Announcement from Toronto's b current
Image courtesy of b current and Sadie Berlin
I received a release from b current recently announcing two new projects. At this time, this is not a season announcement due to ongoing public health concerns and in a bid to remain nimble, so the company has decided to announce one or two projects at a time this year.
WHEEL OF THE YEAR WALKS 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022
Every six weeks, a new adventure in Toronto.
Every six weeks, b current Performing Arts will be releasing a spatial audio experience. Authored by racialized artists and set in 8 different racialized neighbourhoods, Echoes’s sound mapping and spatial audio technology will take you through not only streets, landmarks and corners of Toronto you might not know, you will discover new ways of enjoying the Walk by experimenting with the technology yourself. Moreover, different creators will use different features of the technology in a way that is conversant with what they wish to express.
In an effort to stay connected with the realness of the neighbourhoods in the Walks, b current is partnering with different local companies for each iteration of the project. Shakespeare in Action and Arts For All are officially on board and at least three other companies and walks will be announced in the next few weeks.
Iteration one of the Walks will take place in Parkdale. The experience is created by the Switch Collective for a piece titled Switching Queens: Back Alley Galaxies. Members of the Switch Collective have deep roots in Parkdale and have been creating pieces around neighbourhood life for years now, with a lot of “realness”, a sense of wonder and even, the fantastic.
The second iteration explores Weston (in partnership with SIA) through the imagination and talents of Natasha Adiyana Morris. This iteration falls on the 21st of December. 1 February is for Little Jamaica and beyond, in partnership with Arts For All. More details soon.
Note: even though the Walks respond to a time of year, you will be able to enjoy them year-round.
playGROUND
playGROUND is a new set of workshops dedicated to emphasising early design work. The director builds a creative team, and they have a room and two weeks to conceptualise and create new stage narratives. For its inaugural year, playGROUND will be hosting Jordan Laffrenier and his creative team to develop a concept around William Wells Brown’s The Escape. Published in 1858, this vibrant, in-your-face, eccletic, funny and harrowing play about slavery (written by an ex-slave) will be workshopped this November and December. Development will resume in May/June 2022 in Ithaca, NY. b current and Jordan’s team are ecstatic to be working with The Cherry Arts and Samuel Buggeln. Going to Ithaca and breathing the air and seeing all the renovated sites that commemorate Ithaca’s important role in the Underground Railroad is as a “coming home” from the possible descendants of escapees of US slavery.
A second slot for playGROUND is open for submission on our website.
For further information, please visit www.bcurrent.ca