Annette Street Public Library Is Wireless Now! Bring Your Latte and Laptop

Poster: The Annette Street Branch Is Now Wireless
Credit: Annette Street Branch

Last Saturday, Toronto's chief librarian, Jane Pyper, was at the Annette St. Public Library celebrating its 100th anniversary.

"I'm completely confident," she says, "that 100 years from now, they'll be celebrating their 200th birthday."

A tale of two countries' libraries
In recession-wracked U.S. cities they are being targeted for closure. Not so here
By Lynda Hurst
Published On Sun Sep 20, 2009
Credit: thestar.com

Hello friends of Annette Street Public Library,

Annette Street Library is now fully wireless - enabled!

On Dec 10 Annette Street Library will host an Amnesty International Write-a-thon in honour of International Human Rights Day. Drop in anytime between 12:30 - 8pm and write one or more letters. All materials will be provided. Please help promote this event by posting this flyer.

Flyer: Amnesty International Annual Write-a-thon "Write for Rights"
Annette Street Library, Dec 10, 2009, 12:30 - 8:00 pm
credit: writeathon.ca

On Saturday December 12 artist and illustrator Loris Lesynski will be here 2-3pm to help us celebrate the season with stories and a card-making workshop.
All kids welcome! (Younger children will need adult supervision)


Thanks,

Pam Mountain
Branch Head
Annette Street Public Library
145 Annette Street
Toronto, ON, M6P 1P3
Phone: 416-393-7521
Fax: 416-393-7412
pmountain@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Craft for Charity: Help Make the Holidays Merry + Bright in Our Community!

Collage: WANTED: handmade hats, mittens and scarves
for women living at the Redwood Shelter.
Wise Daughters is collecting handmade winter wear for women
living at the Redwood Shelter in our community this holiday season.
Credit: wisedaughters.com

"It means a lot because it's a gift that a person took their time and effort to make. And, it's brand new," said Majic. "That's what we aim for, items that are brand new and made with care."
Spin some yarn for shelter
by LISA Rainford
Credit: insidetoronto.com

At this time of year, there is a lot of attention given to kids in need, but women who have fled violence and find themselves in a shelter also need practical gifts... and deserve something beautiful to help make the holidays a little cheerier. Wise Daughters has supported the Redwood Shelter before, with two successful clothing swaps.

Now we are inviting knitters and other crafters to donate handmade hats, mittens and scarves for women.

• You are welcome to come make an item to donate any Thursday 7 - 9 pm during Sit 'n' Stitch at the shop.
• Or you can drop off handmade items at Wise Daughters by Tuesday, Decemver 15.
• If you're not really a hand-maker, but want to help, you are welcome to buy one of the sought-after items available for sale at Wise Daughters and leave it behind to be given to the Redwood.

The shelter will distribute these lovely woollies as part of the gift baskets they assemble for current and past residents every December.

For more information, please visit www.wisedaughters.com or call 416-761-1555.

To learn more about the Redwood's services, visit www.theredwood.com

Thanks for your support!

Mary

Wise Daughters Craft Market
Local handicrafts and do-it-yourself workshops
3079B Dundas St. West, Toronto, M6P 1Z9
(facing Quebec Ave, just south of Dundas, behind Crema Coffee,
in the Junction)

links:
junctionparents.ca: Message from Wise Daughters Craft Market
junctionra.ca: WANTED: Handmade hats, mitts, scarves
Wise Daughters is collecting handmade winter wear for women living at the Redwood Shelter in our community this holiday season. Please a) come make something any Thursday evening during Sit 'n' Stitch or b) buy something handmade at the shop to donate or c) bring your donation by Dec. 15. Give the gift of warmth and beauty. Thanks for your support.
by Mary Breen
artjunction.blogspot.com: Mother’s Day Clothing Swap at Wise Daughters: Update your wardrobe, recycle and support the Redwood Shelter!

Russian Rock — "Not in Vain"

Photo: "We'll never get older ..." Alexander Lipnitsky
in conversation with Boris "Bolero" Roginsky
at Toronto Kino Art Festival, November 12, 2009 @ Margret
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

Russian Rock — Not in Vain
By Boris "Bolero" Roginsky

Alexander Lipnitsky brought magic to Toronto last week. The Kino Art Festival featured several of his TV documentaries on the rock movement in the USSR in the 1970s and 80s. Those who came out to three screenings in the Samovar Room, the Regent Theatre and Margret Bar were in for a rare treat.

