Filming Vida!

It wasn’t enough for Veronica Tennant to see the production of Vida! A Celebration of Life. It wasn’t even enough for her to become closely familiar with Danza Cuba, the dance troupe that put on the performance, or Lizt Alfonso, the show’s choreographer and composer.

No — she wanted to make a movie.

“I could tell right away that this was a force,” Tennant said in a phone interview. “I could tell right away that I wanted to chronicle this.”

Tennant retired from her career as a prima ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada 11 years ago and has been (among other things) producing televised dance specials since then. It was when she saw Danza Cuba perform in Havana that she knew this film (its working title is Direct from Havana: Vida!) would be her next project.

Participants at Luminato’s opening gala could see Tennant’s filmmakers darting around the VIP area, cameras and sound gear in hand, to cover every moment of the dancers’ time at the concert. They’ve shot in Cuba already; while they’re still months away from a final cut, Tennant suspects Danza Cuba’s Luminato performance may be the climax of the film.

In the fashion of the performance itself, she envisions the film as a wide portrait of Cuba through the eyes of its artists.

“I find it most fascinating to experience all the social interaction from the point of view of the art, and from the heart of the artists,” she said.

You can see Vida! A Celebration of Life at 2 p.m. or 8 p.m. today, or at 5 p.m. tomorrow, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Carnivalissima: For All Ages

So, here’s what we imagine the situation to be: You’ve got kids. You want to have a good time at Luminato absorbing some art and culture, but the kids tend to get squirmy when you take them to see opera or modern dance recitals. You’d take them to Speigeltent’ntavern, but you know that nobody ever won Parent of the Year for taking their kids to a burlesque show. Where’s a family to go?

We at the Luminato Blog feel your pain, and we’ve got an easy answer: Carnivalissima. It’s a celebration of the diversity and creativity of Toronto’s vastly multicultural population, featuring concerts, art, film, fashion, dance, jazz, international crafts and cuisine… we’re getting out of breath just listing it all.

Here’s the full schedule:

Masquerade Ball: June 8, 8 p.m., Carnivalissima Tent
The Masquerade Ball will start with a call to dance by Maracatu Nunca Antes and continue with music by Jay Douglas and the All Stars and dance lessons by Miko Sobreira and Company. Performances in the Venetian tradition will occur featuring commedia del’arte by MetaPhysical Theatre. Amazing fashion competitions and two fashion shows created by Len D. Henry of Fashcam Productions take place.

Carnival: The Spirit and the Soul: All Weekend, Marilyn Brewer Community Space
An exciting new art exhibition curated by Theodoro Dragoneri will examine tradition based on more contemporary aspects of the uses of theatrical narrative and masking. This three-part exhibition will include masks, photography and mixed media from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

FireWalk: June 9, after dusk, Congo Square
When day turns to night, Carnivalissima ignites the Toronto waterfront with spectacles of swirling fire dancers, daring fire-eaters, majestic stilt performers, mythical giant puppets, and the glimmering lights of a thousand lanterns! Join in a dance procession of shadow and light and follow the sound of Samba, Steel Pan and Tassa Drums through Harbourfront Centre’s transformed boardwalk and streets.

Family Programming: June 9 & 10, Topsy Turvy Territory and Kid’s Hands-On Tent
A two-day carnival arts and crafts extravaganza will take place by the waterfront. Children of all ages, family and friends are invited to create dazzling carnival masks and costumes, bamboo and paper lanterns, and musical instruments from all over the world. Jump up and dance along to the beat of live steel-pan orchestras, chutney Soca, African drums, stilt-dancers, and hoop-dancers all performed by professional youth artists. Special dance workshops, mask theatre performances, aerial dance performances, and the aroma of live food demonstrations from the master chefs of Pier 4 Restaurant and Radisson Hotel will ignite the carnival spirit in kids and adults alike.

Carnivalissima happens entirely at the Harbourfront Centre.

Enjoy the Silence

Guy Madden is into silence. Sort of.

The director (known to some as “Canada’s David Lynch”) is at Luminato this week for several events, including a series of restored silent films, a showing of his own most recent film Brand Upon The Brain, and an audience discussion tonight.

During this week’s showing of By The Law, a 1926 silent film by Russian director Lev Kuleshov, Madden was on stage, talking a blue streak, like he was trying to make up for the lack of sound in the film itself. He was nervous, he said, and felt unprepared for some reason, like in an anxiety dream.

“But I do have my pants on, anyway,” he said.

By The Law, like most films of the silent era, inhabits a world foreign to our own — even to our own history of the time. Everything exists in either shadowy pitch or burned-out glare, and everyone’s pace is just a pinky-width away from normal. You get the sense that these aren’t tricks of shutterspeed or f-stop, but that the world was really like that.

This is, apparently, the world that Guy Madden wants to live in.

Madden’s audience talk is tonight at 7:15 at the Drake Hotel. Admission is free.

PODCAST: Zounds!

If you didn’t know better, you’d think Goro Koyama was, um… relieving himself in the middle of the Elgin Theater. That’s sure what it sounds like. Gross.

But of course, loyal Luminatites do know better, and may have deduced that Koyama is a perfectly polite foley artist — a guy whose job is to make artificial sounds to use in movies. One of his specialties begins with a “p.” It also sounds like the letter “p.” This is a family website, so we won’t go any further.

Listen to our newest podcast about the brains behind the onomatopoeia at Guy Madden’s film “Brand Upon The Brain,” and you can hear Koyama and his colleagues, Caoimhe Doyle and Andy Malcolm, making the sounds that make us listen with awe. And occasionally wince.

Listen here.