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How to navigate our site We're in the middle of a redesign of our site so we've stopped archiving projects and, instead, will leave things up on this home page. So if you want to get an idea of current projects and relatively recent stuff, take a look here. The division between our "social acupuncture" projects and our "shows" is no longer valid, as it's all social acupuncture now. "press" is a little out of date, so it's best to take a look here to see what people are saying these days.
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MDR and the WWW
Everything written about us on the web. |
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MDR and twitter
Mammals tweet too. |
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Dare Night V5.0
Dare Night 5.0: We have what YOU want. There will be a regular sized hat. Inside this regular sized hat will be tiny pieces of paper, written on these tiny pieces of paper will be dares curated by The Torontonians, a group of twisted teenagers from Parkdale. This party will turn your life upside down! Prepare for an insanely hilarious night where participants of all ages will execute a series of crazy, exhilarating dares in front of a crowd of totally captivated strangers. Participation is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged because the girl and guy who execute the most courageous dares will be crowned the Dare KING and QUEEN, and will hold bragging rights until next month's Dare Night! Take a look at the review on BlogTO of the inaugural Dare Night, and watch video from a past Dare Night here.
Conceived and directed by Nerupa Somasale; hosted by Nerupa and Sanjay Ratnan; dares curated, designed and enforced by: Isabel Ahat, Saniya Ansari, Virginia Antonipillai, Saif Azmi, Ahash Jeeva, Kiam Lam-Bellisimmo. Dana Liu, Vivian Luu, Darren O'Donnell, Tenzin Dolkar, Tenzinyeshi Dolma, Tenzin Nyidon, Anupa Perera, Chosang Tenzin, Chozin Tenzin, Dasel Tenzin, Paldon Tenzin, Ngwang Luding, Stephanie Springgay, Eva Verity, Kathy Vuu, Jenna Winter and Yan Wu; produced by Ana-Marija Stojic and Effie Tassiopoulos. |
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These are the People in Your Neighbourhood in Toronto
Presented at Jane's Walk and Art of the Danforth. Taking the title from the segment on early Sesame Street shows, These are the People in Your Neighborhood is a neighbourhood fortification and positive street-proofing exercise where children are introduced to business owners and other adults who work in their neighbourhood over the course of a school year. In addition to street-proofing, the performance offers a utopia where the neighborhood is a village, not just a place to live. These are the People in Your Neighborhood culminates in a public tour of the neighbourhood led by the children. Performances:
These are the People in Your Neighbourhood received seed funding through Toronto Arts Council's Incubate program which is funded jointly by the City of Toronto, Toronto Arts Foundation and Luminato, Toronto's Festival of Arts + Creativity. |
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All the Sex I've Ever Had in Singapore
Presented by Singapore Arts Festival. A group of women over the age of 65 share their insights on the evolution of sexuality over the course of a lifetime. During a party with performance interludes, there will be stories, questions, music and dancing. In our youth-obsessed culture, All the Sex I've Ever Had re-establishes a community of wise elders to whom we can turn for advice gleaned from their vast wealth of expertise. Performances: *WOMEN AUDIENCE ONLY* Esplanade Theatre Studio, Friday May 25 @ 8:00pm, Saturday, May 26 @ 2:30pm & 8:00pm and Sunday, May 27 @ 2:30pm & 8:00pm. Click here for more information. Director: Darren O'Donnell Co-Director: Konstantin Bock Producers: Eva Verity & Jenna Winter Local Coordinators: Sylvia Low & Cecilia Chow Video Designer: Wee Li Lin with assistance from Jane Sound Designer: Ou Kexin |
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All the Sex I've Ever Had in Bern, Switzerland
Presented by Auawirleben Zeitgenossisches Theatertreffen Bern. A group of women and men over the age of 65 share their insights on the evolution of sexuality over the course of a lifetime, and what it takes to still make it happen. There will be stories, questions, music and dancing. In our youth-obsessed culture, All the Sex I've Ever Had re-establishes a community of wise elders to whom we can turn for advice gleaned from their vast wealth of expertise. Performances: Schlachthaus Theater, Friday May 4 @ 8:00pm, Saturday, May 5 @ 10:00pm and Sunday, May 6 @ 8:00pm. Click here for more information. Director: Darren O'Donnell Co-Director: Konstantin Bock Producer: Eva Verity Local Coordinator: Sibylle Heiniger Video Designer: Stephanie Comilang with assistance from Thibault Schiemann Company Chef: Stephanie Comilang |
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Haircuts by Children in Glasgow, Scotland
Presented by The Arches and the Behaviour Festival. Salon: Alice Rocks Hairdressing (7-9 Gibson Street, Glasgow) MDR Coordinators: Hazel Venzon & Jenna Winter Local Coordinator: Louise Brodie Performances: Saturday, April 28th & Sunday, April 29th, 1-5pm Artist Talk: 'Mammalian Diving Reflex: Introducing Social Acupuncture' on Wednesday, April 25th, 5-6pm |
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All the Sex I've Ever Had in Oldenburg, Germany
Presented by Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and Pazz International Performing Arts Festival. A group of women and men over the age of 65 share their insights on the evolution of sexuality over the course of a lifetime, and what it takes to still make it happen. In our youth-obsessed culture, All the Sex I've Ever Had re-establishes a community of wise elders to whom we can turn for advice gleaned from their vast wealth of expertise. Performances: Kaserne Donnerschwee, Tuesday April 24 @ 7:00pm, Thursday, April 26 @ 7:00pm and Saturday, April 28 @ 7:00pm. Click here for more information. Director: Darren O'Donnell Co-Director: Konstantin Bock Producer: Eva Verity Local Coordinators: Konstantin Bock & Jana Eiting Video Designer: Stephanie Comilang with assistance from Thibault Schiemann |
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The Children's Choice Awards in Oldenburg, Germany
Presented by Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and Pazz International Performing Arts Festival. MDR Coordinators: Jana Eiting & Eva Verity Awards Ceremony: Exerzierhalle, Sunday April 29 @ 5:00pm For more information, click here, and check it out on the BLOG! |
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Monster Makers in Ottawa
Monster Makers is a wildly inventive, fun, participatory work for children and adults that explores the perils of success and the freedom of failure. John, the Sad Scientist, needs the kids' help to deal with Darren the friendly monster and Amy the ambitious photographer - before unleashing his creation on the world! If you're an adult, you'll love it. If you're a kid, you'll be in it! Who: Written by Darren O'Donnell, starring The Monster, John Caffery as the Sad Scientist and Amy Lam as Amy, with Stephanie Springgay (Youth Advisor), Krys Verrall (Academic Consultant), production by Jenna Winter, production management by Richard Cliff, stage management by Marianna Rosato.
To buy TICKETS, click here or call 1-888-991-2787. Monster Makers: there's control and then there's outta control.