The ex-bass player with the Moscow band "Zvuki Moo" ("Moo Sounds"), Lipnitsky is currently the host of the Russian rock TV show "Yelovaya Submarina" (word play on the famous song by The Beatles, literally meaning the "Fir Tree Submarine") on the NOSTALGIA channel. Alas, it’s extremely difficult to get a hold of the show’s episodes in Toronto. Hence his arrival was an opportunity not to be missed by all those interested in the subject.

Back in the early 1960s (just like it was happening all over the world then), when the new wave of such Russian poets as Bulat Okudzhava, Vladimir Vysotsky, Evgeny Kliachkin, Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina, Robert Rozhdestvensky were awakening the social consciousness of the country, their "brother in arms", Evgeny Yevtushenko, wrote: "a poet in Russia is more than a poet".

Of course Yevtushenko was not talking only about his generation. Undoubtedly that line primarily served as a tribute to his "teachers" — Alexander Pushkin, Alexander Blok, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelshtam, Boris Pasternak. And yet, most likely hoping for their appearance, he was probably dedicating his words to the future "young punks" as well, sending them a message. Quite possibly, those who wanted to see it that way might have received it. In all fairness however, the English term "young punks" ("molodaya shpana") should be perceived as a rather approximate translation of what Boris Grebenschikov would later use as a song title on Aquarium’s "Blue Album" (the 1981 release frequently considered to be the first conceptual rock album in the USSR).

And so 15-20 years down the road the new wave, brought up on the eclectic mix of their Russian predecessors’ poetry and songs, Western jazz and rock’n’roll as well as Eastern philosophy, rose and caught the souls of literally millions in what used to be the largest country in the world.

Lipnitsky’s documentaries are priceless because they are largely the only existing video testimonials of those incredible times when so much sublime energy found its receivers who transmitted it in the form of songs, works of art and theatre happenings. They contain performance footage, shot with hand-held home movie cameras, avant-garde experiments of young rebellious film makers and artists, contemporary interviews with some of those who witnessed those events, made them happen and continue to create today. Many others, however, have already passed away.

Now, a week later, I vividly recall as mesmerized spectators watch Alexander Bashlachev singing "Vanusha" (hypocorism for "Ivan") on the wall of the Dundas St. West bar. They listen to his fierce, tender, honest voice and guitar. The song ends. Many of those present burst into applause. I realize — that performance took place in a St. Petersburg apartment in front of several people almost a quarter of a century ago. Bashlachev took his own life just a short while later in 1988. And yet his songs still affect listeners on the other side of the world after so many years.

Nowadays there are disillusioned voices, expressing apprehension that a lot of things were a waste of time. That nobody needed them then and surely nobody needs them now. That we were, as Viktor Tsoi sang, "waiting for changes", but the current changes in Russia are a far cry from the hopes of that Russian rock generation of 20-30 years ago. That, rather amateur and unprofessional but nonetheless very honest and pure, rock movement, raised on the shoulders of self-sacrificing enthusiasts and idealists, succumbed to the machine of commercialism in contemporary Russia.

While the latter statement may be true, it is still not the reason to discard everything positive and wonderful that was born in that largely underground environment. What is given to all sorts of creators around the world comes to them from eternity, where our political systems, social orders and all sorts of mundane everyday passions are nothing but grains of sand. It is up to those creators to decode what they receive and to present it to the world, hopefully enriching the latter. Their ideals and the information they are trying to convey are bigger than all the political systems put together.

But those, who see in artists, musicians, actors nothing but a bunch of screwed up alcoholics, drug addicts and psychopaths, please try to realize that we are all human beings, each with our own sins to repent of. However it is up to us, as spectators, viewers and listeners, to see the light in what is presented to us, to be inspired by it and to make the world better.

Everything passes and that period, snippets of which Lipnitsky brought to Toronto, passed as well. The important thing is not to lament our broken dreams and the "good old days". As Grebenschikov sang on that very "Blue Album" in the "Railroad Water":

"I was writing these songs at the end of December
Naked, in the snow, under the light of the full moon.
But if you hear me now
It was not in vain."

