You’re Invited: Special Events in Toronto January 2013

This video presents “Skiing in Earl Bales Park Toronto”:

• Jan 7, 2011

• “View of the hill while going up the chair lifts on a quiet Friday afternoon”

For the first month of 2013, here are some special events happening in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

New $2.3-million ski lift at Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre

4169 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

416-395-7931

• This is an update to my previous blog Three New Year’s Resolutions for Better Health + Toronto Mayor’s New Year’s Levee Jan.1, 2013

• Mayor Rob Ford yesterday unveiled the $2.3-million upgrades of the Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre

• Participants will reach the top of the hills faster due to a new four-person chair lift that will run in addition to the existing twin chair lift

• Night skiers and snowboarders will enjoy a brighter and safer outdoor riding experience with the installation of new lights

• The Earl Bales ski chalet has also undergone the following changes:

  • Rental equipment and lift passes have been made available for purchase all day, even during lessons

  • A new ticket window will allow staff to process customer requests faster so people can enjoy more time hitting the slopes

• Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre also has a ski and snowboard school, helmet rentals, high-tech snowmaking equipment, rope tow, a snack bar and a fireplace

• The use of helmets is mandatory at City of Toronto ski and snowboard facilities for participants of all ages in the following groups:
  • school board programs and group participants
  • instructional program participants
  • freestyle and ski race program participants and instructional staff
  • on-hill supervisors
  • ski patrol members

• More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/parks/prd/skiing/ or by calling 311 or 416-392-CITY (2489)
  

This video presents “Solea, Free Concert Series at the COC, Toronto Flamenco Festival 2012”:

• Free Concert Series at the COC, Toronto Flamenco Festival 2012

Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre

January 8 –  January 31, 2013

FREE Admission

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen St. W., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is supported by the Free Concert Series Endowment Fund established in honour of Richard Bradshaw by an anonymous donor

• Artists from around the world share their talent and passion in the following series: vocal, piano, jazz, dance, chamber music
  

• Please click here for info on the FREE concerts and dance events January 8 – 31, 2013

• Concerts take place most Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon, and some Wednesdays at noon or 5:30 p.m

  • At the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

  • The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is a focal point of the Isadore and Rosalie Sharp City Room, with its windowed wall allowing for natural lighting and a view of University Avenue

  • Linking Rings 3 and 4, the amphitheatre provides seating for 100 patrons to enjoy pre-performance talks, informal concerts and other events

  • Additional seating and standing locations give this space even more functionality

• Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis and seating is limited

  • Although the programming is not geared toward young children, people of all ages are welcome to attend the concerts as long as they are able to sit quietly throughout the performance

  • Please unwrap and enjoy your candies in advance

  • If at all possible, eat your lunch before the performance begins

    • If you need to eat during the performance, please do so quietly

  • You are encouraged to stay in your seats until the end of the performance

    • There is no re-entry once the performance has begun.

  • In consideration of patrons with allergies, please avoid wearing strongly perfumed beauty products and fragrances

  • Please join the line-up early to avoid disappointment

    • Doors open half an hour prior to the performance start time and seating will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis

    • Latecomers will not be admitted

Rouge Park

Presents

10th Annual Winter Bird Count

FREE Admission

Sunday January 13, 2013

8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Event takes place in multiple locations, please contact event organizers for more details

Website:  rougepark.com/media/events.php
Email:  birdcount@rougepark.com

Phone: 905-713-6007

Space is Limited! So please RSVP by January 9, 2013

• Rouge Park is a wilderness area in and near Toronto, Canada’s largest city:
  • Canada’s premier urban wilderness park

    • size is over 40 km² (10,000 acres)

    • is protected park land in the Rouge River, Petticoat Creek and Duffins Creek watersheds

  • Protecting:

    • two National Historic Sites

    • a variety of ecosystems joining the post-glacial Oak Ridges Moraine, roughly 50 km north of Toronto, and the City’s biggest wetland, where the Rouge River empties into Lake Ontario

  • Over 225 different kinds of birds live in Rouge Park!