Monster Makers was conceived in collaboration with the students at Aarambh, Vashi India and tested in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto; Young People's Theatre, Toronto; St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, Toronto; the Streets Alive Youth Arts Festival, Launceston, Australia; Young People and the Arts Australia, Brisbane; Kite Arts Education Program at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Australia; the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada; The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto. Check out our preview and the first moment of inspiration in India with the students of Aarambh. |
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Dare Night V4.0
Dare to Dare: to hell with the truth. Mammalian and the Torontonians will conclude our two-week residency at the Drake Lab with a party that will turn your life upside down! There will be a black box, inside the black box will be white paper, written on the white paper will be dares curated by the Torontonians, our group of twisted teenagers from Parkdale. An insanely hilarious night where participants will execute a series of crazy, exhilarating dares in front of a crowd of totally captivated strangers. Participation is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged because the girl and guy who execute the most courageous dares will be crowned the Dare KING and QUEEN, and will hold bragging rights until next month's Dare Night! Take a look at the review on BlogTO of the inaugural Dare Night.
Conceived and directed by Nerupa Somasale; hosted by Nerupa and Sanjay Ratnan; dares curated, designed and enforced by: Isabel Ahat, Saniya Ansari, Virginia Antonipillai, Saif Azmi, Ahash Jeeva, Kiam Lam-Bellisimmo. Dana Liu, Vivian Luu, Darren O'Donnell, Tenzin Dolkar, Tenzinyeshi Dolma, Tenzin Nyidon, Anupa Perera, Chosang Tenzin, Chozin Tenzin, Dasel Tenzin, Paldon Tenzin, Ngwang Luding, Stephanie Springgay, Eva Verity, Kathy Vuu, Jenna Winter and Yan Wu; produced by Ana-Marija Stojic and Maile Zox. |
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Congratulations to Ernie Boulton, winner of the 2011 Timothy Comeau Award!
The Timothy Comeau Award was created to recognize individuals who have shown exceptional support, interest and love for Mammalian. Recipients of the Timothy Comeau Award have been supporters and participants in many of our activities, and have also offered insights, analysis and criticism. These are people without whom our events would feel incomplete. Winners of the award receive a life-long pass to all Mammalian presentations as well as a home-cooked dinner prepared by Artistic and Research Director, Darren O'Donnell, Artistic Producer, Eva Verity, Managing Producer, Jenna Winter, Intern Maile Zox, and The Torontonians. The 2011 winner of the Timothy Comeau Award is Ernie Boulton! Thanks to Ernie, Mammalian was able to access students at Parkdale Public School to create our first work with kids, and the rest is history. Ernie continues to be supportive of the company as Principal at Dovercourt Public School, facilitating our collaboration with the kids there on These Are The People In Your Neighbourhood. The 2010 winner of the Timothy Comeau Award was Sanjay Ratnan! Sanjay has been hanging out with MDR and participiating in Mammalian events since he was a fetus. He continues to contribute his talents, ideas and super-star personality to Mammalian as a member of The Torontonians. The 2009 winner of the Timothy Comeau Award was Kathleen Smith. Kathleen is not only a super Mammalian supporter, but thanks to her three nominations, MDR won the Toronto Arts Foundation's Arts for Youth Award in 2009, a $15,000 cash prize! The 2008 winner of the inaugural Timothy Comeau Award was Timothy Comeau. Timothy is a writer and cultural worker who has a couple of blogs including (curation.ca). He has been a constant supporter of the company, writing about our work, showing up to our events, goofing around and generating the kind of vibe that is essential to us. A Mammalian event without Timothy is a Mammalian event that's happening on another continent. |
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Mammals in Residence: Grilled Open Cheese Office Songwriting Sandwich
Mammalian Diving Reflex and The Torontonians are presenting Grilled Open Cheese Office Songwriting Sandwich during our 2 week residency at the Drake Lab (1140 Queen Street West), February 5-18. From 10am-4pm you will find a fully-functioning office with 5+ workers and interns plugging away to plan multiple projects on multiple continents. Drop by and watch us write emails like a boss. At 4pm the office closes and we begin the subproject 12 Days 24 Songs in collaboration with The Torontonians, a collective of teens from Parkdale. We've got 12 days to write 24 songs, come and help us. At 7pm, the panini press comes out and we start making grilled cheese sandwiches, and at that point, anything can happen: singing, dancing, haircuts, crickets, old people, children. It's Mammalian- we do it all. The residency culminates in Dare Night V4.0 on Feburary 18 at 7:30, a night designed and hosted by The Torontonians. Come and lick an armpit. For more details about our residency, check out The Grid.
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Eat the Street in Vancouver, BC
Presented by PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. CHECK OUT THE WINNERS HERE: eatdastreet.blogspot.com Following a culinary session with a professional chef, grades five and six students from Bridgeview Elementary in Surrey will make stops at several of Vancouver's most notable eateries in Gastown and surrounding neighbourhoods. They will be feted and fed throughout the three weeks of the Festival, charged with offering their brutally honest, uncensored opinions on the food, the service, the decor, the state of the washrooms and the charm of the dishwasher. For the mere cost of a meal, the public is invited to sit amongst the kids for a front-row view of the youthful connoisseurs in action. It will be the most fun meal you've had since you sat at the kids table. Dine with the kids or follow the shenanigans at eatdastreet.blogspot.com.Then join the panel of pre-adolescent adjudicators for an uproarious awards ceremony where awards are bestowed for everything from "Most Delicious" and "Coolest Chef" to "Least Graffiti in the Washroom." Come grab a bite with the kids:
Awards Ceremony:
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Dare Night V3.0
Dare to Dare: to hell with the truth. There will be a black box, inside the black box will be white paper, written on the white paper will be dares curated by the Torontonians, our group of twisted teenagers in Parkdale. This party will turn your life upside down! An insanely hilarious night where participants will execute a series of crazy, exhilarating dares in front of a crowd of totally captivated strangers. Participation is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged because the girl and guy who execute the most courageous dares will be crowned the Dare KING and QUEEN, and will hold bragging rights until next month's Dare Night! Take a look at the review on BlogTO of the inaugural Dare Night.
Conceived and directed by Nerupa Somasale; hosted by Nerupa and Sanjay Ratnan; dares curated, designed and enforced by: Isabel Ahat, Saniya Ansari, Virginia Antonipillai, Saif Azmi, Ahash Jeeva, Kiam Lam-Bellisimmo. Dana Liu, Vivian Luu, Darren O'Donnell, Tenzin Dolkar, Tenzinyeshi Dolma, Tenzin Nyidon, Anupa Perera, Chosang Tenzin, Chozin Tenzin, Dasel Tenzin, Paldon Tenzin, Ngwang Luding, Stephanie Springgay, Eva Verity, Kathy Vuu, Jenna Winter and Yan Wu; produced by Ana-Marija Stojic and Maile Zox. |
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DO YOU WANT TO BE ON OUR BOARD?
