A Russian-Canadian Impresario Have you ever heard of the word “impresario”? That’s someone who organizes and maybe even finances performing arts events, including concerts, plays, ballets, operas, and more. It’s a very risky profession, and likely not one taught in…
What Is Flamenco Dance? Myriam Allard Answers
Continuing With Flamenco Last month, I wrote about Bonnie Masina, a woman who took up flamenco dance at age 50. This month, I ask the question: What is flamenco? And Myriam Allard, co-founder of and dancer and choreographer with La…
Exploring Creativity by Exposing Yourself More
Engage With Your Art Form Theatre guru Trevor Copp has a bowl of theatre tickets, roughly 1,200 of them. The bowl makes its stage appearance when Copp judges the Ontario Drama Festival (formerly the Sears Drama Festival): it contains one…
Flamenco at 50: “It’s too easy when we age to give up. I don’t agree with that.”
Starting Dance Past 50 When I turned 40, I suddenly cared about aging. Always active in my younger years through dance, and proudly displaying a photo of me doing the splits still at age 37, turning 40 suddenly made me…
Alejandro Álvarez Cadilla: How a Dancer Becomes a Producer
With Change on the Horizon, Cadilla Moved Towards It Life is full of transitions, and I won’t bore you with a list of all the usual ones. But as you explore your creativity, remember that transitions can happen here, too….
Watching Artists Grow Up
Getting hooked on to a group part way through their career is liking getting sucked into a syndicated novel series like Nancy Drew. You get to discover what came before while you wait for what comes next. Last night, I got…
Mitchell Cushman is on a Curious Voyage
It’s another Hollywood cliché (I seem to be taking a lot of digs at Hollywood lately): the loner who wants to risk it all for his (sometimes her) goal, and no matter what anyone says, he (sometimes she) will punch…
Art is Exploration: Sasha Ivanochko’s Double Bill at The Citadel
Last time, I talked about how art isn’t only about those Hollywood-movie moments of inspiration, that ideas can take time to develop. But why? What makes it so difficult to develop an idea? Montreal-based choreographer Sasha Ivanochko’s work can provide…
Inspiration Isn’t a Eureka Moment: Laurence Lemieux’s “Looking for Elvis”
One myth I want to take down with this interview is the romanticized image of inspiration. Yes, we all get eureka moments: I have plenty of them. However, in my case, they’re never actually good ideas. Instead, those moments of…
The Freelancing Fallacy: You Believe a Freelancing Career Means You’re Your Own Boss
Enraptured by the idea of running your own business so you’re your own boss? Sick and tired of answering to a tyrannical boss at work? Love the idea of getting up whenever you want to without having to apologize to…