day symposium event both timely and essential.
Throughout the year Inside Out presents an increasing number of screenings, as well
as conducting film training programmes for youth, maintaining an archive of LGBT film and video going back to 1990, and supporting filmmakers through awards and scholarships.
For further information and a schedule of films being presented and Gala Evenings, please click here
May 15 - May 25 Various venues
| Tickets: $7 - $12 8-Ticket Pak (not valid for Galas) $84 (general public) $70 (members) Opening Gala: $22 (general public) with after-party $25; $18 (members) with party $24 Centrepiece
Gala: $20 (general public) with pre-reception $20; $16 (members) with pre-reception $20 Closing Gala: $20 (general public) with after-party $25; $16 (members) with party $20
Phone: 416 967-1528 or order online by clicking here
Toronto International Circus Festival
:: World-class acrobats, blazing
fire-masters, stilt walkers, jugglers, award-winning balloon sculptors, side-splitting comedy, the Natrel Fearless Fun Zone, plus tons of courage-inspiring interactive activities await visitors of all ages to
Harbourfront Centre's action-packed weekend of non-stop fun that celebrates and encourages bravery, pluckiness and courage in kids by showing them that anything is possible once they set their minds to it!
The
highlight of the Toronto International Circus Festival is a showcase of highly skilled professional acrobats, aerialists and vaudevillians in a multidisciplinary event. Expect amazing aerial athletics, sensational human
towers, falls, tosses and feats of strength in a spirited demonstration of fearless acrobatic prowess. Artists from around the world collaborate on creating breath-taking acrobatic magic!
For further information and complete schedule, please click here
May 17 - May 19
(Vicrtoria Day Weekend) 11 AM - 5 PM Harbourfrotn Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. | Admission: FREE |