Are you a motivated, dedicated, fan-freaking-tastic person? Then you should join our Board of Directors! Ideally you love us, and you have experience working with non-profits and have some skills to offer us- fundraising, marketing and communications are a plus. If this is you, please send a letter of interest to jenna@mammalian.ca and tell us why you'd be a great fit for Mammalian!
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We need your $$$: help The Producers of Parkdale raise $2,500!
We're thrilled to announce a fundraising campaign to support the cost of our year-long project with the Gladstone Hotel, The Producers of Parkdale. These 10 teenagers are getting hands-on experience in arts management and production from top people in the city, including Naomi Campbell, Yan Wu, Chris Lorway, Carrie Sager, Howard Mah, Nathan Isberg, Sarah Robayo Sheridan, Julian Sleath, Mathew Kensett and Lisa Duke, as well as the amazing Gladstone staffers, led by Britt Welter-Nolan, to create and manage a 3-day event to be held August 10-12, 2012 at the Gladstone- fully curated and organized by the teens themselves. They'll even run a full-time office at the Gladstone in July to prepare for the big weekend. But to make all this happen by August, we need help from alll you Mammal lovers out there! All donations (made in Canada) over $20 will receive a tax receipt. And remember- ANYTHING helps- $10 here or $100,000 there, it all matters! To donate, and to read our full pitch, visit our OFFICIAL campaign fundraising page on indiegogo- it's easy, and you can choose whatever amount to donate that you want. Donate $50 or more and receive a vintage Mammalian poster- take your pick between Haircuts by Children, Eat the Street, Parkdale Public School vs. Queen St. West (all designed by the Fabulous Cecilia Berkovic), or our special "mystery" poster (you know you're curious)! Donate $100 or more and get a second poster for your Mammalian-themed wall! Donate $250 or more and we'll send you a couple posters plus Darren's book, Social Acupuncture. Donate $500 and you and a guest will get an invite to a musical-theatre dinner extravaganza with Donate $100,000! and come on tour with us ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!! We will even rename our Youth Wing after you, we promise. Remember, you'll get all the perks of the levels below what you donate- so if you give us $300, we'll send you a tax receipt, two posters and a book! |
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The Mammalian Protocol for Collaborating with Children
Mammalian Diving Reflex is pleased to announce the release of the first publication from The Tendency Group, Mammalian's research wing: The Mammalian Protocol for Collaborating with Children. The Protocol was initially drafted during the presentation of The Children's Choice Awards at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, May 2011, and outlines our rights-based approach to artistic collaboration with children. The document was developed using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (The Convention), The Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (The Handbook), The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The Declaration of the Child's Right to Play as primary resources upon which we base our methodology. Using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as framework, in particular, Articles 5, 12, 13, 15, 19, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 36, the company has developed specific protocols for dealing with common situations when collaborating with children and the institutions in which children are most commonly engaged, including the family, schools, community, cultural centers and arts organizations. Download the full protocol here.
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Call for Submissions: Theatre Creators' Reserve
Mammalian Diving Reflex is participating in the Ontario Arts Council's Theatre Creators' Reserve program. We have $4,000 big ones to allocate to worthy projects. Please download our info. sheet for more details. OAC application forms can be found here. Deadline is December 1st, 2011. Open to Ontario residents only.
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Dare Night V2.0
DARE NIGHT V2.O is hosted by The Torontonians, a party that will turn your life upside down! An insanely hilarious night where you will be completely obligated to execute a series of horrible, humiliating dares in front of a crowd of totally ominous strangers. There will be a black box, inside the black box will be white paper, written on the white paper will be evil dares curated by the Torontonians, a group of malicious and twisted teenagers in Parkdale. Do you dare do their demented desires? Will you have the courage to: stare at someone while eating a banana seductively; go across the street into the library and scream: "librarians are awesome!"; pee one drop in your pants. It will be CRAZY. Participation is mandatory. And we mean MANDATORY...as in DO or DIE. The girl and guy who execute the most courageous dares will be crowned the KING and QUEEN and will hold bragging rights for ETERNITY!
Conceived and directed by Nerupa Somasale; hosted by Nerupa and Sanjay Ratnan; dares curated, designed and enforced by: Isabel Ahat, Saniya Ansari, Virginia Antonipillai, Saif Azmi, Ahash Jeeva, Kiam Lam-Bellisimmo. Dana Liu, Vivian Luu, Darren O'Donnell, Tenzin Dolkar, Tenzinyeshi Dolma, Tenzin Nyidon, Anupa Perera, Chosang Tenzin, Chozin Tenzin, Dasel Tenzin, Paldon Tenzin, Ngwang Luding, Stephanie Springgay, Eva Verity, Kathy Vuu, Jenna Winter and Yan Wu; produced by Darren O'Donnell. |
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Haircuts by Children in Austin, Texas
Presented by Fusebox Festival. Generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Salon: Peacock Salon (1519 E. Cesar Chavez Austin Tx 78702) MDR Coordinators: Eva Verity & Jenna Winter Local Coordinators: Ron Berry, Brad Carlin, Natalie George Participating School: Pecan Springs School Facilitator: Starla Simmons November 12th & 13th, 12:00- 4:00pm To book an appointment: click here |
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Haircuts by Children in Prague, Czech Republic
Presented by MOTUS and Alfred Ve Dvore Theatre and 4+4 Days in Motion performing arts festival. Generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Salon: Toni&Guy Prague (Dlouha 13, Praha 1) MDR Coordinators: Eva Verity & Jenna Winter Local Coordinator: Zdenka Svadlenkova Participating School: ZS Brana jazyku, Vojtesska Participating Teachers: Sylva Bartakovicova, Ondrej Cizinsky and Hana Novotna October 22 & 23, 12:00- 4:00pm To book an appointment: phone +420 775 186 460 |
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Monster Makers
Monster Makers is a wildly inventive, fun, participatory work for children and adults, written by Darren O'Donnell, Monster Makers explores the perils of success and the freedom of failure. John, the Sad Scientist, needs the kids' help to deal with Daniel the friendly monster and Amy the ambitious photographer - before unleashing his creation on the world! If you're an adult, you'll love it. If you're a kid, you'll be in it! Who: Written and coordinated by Darren O'Donnell, starring Daniel Nimmo as The Monster, John Caffery as the Sad Scientist and Amy Lam as Amy, with Faisal Anwar (Video Designer), Stephanie Springgay (Youth Advisor), Krys Verrall (Academic Consultant), production managed by Mathew Kensett, stage managed by Marianna Rosato.
To buy TICKETS, click here or call 416-973-4000.
