come one, come all to ALLEYJAUNT!!

OK, folks at home, hope you're all well.

ALLEYJAUNT is fast approaching and i wanted to let you all know how much fun it's going to be.

The answer is: LOADS!!!!

check this out - click on it to view it in all it's gigantic splendour :



The Lab is going to be positioned in Garage #24, in the alleyway between Montrose and Crawford. We wanglers will be offering two make-yer-own-box-that-tells-stories workshops a day and a chance for all folks to perform their toy theatres, either on our daily performance parade or in our garage/workshop/theatrespace.

It's going to be fun. It's going to be great. We'll be there from 11pm - 6pm Saturday and Sunday, having fun and making art with anyone who wants to. Remember, IT"S NOT JUST FOR KIDS! Come along and tell some of your own stories, glue things together, have a ball.

We like you. Hope to see you soon!
For more info on Alleyjaunt go to the website - www.alleyjaunt.com

ALLEYJAUNT

Hey there folks at home

Next thing the Lab will be doing, (other than learning how to relax) is the wonderful fantabulous Alleyjaunt, the garage and alley art festival that happens in the alleyways surrounding Trinity-Bellwoods park.
Over the weekend of August 11th and 12th, from 11 am to 6pm, folks'll be able to come and check out the newest incarnation of GLIMPSES OF EXTRAORDINARY LIVES, an ongoing community engaged toy theatre project. You may remember the project from last year's Art Crawl, or from the RED Cabaret - GLIMPSES has been running for almost four years now and is still going strong!
We'll be offering workshops in how to make your own toy theatre and show, and we'll also have a parade every evening to show off our creations and there's even rumour that there'll be nightly puppet shows!
Participating Imagination Re-calibrators and janitors of the collective unconcious will be:
Sir Joel Brubacher
The Lady Lisa Pijuan-Nomura
Dr. Doctor Professor/Philosopher leah houston
and
The Learned Mister Sean Frey.
Of course, noah kenneally, Assistant Imagination Chiropodist and masseur-of-the-unconcious, will be on hand as well as on foot.
Check this blog for more detailed info soon, and the delightful AlleyJaunt website at www.alleyjaunt.com.
Wahoo!

photo by Melanie Gordon
Alleyjaunt logo by Alleyjaunters

in my language

wow.
the world is an absolutely amazing place.
so hard to understand and different and complicated, way more complicated, beautiful and heart-wrenching than we can begin to imagine.
my brilliant housemate shelly, who is a talented dancer and choreographer and who also has worked and makes art with people in the disabilities community, showed me this wonderful film posted on YOUTUBE.
Go here and get ready to have your mind and heart opened wider - www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc
A M Baggs lights up the world with her perspective.

photos of bridge of one hair

a very nice person, a friend of one of the adult choir members, posted a bunch of photos of the show on her flickr site, including this one of Somali superstar Faduma N'kruma.
to see the rest of the photos, go to the flickr site www.flickr.com, and do a search for 'bridge of one hair'. there are also a couple up there by Trevor Schwellnus, our genius technical director.
The show was an incredible experience, and an avalanche of details to coordinate. Now we're winding down - will post news of the Lab's coming activities soon.
best - enjoy the springtime!

bridge of one hair

Hi folks -

So, i said a while ago that i'd tell you about the production/installation that i'm working on with Jumblies Theatre. It's called Bridge of One Hair, and will be happening down at Harbourfront Center for the Arts April 25th-29th.

Coming out of Jumblies' long-term residency in the Mabelle community in Central Etobicoke, the theatre production braids together different strands of story. A Gaelic fairytale of a brave young girl, the inspiring life-story of a famous Somali poet, and the buried history of the land that Mabelle stands on itself are woven together to make a tapestry-like theatre experience. Involving folks from the community of all ages, professional artists, actors and musicians, an original musical score, puppetry, movement and two choirs, the performance aspect of Bridge of One Hair is an experimental community arts piece taking place outside it's home community.
The installation aspect will be exhibiting the work that Jumblies has been doing with the community members for the past three years. It will provide backstory and context for the project as a whole, as well as giving folks a glimpse of the wonderful work that Mabelle residents have been creating.

For more info, or tickets to the show, you all can go look at Harbourfront's website -
www.harbourfrontcentre.com/nws/performances/Bridge.php

or the Jumblies website -
www.jumbliestheatre.org

It's going to be something, so come on over and check it out. This is what i've been working so hard on, with a wonderful team of artists and an amazing group of people who live in the neighbourhood. I always learn so much on productions like this - it's incredible.

lily yeh and the village of arts and humanities

These busy days of production time - about which i'll be telling you all soon - i'm finding myself looking for sustaining bits of inspiration. Lily Yeh's work is a source of that good kind of imagination juice for me. Here is a photo of one mural in the Village of Arts and Humanities, a community arts project/center/revolution in North Philidelphia. I will DEFINITELY be talking more soon about the Village too.
Happy days! Even if the snow is coming down again.
To do research on your own, google 'Lily Yeh' or 'the Village of Arts and Humanities'.

wouldja look at that

hey folks -
found some amazing pictures of the desert on the internet - the sonoran and mohave desert, and the canyons in utah and arizona. this one was taken by a man named Klaus Lux and you can find them here - math.arizona.edu/~klux/
wow.
inspiring.