    • five of which are nationally rare breeding birds

    • four other breeding birds are of special concern

    • numerous locally rare, area-sensitive raptor and colonial birds

• Most bird counting groups start at 8AM and the bird count runs from morning to mid-afternoon

• An experienced birder will lead groups of volunteers through beautiful areas of Rouge Park, counting all birds seen and heard along the way
  • Whether you’re a birding expert or just learning about Rouge Park’s feathered friends, Rouge Park hopes you can join them for this fun day in the park

• If you would like to join them as a volunteer or if you are an experienced birder and would like to lead a team please RSVP to Sheryl Santos at birdcount@rougepark.com  or call (905) 713-6007

• Public Transit – a bird counting group may have an option for Public Transit (TTC):

  • Bus 85 (from Don Mills Subway or Rouge Hill GO Station) or 86 (from Kennedy Subway) via Toronto Zoo

  • Once you are heading up Meadowvale on your bus, get off at the stop up the ramp off Meadowvale before the traffic lights (i.e. before the bus turns to go to the Zoo itself)

  • Walk east about 1 minute to see the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre/Pearse House

Please click here for more info about Rouge Park’s Guided Walks

TTC Trip Planner

Rouge Park Contact Info:

Phone:	(905)713-6038
Fax:	(905) 713-6028
Camping:	(416) 287-2267
Email:	rougepark@rougepark.com
Website	www.rougepark.com

Please note:

• It may take 2 to 3 business days to respond to your inquiry
  

• The Rouge Park office is not located in the Park

• To find the Park, please see their Park Map

Green Neighbours 21 (GN 21)

Presents

Green Neighbours Events

Lemons into Lemonade: How to Grow a Stronger Community with Shrinking Resources — Starting Now

Monday, January 14, 7-9 PM

Location: St Michael and All Angels Church
(southeast corner of St. Clair and Wychwood, enter off Wychwood, through wooden gate, top floor)

• Changes are coming — more urban density amid signs of a weakening economy. How do we cope?

• Join Green Neighbours 21 on a “surprising journey to Ward 21 in the not-too-distant future – a place where we all live more modestly, but enjoy a greener, more vibrant community. What would it be like? How can we get there? In this two-hour visioning exercise animated by our friends at Transition Toronto, we’ll work together to shape the answers, and once we’ve made our plan, we’ll celebrate by sharing some lemonade and cake!“

This video presents “Forks Over Knives – Official Trailer”:

Film Screening – Forks over Knives

Tuesday, January 15

6:15pm – 8:15pm

Pay What You Can 

Annette Library, 145 Annette St, Toronto

• Join Green 13 for a film that explores the question of whether a plant-based diet is the best choice for optimal health

• Come prepared for a discussion that will allow you to reflect and think critically about the film’s message:

  • The feature film Forks Over Knives “examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods”

Now – a chance to boost community solar in Toronto and help GN 21!

GN 21 informs us that:

• “GreenLife Cooperative, which works to develop community solar projects in Ontario, is currently proposing three rooftop projects on commercial buildings in the city of Toronto“

• “The only hitch is that, in order to meet Provincial requirements,  Greenlife needs sworn statements of support from 50 homeowners in the city before January 11, the deadline for the Province’s current solar project application window“

• “In an effort to meet the deadline, GreenLife recently approached GN 21 with the offer of a special $35 time-limited referral fee for each homeowner GN 21 succeed in signing up:

  • If you sign the statement, you aren’t incurring any obligation – merely providing evidence of community support

  • If you mention Green Neighbours when you sign, you’ll be sending $35 to GN 21

  • To learn more about this opportunity, go to  GreenLife’s website (http://greenlifecommunity.ca/), which provides a detailed explanation and an online version of the form you’ll need to sign

    • Please note, however, that you’ll still need to arrange for a lawyer from GreenLife to witness your signature

  • If you’re interested, be sure to act now, since the deadline is less than a week away!”

Also, GN 21 urges us to:

Join Karma Co-op in 2013 – Karma Co-op won’t close if you and your friends join – Membership drive!