Monster Makers was conceived in collaboration with the students at Aarambh, Vashi India and tested in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto; Young People's Theatre, Toronto; St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, Toronto; the Streets Alive Youth Arts Festival, Launceston, Australia; Young People and the Arts Australia, Brisbane; Kite Arts Education Program at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Australia; the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada; The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto. Check out our preview and the first moment of inspiration in India with the students of Aarambh. |
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Reading in Common
We're hosting a reading group for J.K. Gibson-Grahams's A Postcapitalist Politics Wednesdays from 7am-9am, October 26, 2011 - December 14, 2011 at The Common, 1071 College St, Toronto On. If you want a paper copy, you can find it at the Bob Miller Bookroom, Toronto. We like the work of Gibson-Graham because they deliberately avoid a totalizing analysis - coming from both the political Left and the Right - which sees the monster of capitalist relations hiding under every bed. Instead, they prefer to 'queer' economic relations, pointing out that most economies are, in fact, NOT capitalist. They compare the difficulty we have in seeing beyond capitalism with the difficulty we have seeing past a male-dominated world or a hetero dominated world and they cheer-on feminists and queer theorists who are managing to dislodge these views. Gibson-Graham wants to do the same with capitalism. And we want to cheer them on. Oct 26: preface and introduction
No depressed paranoid angry lefties allowed. |
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Darren interviewed by Sheila Heti for The Believer
Writer Sheila Heti interviewed Darren for The Believer a while back and it finally came out last spring. I think we're allowed to share it now. Sheila is one of the best friends of Mammalian, has always been supportive and critical, and is a consistent presence at our parties, always bringing new friends. She founded Trampoline Hall way back in the day and has written a bunch of books, including The Middle Stories, How a Person Should Be, Ticknor, We Need a Horse and The Chairs are Where the People Go, in collaboration with another of our best friends, Misha Glouberman. She's a great writer and a very curious and open journalist, the quality of conversations that she triggers always filled with insight and fun. In addition, she called Darren "loach," which is a kind of fish with teeth in their throat, adding a new word to his vocabulary. Actually, no, wait... She called him "louche," which means something else... but, still... a new word is always appreciated! |
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These are the People in Your Neighborhood
is a collaboration with Art of the Danforth, the children of Dovercourt Public School, The Madeline Collective, a yet-to-be-determined public school near Danforth and Woodbine and a number of owner-operated businesses in both the West and East end of the city. The kids will get to know the owner-operators, create a newspaper featuring them and, in May 2012, will offer the public an introduction to these business people as part of Jane's Walk. The Madeleine Collective is a curatorial collective consisting of Ladan Ali, Nicole Bazuin, Alexandra Hong and Cheryl Hsu. They are interested in examining the ways in which we construct our sense of self by exploring relational experiences and examining how these experiences serve to shape our individual and communal identities. |
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The Children's Choice Awards in Kuopio, Finland
Presented by ANTI Contemporary Art Festival MDR Coordinators: Petrina Ng & Donna Soares Participating School: Pohjantien Koulu Participating Teacher: Tuija Eira Awards Ceremony: City Hall Great Hall, Sunday October 2 @ 1:00pm Check it out on the BLOG! |
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Haircuts by Children in Enschede, Netherlands
Presented by GrensWerk Kunstenfestival Enschede. Generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Salon: Barbershop Ruthless (Haverstraatpassage 22, 7511 EW Enschede) MDR Coordinators: Kirsten Azan & Hazel Venzon Local Coordinator: Susan Pinkster Schools: Weekend School & Brede School Velve-Lindehof October 1 & 2, 12:00- 5:00pm To book an appointment: phone Ruthless 053- 436 4699 |
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Farmer's Market 2050: Nuit Blanche
Presented by the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, as part of Nuit Blanche. Farmer's Market 2050 features the ideas of architect Kubo Dzamba and his Third Millenniuim Farming, chef Nathan Isberg, agricultural engineer Hala Chaoui, artistic genius Dean Baldwin with scientific interpretation by the teens of Parkdale. It is anticipated that in 2050 the world's population will exceed 9 billion people. The expansion of the world's foodprint that is expected to accompany this population increase may exceed the tolerances of our planet's ecosystems, activating unknown environmental and economic tipping points, and result in extreme food shortages. HOW WILL WE FEED EVERYONE WHEN THE TIME COMES? By eating bugs, of course. This project proposes Third Millennium Farming (3MF): harnessing the abilities of microorganisms (algae and phytoplankton) and micro-livestock (insects) to rapidly reproduce, for the purpose of food production. 3MF food production strategies have a significantly smaller foodprint than current crop farming and livestock rearing methods. Additionally, these new farming operations could be fed with certain types of city bio-wastes, creating a new and more sustainable type of food chain. Jump in your time machine and visit Farmers Market 2050, take a look at the science and nibble on the food. Nathan will be making some tasty delectables with always tasty crickets, algae, and other components in our ecosystem. When: October 1st, 7PM- October 2nd, 7AM
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Mistaken City: Nuit Blanche
Presented by the The Queen Street West BIA, as part of Nuit Blanche, conceived by Darren O'Donnell, designed and realised by Lilian Chan. Within the current taxonomy of global cities, Toronto is commonly viewed as regular alpha as opposed to alpha+ and alpha++, relatively connected and influential within financial and cultural circuits of power, but still not possessing the various attributes to push it over the top into big big leage status. As such, Toronto can be considered a teenaged city with all the attendant insecurities and missteps. The desire for recognition from the adult world can propol a teenager into asserting their identity in awkward ways, exploring extremes in fashion, opinions and attitudes and, very often, questioning and doubting themselves. Toronto the teenager is no different; desperate as it is for global recognition, it has a tendency to doubt its past, fret about its future, thereby making mistakes in the present. The mistakes of Toronto are legion and constantly debated: The Gardiner Expressway, the OCAD building, the ROM, Mel Lastman, the new twins on the block and the spectre of the ultimate mistake that haunts almost every ambitious Torontonian: "should I have moved to London/New York/Berlin/Hong Kong/Paris etc. when I was young? Have I made a horrible mistake?!!!!!" The City of Toronto (R) was so annoyed with the project that they refused to feature it in the Nuit Blanche program. Can you believe it? Get a sense of humour, people! Gaze at Mistaken City during Nuit Blanche, October 1, 7PM-October 2, 7AM in the storefront windows of Jeans West, 465 Queen St. West; Queen Street Tees, 550 Queen St. West; Outer Layer, 577 Queen St. West; and West Camera, 514 Queen St. West |
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Faith Exchange