Indeed it was not and it will never be.

2009 © Boris "Bolero" Roginsky
Nov. 19, 2009. Toronto

Photo: Toronto KinoArt Festival screening of Alexander Lipnitsky's
documentary "The History of Russian Rock" at Margret Bar, November 12, 2009
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival 2010: Junction BIA Call for Submissions

The Junction Business Improvement Area

Contact 2010: Call for Submissions to Photographers
Deadline: Midnight December 16, 2009
Credit: thejunctionbia.com

CONTACT 2010 Thematic Focus: Pervasive Influence

From within the midst of the Still Revolution in photography, we witness the transformation of the medium alongside the shifting social, political and cultural events of our times. In this era of instant information the image is stimulating sweeping, unprecedented change in the way we communicate...

The 14th annual Toronto Photography Festival will consider the ways in which photography informs and transforms human behavior. CONTACT 2010: Pervasive Influence will explore the personal and social consequences of the medium of photography, in a society devoted to the image.

Credit: CONTACT TORONTO PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE

The Junction BIA
CONTACT 2010
Call for Submissions to Photographers

The Junction Business Improvement Area will be hosting over 20 photographic exhibitions
at select venues throughout the area.

Deadline for Submissions: Midnight December 16, 2009
Artists will be notified of the results by December 24, 2009

*If you are selected to show by the Junction BIA a $75 entrance fee is applied.

How to apply:

Please submit the following as digital files on a CD clearly labeled with your name and email address or by email.

1. A maximum of ten digital images of works proposed for the exhibition. Digital images should be: RGB, jpeg format no larger than 1024 x 768 pixels at 300 dpi. They should be numbered 01 to 10 (01_tree, 02_house, 03_car etc.). Do not submit original artwork. Image list indicating title, year, medium and dimensions. (Include this in digital form on CD)
2. A 75 word written description of your work (Include this in digital form on CD)
3. A curriculum vitae, resume or biography. (Include this in digital form on CD)
4. A self-addressed envelope (SASE) with sufficient return postage. Without an SASE we will not return submission packages and will dispose of submission materials appropriately.
5. The Junction BIA will take reasonable care with submission materials; however, we cannot accept responsibility for damage or loss to original photographic prints.

The artist is responsible for printing, framing, and hanging their work.

The exhibitions will take place from May 1 – May 31, 2010. Opening celebrations are May 2, 2010

Submit Applications to:
Anna-Louise Richardson
Executive Director
The Junction BIA
3042 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON M6P 1Z3
Or CONTACT2010@thejunctionbia.com
For more information visit www.contactphoto.com
www.thejunctionbia.com
416-767-9068

flickr.com: contact + photography + toronto + junction

Black and White Show Fundraiser for Donald Dawson Project: Saturday, November 21

La Compania de Danza Aeria de la Ciudad de Mexico
Fundraiser for Donald Dawson Project
Saturday, November 21, 2009 @ 9pm
2968 Dundas Street West @ Pacific Ave, The Junction, Toronto
Ismailova Theatre of Dance, Esie Mensah, A.I.M Dance Company, Travis Knights and others
raise funds for art schools in remote areas of Mexico and Central America.
Donation: $10
danza.aerea@yahoo.com.mx

We would like to invite you to our fundraising show this Saturday, November 21st at 9 pm at 2968 Dundas Street West and Pacific Ave at the Junction area.

La Compania de Danza Aeria de la Ciudad de Mexico

"Black and White" Show

Fundraiser for Donald Dawson Project to raise funds for art schools in the south of Mexico
When: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Time: Doors open at 8 pm: Show starts at 9pm
Where: 2968 Dundas Street West @ Pacific Ave, The Junction, Toronto

Donation: $10.

The goal of this fundraising show is to introduce the aerial dance arts in remote areas of Mexico and Central America where children have no access to artistic education.

We would like to dedicate this project to our friend, wonderful dancer and talented choreographer Donald Dawson who passed away this year.

Donald graduated The American Ballet Theatre School and choreographed and danced with Ballet Jorgen and The National Ballet of Canada.

This fundraising event aims to collect $4000 for transporting 1200 pounds of our aerial dance equipment to donate it to the art schools in the South of Mexico. In 2007 and 2008 the Toronto Aerial Dance Company provided free aerial dance classes to more than 600 children in Toronto.

