Xing Dance Theater - White

White took the stage as a struggle between light and dark, at the Betty Oliphant Theatre Tonight. The beautifully moving piece depicts a life struggle into white – purity, innocence, & beauty – from the dark place where life begins. Choreographer and dancer Xing Bang Fu drew on his dynamic, eclectic style to captivate the audience through his struggles in darkness and his journey through the ups and downs of finding white.
White features renowned soloist Xing Bang Fu, whose Butoh-inspired signature and dramatic stagecraft took the audience on spellbinding journey. The poetic imagery mirrored life and the emotional growth of people and their internal struggles. Beautifully textured, sacred and haunting, the surreal atmosphere spoke to ritual while digging the roots of a visceral physicality. As a fragile and powerful as a dream, this new work was awe-inspiring experience, supported by a cast including Jelani Ade Douglas, Byron Beckford and Sze-Yang Lam, Xing Dance Theatre’s unique fusion of eastern and western movement disciplines blends aesthetics to create bold and enchanting metaphors.
Had to shoot this as they prepare to take their bows... Yeah I know its not allowed but hey, I waited till they were done...

Here is my review: I have seen many dance presentations in my life... Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, Ballet Creole here in Toronto and tonight I have seen something new at least for me. In the opening segment Xing Bang Fu is painted in all white giving him an other worldly look. The music is strangely reminiscent of and old Stanley Kubrick film or perhaps George Lucas's THX1138, certainly the look of Xing laying prone on a bed of light as a sphere rises above him is reminiscent of a time yet to come. The dance is in literal slow motion and I can only imagine the pain the dancer is in moving mere inches a second, mussels straining to keep a pose that slowly changes, no... metamorphoses into the next pose. This human seems trapped in a vexing moment in time, slowly emerging into his humanity. When the other dancers emerge in the second segment they too are at first slowly transforming in their movements. Their physicality is punctuated by intense light which seems to sow each mussel in the body moving in syncopation and the music score is only intensifying the movement. It's here where I begin to feel connected to the dancers and their transformation. Xing is both eastern and western influenced and one can not help but to be drawn into a trance as you watch this. For me it is taken to yet another level as I am personally familiar with several of the dancers yet in this moment I have lost the connection I have with them as they are familiar yet too become other worldly. In subsequent segments of the the performance the pace of the dance become frenetic and more familiar to me, more western and modern in dance form. At one point the leaps from Lam, Douglas and Beckford come so quickly one wonders where they find the energy to keep it going. Leaps followed by crashes to the floor followed by yet more leaps keeps the theme of the dance through out. In the final movement of this piece the visual imagery leaves the expected and goes into the surreal. Xing enters the stage with a single high intensity light beginning to glow... but wait there is a sound like small pellets hitting the floor, perhaps water at first but then more solid. As the light intensifies the pellets become visible and begin to fall rapidly from a place 40 feet above the stage, faster and harder they begin to spread in the beam of light as Xing moves towards the stream in curious repose. He enters the stream as the other dancer enter the stage and small fluttering reflective strips of paper fall from the air by the thousands.. at first they look like moths to a flame or perhaps feathers, commonly found in anime but then their number grows into a storm of paper.. at one point in the silence between music pieces one can here the pellets and the paper hitting the floor as if it were 100,000 pin drops simultaneously! It's this moment of genius that one gets that the the point of the whole piece... it has tapped into the senses of everyone in the audience and driven each and everyone of them into the same point of awareness, the audience is in the moment... a human moment with out words or expression. I guarantee everyone left with a measure of awe, not quite sure what about them that was tapped into but knowing that they have shared a common feeling with each the dancers and each other. White is an audacious first step in a trilogy of dances and I can only hope that the other two in the series live up to the performance tonight!