• “Karma Co-op, founded in 1972, is member-owned and democratically operated
  • It offers local, fair trade and organic products for sale to the community, including bulk items and produce sourced from local Ontario organic farms

• Unfortunately, Karma Co-op is at risk of closing, and is holding a membership drive to gain new support for this established community resource“

• For more information and to become a member, please visit: http://www.karmacoop.org/

Istituto Italiano di Cultura

Presents

Commedia Dell’arte

Lectures, workshop, performances with actor Mace Perlman

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 – Friday, January 18, 2013

All events are FREE

• “Mace Perlman will introduce Canadian students and audiences to the centuries-old — yet always current — commedia dell’arte, whose mask-characters transcend boundaries of culture and era, leaving their imprint on three centuries of playwrights, composers, painters, and popular entertainment from Shakespeare to Bugs Bunny and from Mozart to the Marx Brothers

• As a fluent speaker of Italian and Italian regional dialects, Mr. Perlman is uniquely able to portray the characters in their original language and historical context while also evoking their counterparts in our own pop culture, from Seinfeld to The Simpsons
  • Mace Perlman conducts workshops and performs in English, French and Italian

• Here is the schedule of the FREE lectures, workshop, performances with actor Mace Perlman:
  January 15
  Western University – 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario

  • 12:30 – 1:30pm Student Workshop 1: Bringing Language to Life, UC 224A

  • 1:30 – 2:30pm Student Workshop 2: Bringing Language to Life, UC 224A

  • 5:00 – 7:00pm Lecture-Demonstration: The Actor’s Art of the Mask, Conron Hall (UC 224)

  January 16
  University of Toronto – 3359 Mississauga Road Mississauga, Ontario

  • 7:00pm Commedia dell’Arte Performance, # 9 Erindale Studio Theatre

  January 17
  Glendon College, York University – 2275 Bayview Avenue Toronto, Ontario

  • 3:00pm  Lecture-Workshop-Performance

  January 18
  Veneto Centre – 7465 Kipling Ave, Woodbrige, Ontario

  • 7:30pm  Commedia dell’Arte Workshop-Performance

• Please click here for more info about Mace Perlman and the above events

• For further information, please contact Mr. Franco Spezzano at 416 – 451-7737

This video presents “Hip Hop Dance Performance 2011 – JHHA Performance Company at Dance Weekend ’11”:

• “Jade’s Hip Hop Academy (JHHA) Performance Company Opened the annual 3 Day “Dance Weekend ’11” Festival at Harbourfront Centre – Fleck Dance Theatre in Toronto

• Eighteen Company dancers ages 7-18 presented their first 20 minute Theatre piece titled ~Meant To Be~ a story about Friendships and Love through a time line of Hip Hop Dance

• JHHA Performance Company was very honoured to be asked to Open the Festival which annually presents the top dance Companies in all genres in Ontario, Canada and is organized by Dance Ontario

• The entire piece was choreographed by Jade Jager Clark and was put together through the months of December and January

• All JHHA Performance Company members train at Jade’s Hip Hop Academy“

Dance Ontario in Association with Harbourfront Centre

Presents

Dance Weekend

Prices: Minimum $10 donation at the door

Times:
Fri, January 18, 2013: 7pm-10pm
Sat, January 19, 2013: 1pm-7pm
Sun, January 20, 2013: 1pm-7pm

Venue: Fleck Dance Theatre
207 Queens Quay West, Toronto

• Celebrate Dance Weekend’s 20th anniversary!