This Saturday, November 21, we would like to present "Black and White" show, combining visual arts, aerial dance, dance, music and opera performances.

Artists:
Ismailova Theatre of Dance
Choreographer - Merey Ismailova
Rock-n-roll, contemporary dance, East-European folk
Dancers: Lukas Press, Isneida Morales, Merey Ismailova

Special guests - the percussionists Michael Menegon and Hudson Menegon

Artists In Motion (A.I.M) Dance Company
Shameka Blake - Director/Founder/Choreographer
hip pop dance perform by Esie Mensah, Gigi Semajuste, Tasha "Tazz" Ricketts, Amy Taylor, Alex Spence, Jordan Washington, Justin David, Jade "Hollywood" Anderson, Lauren Lyn, Allison Bradley, Lius Camplin, Amadeus Marquez

Ryan Rader (visual artist / painter)
Surrealism / creative anatomy

Melanie Berett Ophelia
Modern Dance, multimedia and wather
choreographer Melanie Bennet
Yves Beretta mother Earth
Electronic music / dance / multimedia
Dancer: Melanie Berett

Travis Knights - tap dancer from Montreal

Flautist Full-of-Soul
Jef Kearns - the flute

Film "Lights Edge", choreographer Donald Dawson
Film by Ballet Expresivo
part of the film competition (National Film Board of Canada)

Madeleine Seignoret - Aerial dance and pole dance

Henry Vivel - Latin pop, folklore and romantic singer

Adrianna Prosser - actor

Lukas Press, choreography Veronica Kvon
contemporany mix with jazz

and more ...

Please come and support the Donald Dawson project of teaching aerial arts and dance to children in Latin America.

For more information please contact us at danza.aerea@yahoo.com.mx

Citytv, Toronto Star and Globe and Mail are willing to cover the event. We also appreciate the kind support of the Toronto City Councilor Bill Saundercook and the Junction Forum for Art & Culture.

Fernando Escoto
Artistic Director of the Toronto Aerial Dance Theatre

Free Screening of Documentary on History of Soviet / Russian Underground Music at Margret

Poster: Alexander Lipnitsky's film on the history of Soviet / Russian underground music
at Margret Bar /Lounge, November 12, 2009 @ 6 - 9 pm
Credit: www.kinoartfestival.com
www.nostalgiatv.ru

KinoArt Festival "For the Love of Russian Film, Music and Art"
Invites You to a FREE Screening of

Alexander Lipnitsky's Documentary Film
The History of Russian Rock
Q&A follows, director in attendance

Journalist and musician Alexander Lipnitsky will introduce his series of television programs about the main heroes of Russian rock music in the 80's:

• Aleksandr Bashlachev: Eternal Post / Eternal Fast (Vechny Post)
• Sergey Kuryokhin: Pop-Mechanics (Popularnaia Mehanika)
• Mikhail "Mike" Naumenko: Zoo (Zoopark)

When: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 6 pm - 9 pm

Where: Margret bar / lounge for the Junction
2952 Dundas Street West, Toronto ON
(just East of Pacific Avenue)
There is ample street parking on Dundas St. West
Green P parking info

Via TTC:
from Dundas West Stn: Junction bus #40 at Pacific Ave.,
from Keele Stn: Keele bus #41 & Weston bus #89 at Dundas St. West
from High Park Stn: Lambton bus #30 at Dundas St. West

www.facebook.com/margretondundas
www.margretondundas.com
416 762 3373




View Larger Map

Hope to see you there!

kinoartfestival.com

links:
kinoartfestival.com: Alert – Screening of Documentary
Screening of Alexander Lipnitskiy’s documentary on the history of Soviet/Russian rock music will take place on Thursday, Nov.12th, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, at Margret Bar.
KinoArt Festival: Russian Rock Music Retrospectives with Alexander Lipnitsky

Wild in The Junction: WTJHS Historical Mystery Tour

Photo-Collage: Wild, Wild Junction, a Historical Mystery Tour:
West Toronto Junction Historical Society Fall Fundraiser and Pub Crawl
Sunday, October 25, 2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

WILD IN THE JUNCTION

WTJHS Historical Mystery Tour asks the question:

"How wild do you have to get to shut down your own bars?"

