Event: Ninth rock.paper.sistahz Festival-Bringing word with sound & power!, bcurrent

2010 marks the ninth rock.paper.sistahz festival (RPS); Bringing word with sound & power!  The festival will feature multi-disciplinary installations, theatre & dance performances, poetry and readings, bringing together artists from across the city.
Much of the festival activities will be concentrated in b currents studio space in the Artscape & adjacent Wychwood Barns venues along with new collaborations within artistic and community groups; The Art Gallery of Ontario, New Harlem Productions, Factory Theatre and CIUT FM Community Radio, presenting workshops with an eclectic mix of new scripts from emerging & seasoned playwrights/creators.  Outreach activities will use music, movement & jamming, intervention performances and spoken word events, all designed for community involvement in various public spaces from subways & malls to city parks RPS will be everywhere!

The Ninth RPS festival includes the following events:

• wordStreet: April 9 – 30  Various times & spaces.  Poetry, word slinging, beats, and just about anything goes in these free performance moments in Toronto neighborhoods, malls, subways & street corners.
• to the 9th!: April 9 @ Artscape Wychwood Barns, Studio 251.  A festival party where the artists and their guests meet and mingle; with food, music, and a performance or two.  7-11pm
• Just Another Sunday Afternoon:  April 11 @ the Artscape Wychwood Barns, Covered Street.  An inter-generational performance event for children, youths, and seniors featuring both professional and community artists, launch of the visual art installation Levi’Tracks, and sneak peeks of other festival performances, including music by Rehaset Yohanes of the Afro Underground. Presented in Collaboration with StarrChild Productions. Noon-7pm
• pLaying with woRds:  April 12 & 13 @ at Factory Theatre.  Expect off the page readings, voice flexing, and some impromptu performances in these new ideas from b current creative artists and playwrights in dis Place. Presented in collaboration with New Harlem Productions and Cross Currents Festival. 7:30-10pm
• Who Tells Your Story?: April 15 @ the Art Gallery of Ontario. A performance installation and creative response to the King Tut exhibition, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario.  3:30-5:30pm
• sistahz sAy!: April 16 @ Oakwood Library Theatre. A Spokenword Soiree featuring: local writers, Desiree Adams from Nova Scotia, and Atlanta Jazz diva, Ozara Ode.  8-10pm
• talk.in.gold: April 17 @ Wychwood Barns, Studio 251. A live Studio/FM Radio broadcast featuring raw food treats, and an interactive interview with Artistic Director, ahdri zhina mandiela.  Noon-2pm
• Tightrope Revisited: April 17 Wychwood Barns – Studio 251. A Special Masterclass with renown actor, Walter Borden getting ready to uncrate a new performance idea. 7-10pm
• Shorts & Sweets: April 22 Wychwood Barns – Studio 251. A film & video shorts evening by local artists Veronica Ciandre, Powys Dewhurst, Nicole Brooks, Rehaset Yohanes. 6:30-9pm
• daNce to the 9th:  April 23 Oakwood Library Theatre. Professional Dance Artists, Musicians, and Community Dance Groups from around the city.  8-10pm
• Sounds 2 da 9th:  April 24 @ Various Dance Studios. Music & Movement: classes & jammin!  Featuring Amina Alfred, Mohamed Diaby, Saba, Julia Morris, SwizzleStick Theatre and others.  10am – 4pm

• power/plays:  April 27-30 Wychwood Barns: LOOP Theatre. First performance, readings or excerpts of new plays each evening 8-10:30pm featuring:

1. Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks
2. Aneema’s Spot by Wendy ‘Motion’ Braithwaite
3. Bio Past by Tanya Pillay
4. Damaged by Andrea Scott
5. Mulatto Nation by Marika Schwandt
6. Pink Elephants by Mason Haigh
7. Who the Hell is Eleanor? by Meghan Swaby

This ninth festival year festival explores both the maturing of the rock.paper.sistahz idea, as well as the audience and communities they have been engaging over the years.  b current’s spring ritual is coming of age!

For more information visit www.bcurrent.ca
For updates and news visit  www.bcurrentnews.twitter.com

Workshop: Psychology of Performance with Madeleine Hallé Performance Psychologist with Cirque de Soleil, Artists’ Health Centre

Two NEW dates to choose from!

Saturday March 13, 2010 OR Sunday March 14, 2010

Time: 10:00a.m. – 4:00p.m.

Fee: $40 / Students & Seniors: $30
20% Discount for TAPA members
A light lunch will be provided.

Location: Al & Malka Green Artists’ Health Centre
Toronto Western Hospital (3rd floor, West Wing)
399 Bathurst Street, Toronto ON

Madeline is back! This practical daylong workshop will focus on the psychological aspects of performance preparation. Participants will take part in exercises and detailed discussions of the many different aspects and techniques focusing on:

• Visualization
• Emotional control
• Concentration

Madeleine Hallé is a performance and sports psychologist who has worked with Cirque de Soleil for the past eight years.  With twenty years of experience in her field, and with extensive graduate training in psychology and kinetics including a doctorate in sports psychology, Madeleine is uniquely qualified to discuss and illuminate the psychological aspects of performance.

Her work is based on the premise that “performance cannot be reached without a real commitment and specific psychological skills. Those skills must be considered specifically at the beginning and integrated in the real performance as soon as possible in the process of the pursuit of excellence”.

Pre-registration is required, as space is limited.

To register please contact us by:

Phone: 416.351.0239
Email: info@ahcf.ca
Fax: 416.595.0009
Printing off a registration form here to fax or send by mail.

For your comfort, this is a scent-free workshop. Please refrain from wearing any perfume, cologne, aftershave or scented products. Thank you.