Presented by CAFKA, as part of Survive.Resist., the Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area's fall biennial program. Faith Exchange is an afternoon-long event bringing together a modest multitude of faith organizations from the Waterloo Region to do some serious proselytizing. In this post-secular ear, we figured it was time to admit that art isn't all that different from religion: we both have large, beautiful buildings in which you kin of have to be quiet and pay attention, we both offer transcendent meaning, we both have saints and martyrs (Muhammed, Christ, the Buddha, Duchamp, Debord, Khalo) and we both have holy cities: the Christian and Jew make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the Muslim to Mecca and the Artist to Berlin. In addition, we've noticed that religious people tend to enjoy our events. Go figure. So we thought we'd make an event with them. Featuring: The Christian Science Reading Room, The Church of Scientology, The Church of the Good Shepherd, Cold Mountain Internal Arts, Grand River Interfaith, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, The Kitchener-Waterloo United Mennonite Church, the Muslim Social Society, the Pyrus Coffee House, The Science of Spirituality, Unity Kitchener and the Yog Fellowhip Temple. Where: Kitchener Market, Covered Area
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The Producers of Parkdale
The Torontonians, the Mammalian collective of Parkdale teens are deployed in The Producers of Parkdale, a year-long mentorship residency at the Gladstone Hotel, where they will be learning the ropes of event production: curating, budgeting, marketing, production management and hospitality. We're bringing in some heavyweights to teach them: Julian Sleath, Harold Mah, Yan Wu, Chris Lowray, Nathan Isberg, Mathew Kensett, Naomi Campbell, Lisa Duke, Carrie Sager, Gregory Nixon and Sarah Robayo-Sheridan. They will also be learning from and shadowing the Gladstone staff, working with external arts organizations that are presenting events at the hotel, and running their own office at the Gladstone in July 2012 to produce a weekend-long event at the Gladstone in August 2012. |
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Nightwalks with Teenagers in Inverness, Cape Breton
Organized by Amish Morrell with the support of Inverness municipal councillor Jim Mustard as part of Diane Borsato and Stephanie Springgay's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded study "The Institute of Walking: Research and Creation in Relational and Interventionist Art Practices." Meet and Greet: August 16, Meet the Invernessers and Torontonians- 4:00pm at The Hoff Pub & Grill (20 Mill Road, Inverness) The Nightwalks: August 18: Ocean Walk, Dunvegan August 19: Forest Walk, Piper's Glen August 20: Town Walk, Inverness Participants include: Saniya Ansari, Saif Azmi, Diane Borsato, J. Trent Campbell, Ahash Jeeva, Brayden LaRadical, Dana Lui, Amish Morrell, Jim Mustard, Darren O'Donnell, Nerupa Somasale, Sanjay Ratnan, Stephanie Springgay, Chosang Tenzin, Chozin Tenzin and Kathy Vuu. For more information, contact: darren@mammalian.ca |
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Haircuts by Children in Nyon, Switzerland
Presented by FAR Festival des arts vivants in partnership with Passeport Vacances Nyon and Philippe Meier of Meier Coiffure (Rue Juste-Olivier 4, 1260 Nyon), generously supported by Marcel Inglin and the Canada Council for the Arts. Salon: Meier Coiffure (Rue Juste-Olivier 4, 1260 Nyon) MDR Coordinator: Eva Verity Local Coordinator: Christine Benoit-Bailo Kid collaborators: Kids from Nyon's Passeport Vacances Supervising Stylist: Sabrina Colomb August 13, 2011 - 12:00- 3:30pm To book an appointment: phone +41 (0) 79 714 75 62 or e-mail: haircut@festival-far.ch |
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Playgrounds on Fire (Logandi Leikvellir!) in Skagastrond, Iceland
Darren: "Imagine you've got a huge, sparkling new playground. What would you rather do: play on it? Or burn it to the ground?" Westmount Park Students: "Burn it to the ground!" Playgrounds on Fire is a large-scale ensemble presentation created collaboratively with a large group of children who are invited to frighten an audience of adults. Children are incessantly creative, constantly employing their imaginations to create play scenarios. Many of these games, scenarios, movements, gestures, dances, nonsense songs, etc. are fascinating to watch, and in an expression of unbridled energy, evident of ways of being that, it can be argued, adults have lost to their detriment. Playgrounds on Fire features a room filled with an audience of milling adults to whom the show happens, as the children, ranging from 5-12 years old, interact with them in a variety of ways, all designed in collaboration with the children to showcase what they do best, and freak the adults out. Logandi Leikvellir is generously supported by The Cultural and Artistic Leadership Program (CALP), a funding program run by the National Theatre School of Canada. Facilitated by the Nes Artist Residency. Featuring: the children of Skagastrond, Iceland
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The Children's Choice Awards in Norwich, UK
Presented by Norfolk & Norwich Festival with Creative Partnerships MDR Coordinators: Donna Soares & Hazel Venzon Participating School: City Academy Norwich Teacher: Duncan Joseph Awards Ceremony: Norwich Playhouse, Saturday May 21 @ 3:30pm |
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The Children's Choice Awards in Brussels, Belgium
Presented by Kunstenfestivaldesarts MDR Coordinators: Darren O'Donnell & Eva Verity Participating Schools & Teachers: Isabelle Warzee's class from Ecole Aurore, Karlien Tiebout's class from Vier Winden and Win Van den Brulle's class from Lutgardisschool Awards Ceremony: KVS-Box, Saturday May 28 @ 3:00pm |
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The Best Sex I've Ever Had in Oldenburg, Germany
Presented by Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and Pazz International Performing Arts Festival A group of women and men all over the age of 65, share their insights on the evolution of sexuality over the course of a lifetime and what it takes to still make it happen. Performances: Exerzierhalle of the state theater of Oldenburg, Friday April 1 @ 8:00pm and Sunday April 3rd @ 3:00pm |
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SmallTalks
SmallTalks is a series of podcasts hosted by Darren O'Donnell, who, like a log drifting downstream, will snag people on the bank to slow his progress toward death, and chat with them about their aspirations. Created in response to a life with too much time spent on the road, Darren will be interviewing people around the world and describing the sensation of weak knees in the face of vast heights. All SmallTalks will be available here or you can follow Darren's twitter feed for updates. |
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Broken Pencil loves Darren
Indie Zine Mag, Broken Pencil declares Artistic Director, Darren O'Donnell, one of their 50 favourite artists in celebration of their fiftieth issue. We return the compliment, by calling Broken Pencil one of 50 favourite magazines. |
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3MF: The Dinner
3MF: The Dinner is a dining experience presented by Mossutstallningar, Stockholm, curated by Erik Berg, coordinated by Darren O'Donnell and created in collaboration with Toronto chef, Nathan Isberg (Atlantic), architecture graduate Jakub Dzamba and Stafford Haensli Architects, to explore and experience the world of Third Millennium Farming (3MF). 3MF feeds plant micro-organisms, grown with city waste water (like your old bath water), to bugs which serve as a sustainable source of protein. Conceived by Dzamba as a means for grafting farming onto the city grid, while symbiotically linking the two to make our cities more sustainable, Isberg takes the idea of 3MF and whips up some good food. Come by, hear these two guys talk about their ideas and taste the future. 3MF: The Dinner is a full-course prix fixe meal which includes insect protein at every turn. Even dessert. Occurring in Stockholm, Sweden. Details soon. |
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Be a part of creating MDR's new show for kids!