By David Wencer

For nearly a hundred years, you couldn’t buy a drink in the Junction. In January of 1904, the citizens of the town voted to enforce local option, which enabled Ontario communities to voluntarily “go dry.” What caused the Junction to take such drastic measures?

On Sunday, the Legends of the Junction, a troupe of real figures from Junction history, recruited and lead by Junction historical society Vice-President/Boom Times Cabaret director Neil Ross, took some fifty people on a pub crawl, re-enacting events on the road to Local Option.


THE TROUBADOUR: WHO KILLED JOE CURLEY?

Samantha Martin belted out the Junction’s "national anthem", Junction Bound, then the historical characters and the audience considered the mysterious death of Joseph Curley in 1897. Curley had been drinking at the Subway Hotel (west side of Keele and Vine) with unsavoury characters. Later his body was found with his head crushed in under the Subway underpass. Did he fall or was he attacked?

Coroner George W. Clendenan (Gib Goodfellow) convened a coroner’s inquest and swore the audience in as jurors. Testimony was given by Junction Police Chief Josiah Royce (Ron Clark) who found a blood stained boulder near the body and Junction librarian Elizabeth McCallum who provided evidence of local footpads. Both Dr. Clendenan and Chief Royce were strongly inclined toward accidental death.

A.B. Rice was appointed chairman of the jury and then performed the Shooting of Dan McGrew with pianist Alice Deardon. (Rice was in fact the foreman of the jury, although his quoting Service may be apocryphal.)

The tour hit the street in search of more evidence, passing numerous historic sites, including the Avenue Hotel (Domino’s Pizza) which like all Junction hotels served its last drink on June 30, 1904.


HOLE IN THE WALL: HARLOTRY, INIQUITY AND VICE

The audience filed in to the sounds of When the Saints Come Marchin’ In to witness Annette Street Methodist Church’s Rev. T. E. E. Shore (Cheri DiNovo, MPP) resurrect the famous Harlotry, Iniquity and Vice sermon which galvanized the town in 1903. Rev. Shore attacked big business, liquor and the Liberals, not necessarily in that order.

REV SHORE: Many a poor fallen girl has told me down in yonder mission how she fell into sin and continued in her degradation in Junction hotels!

FEMALE VOICE FROM THE AUDIENCE: Halleluja!

Soon outside again, the next stop was the corner of Keele and Dundas, from where the jury could see the underpass where Curley’s body was found that fateful December.


SHOX: LAST CALL (BEFORE THE JUNCTION GOES DRY)

Foreman Rice turned the floor over to the jury and they peppered the historical characters with questions about Curley’s death. How far was the second bloodstain from the body? Had it been snowing that night? Was it a light snow? What exactly is a footpad? In the questioning, new evidence emerged about the suspects: the violent robber sought by the police and the mysterious motorman witnesses claimed was last seen with Curley.

Rice gave the jury the choice between "death by misadventure" or "murder by person or persons unknown" and called the vote. Twenty two to twenty two! Like the Junction a hundred years ago, the town could not make up his mind. As foreman, Rice himself cast the deciding vote for murder, citing footpads and Curley's pub companion as chief suspects.

Rice then provided some insights into cockfighting in the Junction, recounted the night ten thousand men surged into the Junction for one last drink; he then went; on to praise the Junction theatre district.

Mrs. Mary Brown (Eileen Jensen) recalled the Junction during the dry years and Anne Leung, "the Junction’s Rosa Parks". And finally, the landlord Gus Koutoumanos explained the historic story of how alcohol was eventually brought back to the Junction in the late 1990s.

The real cause of Josephs Curley’s death may never be known. Was it murder? The available records of the time suggest a great number of viable suspects. The case made a riveting background for a different kind of historical walking tour: with interactive historical characters, a coroner’s jury, gospel songs, an old time temperance sermon, a view of the scene of a crime and a spirited discussion of a hundred year old cold case by a modern audience in a pub.

Only in the Junction.

2009 © David Wencer

KinoArt Festival: Russian Rock Music Retrospectives with Alexander Lipnitsky

Second KinoArt Festival in Toronto, November 5-8, 2009

KinoArt Festival Alert – Screening of Documentary

Screening of Alexander Lipnitskiy’s documentary on the history of Soviet/Russian rock music will take place on Thursday, Nov.12th, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, at Margret Bar.