Here is some video of a practice session for White


Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

The Lights Have Gone Off

When last weekend passed so did the lights on a Toronto Yonge Street Icon the Sam The Record Man Store Front! The chain was first launched in 1937 by Sam Sniderman, as a record department in his family's existing radio store in Toronto. In 1961, the store moved out to its own location on Yonge Street, and its location at 347 Yonge Street had become a Toronto landmark. The Yonge Street location was always noted for its kitschy signage. Its first neon signage included the store's address in large neon "347" numbers vertically aligned between two windows. On the left side was a thermometer made from neon. On the far right was a neon multi-sectioned triangle similar to the one on top of the Canada Life Building, which indicated weather conditions depending on how it was blinking. In the late 1960s, the iconic double disc, spinning records neon sign replaced the previous neon signs.

On May 29, 2007, Jason and Bobby Sniderman announced that the iconic flagship store, on Toronto's Yonge and Gould Streets, would close permanently on June 30, 2007. They stated that "their decision reflects the increasing impact of technology on the record industry." On May 30, 2007, supporters started a Facebook group to save the store's neon spinning record signs titled "Save the Sam's Sign!!!"; the group, and its attached online petition, garnered more than 18,000 members. On June 14, 2007, it was announced that the sign, and the contents of the store would be auctioned-off by Benaco Sales on June 27. However, on June 22, 2007, the Toronto city council voted in favor of designating the entire property as a heritage site, protecting the entire building, including the landmark signs. The entire building was designated because the Ontario Heritage Act has no provisions to protect store signs.
Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

The Crew

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Art In The Nightless City

This is the third year for the contemporary art event known as Nuit Blanche... For the third sleepless night, Toronto is transformed by artists, art in galleries, museums and unexpected places. From bridges and tunnels to warehouses and stadiums, with more than 155 destinations

My evening begins close to home as Church street is transformed into the ETHEREAL FOREST - A Night In Molly Wood's Bush.
Trees and bushes spring up for two blocks as a hazy fog cuts through the various venues. In all there over ten art installations and five live dance performances.



I make my way down a crowded Younge Street at almost 9 pm the streets are totaly alive for this all night event.

Dundas Square is ground zero for Scotia Banks Information hub!

It's in the middle of Eaton Centre that I experience Fujiwara Takahiro’s "Into the Blue" is a giant, illuminated, transparent cone-shaped balloon. Its shape is achieved through the stacking of inflatable donut-shaped soft acrylic tubes of successively diminishing sizes. "Into the Blue" will presents two distinct faces. From a distance, it reflects and refract the surrounding light. Up close, one is able to walk beneath the work and experience it as an environment. Looking up into the interior presents a dazzling light array, refracted through the complex layers of soft acrylic material.




From Eaton Centre I move to Nathan Phillips Square for Stereoscope 2008, an interactive light installation in Toronto City Hall. This installation is presented by the German group Project Blinkenlights and transforms the landmark towers into a huge display screen by arranging lamps behind each of the 960 windows of the building. The façade serves as an ever-changing and evolving kaleidoscope of graphic animations automatically generated and interactively orchestrated. In fact the public directly influences "Stereoscope" through a variety of interfaces including smartphones, the web and physical controllers located right at Nathan Phillips Square.





Here is a brief clip of the towers in action!

In only two years, the economic impact of this event has increased from $1 million to $4.9 million. More than 500 artists and 125 cultural institutions participated in the 2007 event, and again this year the TTC remained open all night for only the second time in decades! Support from the arts community, corporate sponsors and the City of Toronto has been unparalleled – providing the resources to further expand the event into new exhibition sites, to improve traffic flow and increase the scale and scope of monumental art projects. Additionally, a Volunteer Advisory Board was established to assist in selecting and guiding curators and the curatorial process for years to come. The event is highly dynamic, evolving to reflect the talent and vision from which it began. Toronto continues to embark on its cultural renaissance, and no event reflects this more than Scotiabank Nuit Blanche!
Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

CLone Wars Debut

Got a chance to be the first to see the new animated Clone Wars Series today at the Bloor Street Cinema! It was quite the treat
to be able to get this exclusive sneek peek thanks to my friend Nigel (Nerds to the end!)

The Local legion of the 501's were out in force to provide security for the event!

Space's on-air personality Ajay Fry and Lord Vader were there to host the event... "You are part of a media conglomerate and a traitor, take him away!"

Tones of Nerd Swag were raffled off as well!

Vader! He doesn't scare me.....
Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Omar!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.