Join us in testing a new show for kids:Monster Makers. Harbourfront Centre and Mammalian are looking for families, or children aged 6-12 with an accompanying adult, to participate in a FREE one-hour workshop session. Kids and adults will hang out, be monstrous and provide monstrous feedback and monstrous advice to help us be much, much more marvelously maliciously monstrous. Monster Makers is part of Harbourfront Centre's Fresh Ground 2010-11 Commissioning Program that supports the creation of new, innovative multi-disciplinary art works. Throughout 2011 Mammalian, in collaboration with Harbourfront Centre, education scholar Stephanie Springgay and children's studies scholar, Krys Verrall, will be workshopping and rehearsing Monster Makers in preparation for a weekend of monster-related events and activities at The Monster Makers HarbourKIDS Weekend, October 8-11, 2011, followed by performances of Monster Makers in the 2011-12 season. FREE Workshop Sessions
How to Register: Contact Jo Hunter at Harbourfront Centre at 416-952-7969 or e-mail her by clicking here |
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Playgrounds on Fire
Darren: "Imagine you've got a huge, sparkling new playground. What would you rather do: play on it? Or burn it to the ground?" Westmount Park Students: "Burn it to the ground!" Playgrounds on Fire is a performance starring a multitude of children, who are invited to frighten an audience of adults. A pilot presented by The National Theatre School, directed by Darren O'Donnell, Jill Connell and Hugh Portman occurred in Montreal in January 2010, and featured Ms. Hope, Mr. Noah and Ms. Wilson's 70 grade 5/6 students from Westmount Park School. It was really, really, really fun and we're looking to do it again. If you got a few hundred kids we could work with, drop us a line, and if you're lucky we will arrange to have a string of saliva dangled over your face. |
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Live at the Common
Gaze at our daily morning magic show, Live at the Common, hosted by Darren O'Donnell and Lou Rochester, broadcasting live from The Common Cafe in the heart of the West end of Toronto almost every single day at 7AM EST for about 10 minutes. (weekends are variable). Watch for the regular crew: Ed, Anna, Tony, Sandra, Rose, Kevin, Steve, Russ, Rocco, Attiya, Jerry, Megan, Ki and Sal. We will let you know about the weather and the traffic and College and Gladstone as well as how Lou's daily crossword is shaping up. Drop by and be a guest, anytime. |
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Ladies and Gentlemen: WE ARE GIVING MAMMALIAN TO THE KIDS!!!!
Mammalian Diving Reflex announces a new, 25-year succession and mentorship program- The Torontonians- in celebration of our 5th year anniversary of working with the children and youth of Parkdale, Toronto. 5 years ago today, we started working with the kids in Parkdale, Toronto and to celebrate this anniversary we're introducing The Torontonians, a collective of Toronto kids who we will spend the next twenty years expanding and mentoring as art makers. The final goal: to hand them control of the company in 2030, when they are in their 30's and we have no real teeth. Parkdale gets Mammalian: legacy in action! To support their development, we've established The Torontonians mentorship program to foster their talents, passions and interests and acheive this succession plan. The Torontonians are driven by their interests and keen to partner with other institutions across Toronto as well as receive learning experiences in all aspects of theatre, performance art and Mammalian's own brand of social acupuncture: conceiving, directing, producing, performing, lighting design, sound design, fundraising, marketing, audience outreach, criticism and more. A key component of The Torontonians is to offer financial support to its members to be used for clearly defined projects that will foster skills and passions, with a particular emphasis on the arts. While demonstrating a need and commitment, The Torontonians must progress through five stages of proposals to continue to receive financial support. Starting first with an initial verbal request, through written proposals, to the complete development of a personal artistic vision, bugets, plans and, miraculously, after a number of proposals, The Torontonians will be adept at writing grants. Mwa ha ha haaa!! We are sooo evil!!!! Three Torontonians are currently enrolled in street dance classes at the Street Dance Academy. The long-term goal of The Torontonians is to foster the youth's talents, passions and interests in the arts, cultivating artists, producers, technicians, administrators and, for those youth who choose to follow other career trajectories, positions on arts organizations' boards of directors. The Torontonians is a long-term succession plan, not only for Mammalian Diving Reflex, but for the future of Toronto's arts community.
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Nuit Market starring the Toronto Weston Road Flea Market
Following on Ballroom Dancing and Slow Dance with Teacher, our 2006 and 2007 Nuit Blanche hits we're back with Nuit Market. Nuit Market is a fully functioning night market supplying inexpensive consumer goods, the kind of goods that are sold the world-over in street markets, souqs and ad hoc temporary malls.
Saturday, October 2
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AGYU Peformance Bus: Meet The Torontonians
Hitch a ride on the Peformance Bus to check out Terrance Houle's Giv'r at the Art Gallery of York University and meet members from The Torontonians, a collective of young artists from Parkdale who have been assembled by Darren O'Donnell and Sanjay Ratnan. This Performance Bus, departing from OCAD on September 15 at 6PM will be the site of a networking session, as passengers meet a Torontonian or two and, together, explore projects they can work on. The free Performance Bus returns downtown at 9 pm. |
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Winners!
We were recently awarded a $20,000 Harbourfront Centre Prize as part of their Fresh Ground new works national commissioning programme. We will be using the cheddar to further develop Monster Makers, hoping to shatter all the hard work we've invested, and allow us to pick up the shards and make something really exciting. Monster Makers nervoulsy tackles themes of autonomy, risk and failure, themes that we believe everybody - particularly children - should happily embrace. And to lead the way, we've declared all previous development stages on this project to be "utter failures." So off we head into the unknown with Harbourfront solidly at our side. Thanks for the cash, guys! We promise to succeed this time or fail trying! |
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Winners!