Alexander Lipnitsky @ the Toronto's Kino Art Festival
"For the Love of Russian Film, Music and Art"

[ V ] Friday, November 6, 4:30 - 6:00 pm

Panel discussion on the past, present, and future of Russian cinema

Munk Centre for International Studies
1 Devonshire Place, Toronto - 416-946-8900


[ V ] Saturday, November 7, 3:00 – 6:00 pm

Documentaries about AQUARIUM and ZVUKI MU

Club Samovar
51 Winchester St, Toronto - 416 925 4555


[ V ] Sunday, November 8, 8:30 – 9:30 pm

Documentary about legendary Russian rock group KINO
Kino had a major role in the film ASSA

Regent Theatre
551 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto 416 489 8484

Club Samovar
51 Winchester St, Toronto - 416 925 4555

Alexander Lipnitsky in His Own Words

From 1983 to 1990, I was a bass guitarist with the "Moo Sounds". Among the band’s biggest achievements was our album, produced by Bryan Imo and recorded at London’s OPAL RECORDS STUDIO. The album sold 3500 copies in Europe and USA in 1989. I also played at Serious Fun Festival. Together with a California band The Residents we performed at NY Lincoln Center. I participated in several documentary films screened in France, Italy, Germany, USA, and USSR.

During 1990-2009, I was a producer of the following bands: ATAS, BIOSINTEZ, SHATEN KINGS, and Upstairs.

As a journalist of SOVETSKAYA KULTURA (Soviet Culture), I covered USSR jazz festivals during the 70’s. In the 80’s, I published in the following underground magazines: SMORCHOK, SELF, SDVIG, etc. During 1994-2009, some of my articles were published in the Playboy and Rolling Stones.

My TV career was launched in 1991 with an hour film VICTOR TSOY: SUNNY DAYS.

I worked with Joanna Stingray on her TV project RED WAVE 21 and created a number of TV programs about famous rock musicians from Russia and the West, including stories about The Doors and Boris Grebenshchikov. The latter featured in a documentary titled “40:0 in Grebenshchikov’s Favor,” produced in 1993.

In 2006, my own TV show, Yellow Submarine, premiered on NOSTALGIA cable channel. The show is dedicated to the history of Russian rock music.

To the audience of Toronto KinoArtFestival I will offer a program consisting of my TV documentaries on the key figures of Russian rock-music, such as Alexandr Bashlachev, Sergei Kurekhin, Alexei Khvostenko, AUKTSYON band, Moo Sounds, KINO, AQUARIUM and ZOO, with introductory remarks in English.

My motto is to play a fair game and show the truth, without using special computer effects. For my projects, I use newsreels and find people who, in my opinion, are well worth mentioning as part of the Russian rock music history.

Google Books: Noise of the world: non-western musicians in their own words
"ALEXANDER (SASHA) LIPNITSKY | ZVUKI MU Zvuki Mu is one of the few rock bands qua rock band featured in this book, for similar reasons to Tribe After Tribe. ..."
by Hank Bordowitz - 2004 - Music - 381 pages

links:
Free Screening of Documentary on History of Soviet / Russian Underground Music at Margret

mp3.com: Zvuki Mu

wikipedia.org: Russian rock

wikipedia.org: Legends of Russian Rock

digitaljournal.com: KinoArt Russian Festival Opens in Toronto Thursday
"In recent years, he created a series of television programs on the main heroes of Russian rock in the 80's. Itself in many ways a symbol of the era, Lipnitsky is now considered one of the most competent of Russian rock historians."
by Lenny Stoute

kuryokhin.letov.ru: SERGEY KURYOKHIN: uncivil engineering
Sergey Kuryokhin and his popular mechanics give performance art soviet twist
by Michael R. Benson