• Featuring ballet, b-boys and bharatanatyam, jazz, flamenco, contemporary, Middle Eastern, two premieres and much more

• Please click here for the Performance Schedule of the Dance Weekend

• For more info about the Dance Weekend performances and performers, please click here

LIFT Winter Open House

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 – 7:00pm – 8:30pm

FREE Admission

1137 Dupont Street (east of Dufferin Avenue, at the corner of Gladstone Avenue)

Guided Tours:
7:15pm
8:00pm

• Founded in 1981, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is an artist-run cultural and educational media arts organization dedicated to celebrating excellence in the moving image

  • The LIFT facility offers resources for film training and production unparalleled anywhere else in the world

  • Since opening its doors LIFT has been an important resource for filmmakers in Toronto

  • Thirty years on, LIFT has seen thousands of films and videos emerge from the centre

• Come learn how to become a member and rent equipment, talk about the upcoming Winter 2013 workshops, and see a practical display of their digital video cameras

• Visitors are welcome to walk through the facility, but they will also offer guided tours lead by LIFT staff at the times listed above

  • Tours will be approximately 30 minutes in length

  • All are welcome to attend

• Parking is limited at LIFT, only 5 spots at the LIFT office
  • Otherwise use residential street parking

LIFT

Presents

Panel Discussion: Animation Techniques

FREE Admission

Thursday, January 31, 2013 – 7:00pm – 9:00pm

1137 Dupont Street (east of Dufferin Avenue, at the corner of Gladstone Avenue)

• LIFT invites you for a panel discussion featuring Canadian animators who work in traditional, stop motion, computer and other animation techniques

• Each panelist will screen a sample of their past work and have an in-depth discussion on their choice of technique, along with the creative and technical processes of animation

• Learn how the discipline has evolved over the decades and the resources LIFT offers to filmmakers wishing to explore the world of animation

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto and The Images Festival

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2013 TOM BERNER AWARD

• The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and the Images Festival are calling for nominees for the 2013 TOM BERNER AWARD for Extraordinary Support of Independent Filmmaking

•  To nominate an individual for the TOM BERNER AWARD, please provide:

  • the name and brief biography (1 page maximum) of the nominee

  • your contact information (Name, telephone and e-mail)

  • an explanation (1 page maximum) as to why the individual would be a worthy recipient

• Incomplete nominations will not be considered

• The award will be decided by a jury of knowledgeable peers from the independent film community, and will be presented at the awards ceremony of the Images Festival in April 2013

• Nominations must reach LIFT by TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013 at 5:00PM

• Please click here for more info about LIFT’s call for nominations for the 2013 TOM BERNER AWARD for Extraordinary Support of Independent Filmmaking

Contact LIFT

LIFT Holiday Closure: December 21, 2012 – January 7, 2013

Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)
1137 Dupont Street
Toronto, Ontario
M6H 2A3 CANADA
Tel: 416.588.6444 Fax: 416.588.7017

This video presents “Tunnelling for The Crosstown”:

• Metrolinx is moving ahead on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project, part of the Province’s 8.4 billion dollar investment in transit expansion for Toronto

Eglinton Crosstown LRT Environmental Assessment: Laird Drive to Don Valley Consultation Update

Open House for January 31, 2013 at the Ontario Science Centre

• This is an update to my previous blog Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown Needs You: Public Meetings Dec.11 & 12, 2012

• Metrolinx is undertaking an amendment to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT Environmental Assessment (EA)
  • This includes a change in the east tunnel launch location from east of Laird Station (near Brentcliffe Road) to just east of Don Mills Station

• Metrolinx held a Public Meeting on December 11th at the Ontario Science Centre to:

  • provide a project update

  • present the proposed changes and improvements to the alignment

  • receive public input on the proposed changes

• During the meeting and in some subsequent correspondence afterward, The Crosstown Community Relations Team heard that it would be preferable if the period for public comment on the proposed changes could be extended and if another community meeting could be scheduled:

  • They are extending the comment period from January 4 to January 21, 2013
    

    • Please complete the online consultation by January 21, 2013 at 4 p.m.

  • Also, there is another Open House for January 31, 2013 at the Ontario Science Centre

    • The panels that were presented at the meeting are available here

    • For more info about the Open House, please click here

  • A consultation report will be created and posted online within 10 to 15 business days

• Please click here for an interactive route map of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project

Crosstown Contact Info:

The Crosstown Community Relations Team
1848 Eglinton Avenue West
416-782-8118
thecrosstown.ca

Enjoy!