After being nominated for three years straight, we've finally won the Toronto Arts Award for Youth, a $15,000 cash prize established in 2007 by Martha Burns, Jim Fleck and Jim Pitblado. |
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New Youth Operative: John Caffery
We are ecstatic to announce that John Caffery is piloting a new project with the Upper Canada College's Horizons Program: The UCC Gala Ambassadors Program. The Horizons program works with students from Toronto's public school system, offering them mentoring opportunities. Mammalian has introduced innovation into the program by inviting the students to put forward a material aspect of Toronto they would like to change - they chose to green Dundas Square. In response, Mammalian and UCC is organizing a series of social opportunities for the students to meet and pick the brains of people they think can help realize the goal. It's skills building, good times, network-building and city improvement all rolled into one. John Caffery's artistic practice incorporates music, dance, film, video, textiles, and photography. He is a founding member of Kids On TV, the electro-punk band which has since 2003 melded live performance, film, video, dance-club music and experimental rock. John recently completed a term as the President of Blocks Recording Club, a Co-operative Artist-Run Record Label. John danced for Cyndi Lauper, sang with Boy George, and is a member of the West Side Stitches. He implemented a dance program and developed a theatre production at Sketch: an artist studio for homeless and street involved youth, was a Community Animator for Jane's Walk where he facilitated youth to design walking tours of their neighbourhoods and a Volunteer Coordinator for the YMCA Academy connecting youth. |
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Haircuts by Children in London, UK
Presented by London International Festival of Theatre in partnership with Kaizo salon, (67-68 Charlotte Road) London, UK Teacher/Adventures Program Leader: Tracey England Kid collaborators: Kids from Canning Town and Newham Supervising Stylist: Faisal Abdu'A Ilah July 10, 2010 - 10:00am- 2:00pm & July 18, 2010 - 11:00am - 2:00pm To book an appointment: phone the LIFT Box Office (020) 70936343 |
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Haircuts by Children in Cork, Ireland
Presented by Cork Midsummer Festival in partnership with Victor Franks Hair Design, (42 Marlboro Street) Cork, Ireland. Participating school: St. Vincent's Primary School Teacher: Lesley-Ann Principal: Maire Ni Eili Supervising Stylist: Ian Butler June 26 & 27, 2010 - 12:00pm- 4:00pm each day To book an appointment: phone the Festival Box Office (021) 4271160 |
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Haircuts by Children in Norwich, UK
Presented by Norfolk & Norwich Festival in partnership with Flint Hair, (16 Bridewell Alley) Norwich, Norfolk, UK and Creative Partnerships Participating school: Catton Grove Primary School With special assistance from: Joanne Hobbs and City College Teachers: Agnes Pattison & Dan McKeown Supervising stylist: Conor O'Brien May 7 & 8, 2010 - 10:00am - 5:00pm each day. To book an appointment: call Jade at 01603 878285 |
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The Best Sex I've Ever Had in Oldenburg, Germany
Presented by Pazz International Performing Arts Festival and Oldenburgisches Staatstheater A group of women and men all over the age of 65, share their insights on the evolution of sexuality over the course of a lifetime and what it takes to still make it happen. Performances: Kulturetage, April 26 @ 8:00pm & April 30 @ 6:00pm |
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Haircuts by Children in Regina, Canada
Presented by Curtain Razors in partnership with The Room Hair Salon (2115 Retallack Street) Regina, Saskatchewan. Participating school: Davin's School Grade 4/5 Class. Teacher: Kelly Maupin Principal: Loraine O'Donnell Supervising stylists: Shelley Hoffman, Debra Tomporowski March 13 and 14, 2010 - 1:00pm - 4:00pm each day. To book an appointment: Mysteria Gallery - 306-522-0080, |
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Haircuts by Children in Perth, Australia
Presented by The Perth Festival
Participating School: Roseworth Primary School Sat 20, Sun 21 - Ebony and Ivory 25 Barrack St, Perth WA 6000 Sun 28 Feb, Mon 1 March - Octagon Theatre, Perth Writers Festival Bookings - Festival Info Centre 6488 5555 |
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The Children's Choice Awards - Perth, Australia
Presented by The Perth Festival
Awards Ceremony: Sat 27 Feb, 2pm His Majesty's Theatre |
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You Can Have It All
2-part performance with the Council of Expertly Aging Experts on Aging presented by the Justina M. Barnike Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto. Friday February 12, 7-9:30pm Saturday February 13, 7-9pm We will be greasing the wheels of conversation with a briefly open bar at 7. Location: Debates Room and others on 2nd floor, Hart House, University of Toronto 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto THIS EVENT IS RESTRICTED TO ADULTS We spent last summer and fall talking to a bunch of people over the age of 65 about their sex lives. As expected, assumptions crumbled. We learned, among other things, that most women over 65 can garner the love interests of a steady stream of young men, it's possible for a man to have an orgasm without an erection, you can be 80 and still attract the sexual interest of people under 30 and, at 75, it's still not too late to figure out how to come. But most important of all, we learned that aging can yield a way of being in the world that is open, generous and fearless. Facing the final leg of life can bring out the best in us. Mammalian Diving Reflex wants to stand on top of the tallest building in the world and shout out this discovery out to the universe. You Can Have It All is a performance starring the Council of Expertly Aging Experts on Aging. Experts on nothing more than aging, the council will let you know where it's at, how to do it and answer your most pressing questions. You Can Have It All: a Valentines performance from Mammalian Diving Reflex and the Council of Expertly Aging Experts on Aging. Please join us and immerse yourself in over 595 collective years of making it happen. Schedule:
Saturday February 13
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Listen Carefully Publishing partner, Coach House Books, has uploaded audio clips of Darren reading from Social Acupuncture, an essay and a playscript. Listen to other Coach House authors, too. |
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Time Management for Anarchists The amazingly talented, tireless and prolific Jim Munroe and Marc Ngui have written a comic for anarcho-activists who are tired of the grind. It features an illustrated interview with Darren, his first starring role in a comic. Take a look at Jim's website and download a free copy. |
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Carl Wilson writes article about us for Toronto Life
Master music critic, blogger and Celine Dion expert, Carl Wilson has written an article about us for the December issue of Toronto Life. |
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New Australia Operative: Lenine Bourke
Mammalian Diving Reflex is ecstatic to introduce Lenine Bourke as our new Australia Operative. We will be developing her brilliant project, 600,000 Years, an exciting performance about stranger-danger. Stay tuned - more details to come. Lenine's professional experience in the arts and cultural sectors has taken her throughout Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the USA. She has worked for community, government and arts institutions and organizations. She is currently the Director of Young People and the Arts Australia, the national peak body for youth arts. Her experience extends across a broad range of arts and cultural forms, however her work is collaborative and usually responds to individual or community ideas or issues. She has worked in urban, rural and remote geographies. She has worked extensively with young people, children and their families from diverse communities. Some of the major pieces of her work have been based around social justice, change making, culture and heritage, play and place. Lenine's work has been received as innovative, having integrity and continually utilizes socially just and culturally appropriate processes, she is considered a leader in her field and enjoys working with people to invigorate and activate change. In 2006 she was awarded the national Kirk Robson Award for outstanding leadership from the federal government through the Australia Council for the Arts. In 2009 she received a Fellowship from Brisbane City Council to explore the realm of Social Practice. |
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Stealth Pedagogy, an essay by Darren O'Donnell