80sretromusic.com: Zvuki Mu
"Led by singer, songwriter, poet, actor, and all-around artistic troublemaker Pyotr Mamonov, Zvuki Mu was one of the few bands of the so-called "Russian Revolution" in late-'80s pop music that merited more than a casual glance from Western audiences. (As opposed to bands like the remarkably dull hard rockers Gorky Park.) Formed in 1981 by Mamonov, who was already a published author in his early 30s, Zvuki Mu (literally "sounds of moo," an absurdist name that suits Mamonov's playful lyrical style) performed increasingly above-ground gigs in Russia and Eastern Europe throughout the '80s ..."
Curtis Zimmermann, All Music Guide

yakutiatoday.com: Stepanida Borisova: World-famous but still unknown
"I remember Sasha Lipnitsky gave a concert in Moscow suburb, on Nicolina Gora. One of the life's brightest musical impressions! And not only musical – do you remember Zhanna Aguzarova came into your dressing room and said: Stesha, you are a great singer; I can tell you that as another great singer".
Interviewed by Irina Efimova, Vecherka.Ykt.Ru
Translated by Alexandra Markova, a Yakutsk State University student

The Second Kino Art Festival Launched Today at Toronto's Samovar Room

Media Conference: KinoArt Festival:
For The Love of Russian Film, Music and Art
Introducing Russian Director Sergey Solovyev
and Lead Actress Tatiana Drubich,
and announcing the North American premiere of Anna Karenina
and other film and documentary highlights.
November 4, 2009 at Samovar Room
Credit: www.kinoartfestival.com

The Second Toronto Russian Film Festival is happy to inform you that today the 1st press conference took place at the club "SAMOVAR"!

The conference was dedicated to the main festival's film Anna Karenina. The director of the film Sergey Solovyev and the leading actress Tatiana Drubich took part in the event. Press conference was opened with speech of the festival's director Alla-Ani Poliakova.

Welcome to KinoArt Festival 2009, the 2nd Russian Film Festival in Toronto, which starts on Thursday, November 5th, and runs until Sunday November 8th. My name is Alla-Ani Poliakova and I’m the Director of KinoArt Festival. Sitting next to me is Russian director Sergei Solovyev, Russian lead-actress Tatiana Drubich, Project Coordinator of KinoaArt Festival, Luba Shmygol and publicist for the festival, Vitaly Gurevich.

We are very excited to bring Toronto this event, with our goal always being to chronicle the evolution of Russian cinematography of past and present. This year we are thrilled to be offering the most impressive feature films, documentaries, animations and shorts, some never before seen.

Our program this year includes a new and groundbreaking North American premier of Anna Karenina, a documentary on the Moscow underground called Metro, a 2008 Russian box-office hit We are From the Future, as well as other amazing selections such as Taras Bulba, Morphine, and Yuri's Day.

New to this years’ lineup, we will have a panel discussion with Thomas Lahusen, Professor of Eurasian Cultural History at the University of Toronto and documentary filmmaker, together with Sergei Kapterev, senior researcher at the Institute of Film Art in Moscow, discussing the present, past, and future of Russian cinema.

The KinoArt Festival 2009 would like to thank our Sponsors, whose help and generosity has made this years’ lineup one to remember. Canada Heritage, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Steam Whistle, United Stars, Torontovka, The West East Newspaper, Brunello Imports, Finn-Tastic, University of Toronto’s Slavic Languages & Literatures Department, The Ethnic Channels Group, NexTV, Russian Waves, Express Gazeta, Mix TV, Torontovka.com, Nasha Gazeta, and of course the Samovar Room, who have provided us with this exquisite room for the Media Conference.

I would like to introduce to you prolific Russian writer and director Sergey Solovyev, who is bringing not just one, but three great films to Toronto for KinoArt. Along with one of the most recognized Russian actresses, Tatiana Drubich, Mr. Solovyev has brought to life one of the best Russian novels of all time, Anna Karenina, which was also filmed in Leo Tolstoy’s birth-place. Along with Anna Karenina, Mr. Solovyev is bringing Toronto his 80’s cult-classic film Assa, and the long-awaited sequel Assa 2.

It is my privilege to introduce you to Russia’s most distinguished and sought-after leading actress Tatiana Drubich, who plays the lead role in the North Premier of Anna Karenina.