Darren wrote a small essay for The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy called Stealth Pedagogy: the lessons of vomit, deception, and choosing children over friends, but we're not sure if it was ever published or what happened to it. So here it is; it's a pdf that should download immediately. Thanks to Alana Wilcox for her editing advice. More writing on our writings page. |
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Eat the Street in Tasmania
Presented by the Streets Alive Festival in association with Mowbray Height Primary School We're off and eating all over again. This time in Launceston, Tasmania. 4 weeks, 12 restaurants. A jury of children deciding what they love, hate and which washroom is the worst. Follow the blog
Supervising Teachers: Marcella Glachan, Karen Higgens, Judy Harris, Chris Cullen, Kathy Robson and Julia Rodwell. |
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Haircuts by Children in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Montreal
Haircuts by Children continues to tour and tour and tour:
Haircuts by Children in Newcastle Upon Tyne
Haircuts by Children in Montreal
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Haircuts by Children in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Presented by the Context Gallery. starring Ms. Eileen Barber's P5s from Oakgrove Integrated Primary School, Princial: Ann Murray. Supervising Stylists: Anne Corr, North West Regional College Coordinated by Darren O'Donnell and Donna Soares, Vancouver Operative. Saturday, June 27 11.00-17.00 at Context Gallery, 5-7 Artillery Street Sunday, June 28 12.00-17.00 at Breidge's Barbershop, Strand Road Book an appointment by contacting Mara Cavalli or Theo Sims, Project Managers at info@contextgallery.co.uk or call (028)71373538 An accompanying exhibition will be in the gallery from 27th June - 18th July. |
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Haircuts by Children in Victoria, Canada
Presented by the Belfry and Skam theatres. starring Mrs. Belanger's Grade 4/5 Class from George Jay Elementary School. Supervising Stylists: Seungmin Yoo and Christina Loxam Coordinated by Darren O'Donnell and Hazel Venzon, Vancouver Operative. Fish Hair Salon (1227 Broad Street) March 14: 10 am to 2 pm March 15: 10 am to 2 pm Book an appointment by calling the Belfry Box Office at 250-385-6815. |
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Missing You
Missing You is a set of two amusement park face-in-the-hole novelties by Darren O'Donnell and Lillian Chan as part of Presently Absent, a group show curated by Sophia Lin. The viewer is invited to occupy Khadr, at a time in his life before the current and insane legal limbo, in one of his two homes: Toronto and Afghanistan - an impossibility. The carnival novelty mocks our inability to act, our pathetic complicity with the Canadian state for allowing this to continue, and suggests that when we do try to act, our only option is to act like a buffoon. March 19 - April 18, 2009 Toronto Free Gallery 1277 Bloor Street West Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 6PM - 9PM Live Feed Performance by Johanna Householder at 6:30pm |
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Haircuts by Children in Milan, Italy
Presented by Uovo Project Milano May 23 and 24, 2009 Coordinated by Darren O'Donnell and Stephanie Comilang. |
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Eat the Street
"Mammalian Diving Reflex...invents ingenious recipes" Carl Wilson, Toronto Life Mammalian Diving Reflex, in association with Parkdale Public School presents Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Street West 2: Eat the Street, a critical dinner series. Get a brutally honest take on the restaurants of Queen Street West with this unique series of dinners and awards ceremony where the only opinions that matter are those of the kids. Like luminous bolts of lightening, the Parkdale Public School Pumas have suddenly become restaurant critics. They'll be checking out the food at eleven of Queen Street's finest dining establishments and offering their brash, incisive, and audacious opinions. From March 26th to May 1st, enjoy dinner with this illustrious jury of Parkdale Pumas. Get a rare chance to eat with the critics, and get a sneak preview of what they love and what they hate. Loud and opinionated vocal pronouncements guaranteed! Following the restaurant tour, join the Pumas on May 11, at 7PM, at the Gladstone Hotel, for the official Eat the Street Awards Ceremony and find out which Queen Street West restaurant takes home The Best of the Best. Coordinated by Darren O'Donnell and Petrina Ng. Parkdale Liasons: Joe Leibovitch, Sandra Hamilton and Caroline Wallace. Follow the jury on the Eat the Street blog. Thursday March 26
Saturday March 28
Friday April 3
Tuesday April 7
Saturday April 11
Friday April 17
Saturday April 18
Saturday April 25
Tuesday April 28
Friday May 1
Thursday May 7
Eat the Street Award Ceremony
May 11, 2009
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Cecilia Berkovic Designs Eat the Street Poster
Award-winning poster designer, Cecilia Berkovic has once again designed a really sweet sheet for us. After manifesting the amazing Haircuts by Children and Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Street West posters, she is reaching new heights of design lunacy by creating a poster than manages to clearly communicate all the pertinant information, while flexing one of the craziest colour palettes ever. That girl knows her sh*t. We're particularly proud of this poster's incorporation of the sponsoring businesses, while keeping the design completely coherent. It was our goal to see if we could make a sweet design while managing to locate our generous sponsors front and centre, shooting for an aesthetically scintillating cross-sectoral collaboration. Plus it's good art. Copies of all of Cecilia's Mammalian posters can be purchased. Contact poster girl Eva Verity: eva at mammalian.ca |
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Weatherspoon, Dega. Dega, Weatherspoon.
Weatherspoon, Dega. Dega, Weatherspoon is an intervention into the opening night party of the Greensboro, NC Weatherspoon Art Museum's opening party for their Our Subject is You exhibition. In collaboration with the Montagnard Dega Association, Mammalian Diving Reflex will be acting as a mediary between the members of the association and the Weatherspoon, introducing the Dega to the gallery-goers as special guests for the evening. June 19, 2009 Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina. Coordinated by Darren O'Donnell. |
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The Children's Choice Awards - Vancouver, Canada, starring the Jury from Surrey The Children's Choice Awards was a decisive intervention into the PuSh International Arts Festival. 25 students from Bridgeview Elementary checked shows out, did some singing and puking in the van and then distributed awards to the lucky artists. Doing jury duty: DJ, Jeetpal, Thomas, Christine, Sukleen, Paul, Jendhel, Sandeep, Jonebel, Ron, Daniela, Edwin, Jancy, Valerie, Jana, Katie, Stephanie, Alexa and Anna. Take a look at the the young jury's adventures on the Children's Choice Awards Blog. Lots of video. Special juridical nod to Brigeview Elementary Principal Judy Gram and the jury's teachers: Jeanne Atwal and Elizabeth Hinman. Bridgeview is one of the best schools in the world. Associate Producer: Donna Soares Transportation by Alfred Esmeijer Talented winners:
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The Children's Choice Awards - Melbourne The Children's Choice Awards was a decisive intervention into the Melbourne International Arts Festival: a group of the city's brightest kids from the suburb of Footscray were chauffeured from event to event; they checked out the art and offered brash, incisive and audacious opinions. And then they handed out a few awards. You could have seen the young jury as they crawled all over the festival, their tender knees protected from the evils of the world by the thinnest of red carpets and then you might have pulled your finest attire out of the laundry basket to attend the award ceremony and heard their pronouncements. THE WINNERS:
Take a look at the the young jury's adventures on the Children's Choice Awards Blog From Pauline Cady, mom of jury member Sweeny:
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The Monster Makers The Monster Makers is an event for young audiences currently in development. It is an interactive experience dealing with responsibility, power, anarchy and control. The children make a monster, they take it outside for a walk, the monster escapes. Oh shit, what now? There's control, and then there's outta control. Conception and social co-ordination by Darren O'Donnell
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We need your chedder The great work we do needs great people like you to donate a bit of coin now and again. Help out and get a tax receipt, eternal gratitude and a back rub from producer Eva Verity. |