Once again, thank you for joining us today for the launch of the 2nd KinoArt Festival and if you require further information about the Festival, please visit us online at www.kinoartfestival.com

Alla Ani Poliakiva,
Director of The KinoArt Festival

Press-Release: The Second KinoArt Festival in Toronto November 5 – 8 for The Love of Russian Film, Music and Art
KinoArt Festival: Media Alert!! Conference November 4 at Samovar Room
picture.belga.be: KINOART
[Check a great photo coverage of the media conference taken by Dominic Chan/WENN.com]

KinoArt Festival: Media Alert!! Conference November 4 at Samovar Room

Poster: Media Conference: KinoArt Festival:
For The Love of Russian Film, Music and Art
November 4, 2009 11:00 am at Samovar Room
Credit: www.kinoartfestival.com

KinoArt Festival – Media Alert!! – Conference November 4

***** MEDIA ALERT *****

October 30, 2009 – Toronto, ON

All media are invited

KinoArt Festival
For The Love of Russian Film, Music and Art

presents

Media Conference Introducing Russian Director Sergey Solovyev and Lead Actress Tatiana Drubich, and announcing the North American premiere of Anna Karenina and other film and documentary highlights.

WHO: Director Sergey Solovyev and Lead Actress Tatiana Drubich.

WHAT: Introducing them to Toronto Media and hearing stories on the making of the film. The Conference will also serve as a platform to announce other films, documentaries, animations and shorts showcased at the 2nd KinoArt Festival.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Informal greetings at 10:30, conference begins promptly at 11 a.m.

WHERE: Samovar Room – 51A Winchester Street, Toronto ON http://j.mp/3JUfKZ

WHY: This Media Conference is a rare and intimate opportunity to meet first-hand, face-to-face one of Russia’s most prolific director and writer Sergey Solovyev and one of Russia’s most distinguished and sought-after leading actress Tatiana Drubich.

www.kinoartfestival.com

All media are invited.
For more information, get GAT:
Vitaly Gurevich | 416.888.3744 | vitaly@gat.ca
Ingrid Hamilton | 416‐731‐3034 | ingrid@gat.ca

Press-Release: The Second KinoArt Festival in Toronto November 5 – 8 for The Love of Russian Film, Music and Art

Poster: Second Kino Art Festival Toronto
November 5 - 8, 2009

The Fabulous Tales from Robert Lepage: The Nightingale

Screenshot: The Nightingale and Other Short Fables
"This has to be the most enchanting work for the musical stage to hit Toronto in years." (Toronto Star)
NEW Mon., Nov. 2, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. performance just added. Order today!
Credit: Canadian Opera Company

The Nightingale & Other Short Fables by Igor Stravinsky
On Stage Oct. 17 to Nov. 5, 2009
NEW Mon., Nov. 2, 2009 at 7:30 p.m
At the Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto.

Director: Robert Lepage
Conductor: Jonathan Darlington
Nightingale: Olga Peretyatko
Fisherman: Lothar Odinius
Emperor: Ilya Bannik
Death: Maria Radner
The world premiere of a new co-production with Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and Opéra national de Lyon, in collaboration with Ex Machina.

Notes & Impressions:

Igor Stravinsky was known for his innovative use of rhythm and harmony, but not for melody. But melody is "Our All" for Russian musical forms. Most of the Russian folk songs are very melodic, which influences on many Russian composers. No need to say here … Tchaikovsky.

The end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twenties century brought up a new composer’s breed like Scriabin, Stravinsky and others, who broke the rules. But what Stravinsky did was based on the different kind of Russian folklore and folk music. That was kind a Bakhtin's carnival, for the inner use only with violent rhythms and rough wordings. So, when Stravinsky was hanging out with Harlem’s musicians, he was pretty much inoculated with our own folk-jazz syncopes that might gave a life to his avant-garde music.

This is a preface to the today’s performance of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables by Igor Stravinsky at the Four Seasons Centre. And the feast we had today couldn’t be more synthetic than the performance: opera, ballet, puppet theatre, water show, theatre of shadows, circus, and, of course, the orchestra!

I might forgot a thing or two, or might missed something from the Ring #5 but, nevertheless, it was a feast for my eyes, my ears, and my Russian soul.

2009 © Natalia Silver

links:
thestar.com: Review: Nightingale and Other Short Fables are awash in magic
By John Terauds
bbc.co.uk: Discovering Music: WORK IN FOCUS: Petrushka: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
The Arts Junction:
Three Robbin’s Ballet Pieces: Brilliant Canadian Tribute
National Ballet of Canada: The Life of a Ballet Dancer
National Ballet of Canada: Class on Stage and We Mean It