Always Be Closing is a bruising, physical, virtuosic solo for Montreal dancer Catherine Larocque. It takes the form of a hardcore sales seminar, putting the audience in the middle of the action.

It has a double musical accompaniment: Alec Baldwin’s testosterone-drenched monologue from David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, and the virtuoso Presto movement from Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto.

At The Wrecking Ball is happening at the Lower Ossington Theatre, at 100A Ossington Ave. There are four shows: Thursday February 9th through Saturday February 11th at 8pm, and a matinee on Sunday February 12th at 4pm. Tickets are $15.

The show also features work by eight of Toronto’s leading dance artists. It should be a great night!

A few months ago I got an email from Toronto director Diana Kolpak. I’d heard of Diana’s amazing 2004 clown show, The Gorgonetrevich Corps de Ballet Nationale in “Bethany’s Gate”, though I was unable to see it as I was performing at the time. Diana invited me to collaborate on a show she was working on with actor David Tomlinson, creating video imagery and projections; the connection came through their lighting designer Sharon DiGenova, who I worked with on Bastard Fugue. The script hooked me instantly: it was sexy, contemporary, and brilliantly written.

The last two weeks have been a blur of preparation, as we worked to turn the DeLeon White Gallery (1139 College St. at Dufferin — not on Queen West anymore, despite what Google will tell you!) into a fabulous performance space, with a specially curated exhibition of art from residents and special guests complementing the show. David blogged the process at No Rest for the Wingéd.

The show is a set of three linked monologues based on characters from different mythologies, tracing an arc from falling to taking flight again: Icarus, Lucifer, and Phoenix. We run every night from now ’til next Sunday, May 8th, except for Monday May 3rd. You can get tickets at the door ($20 / $18 students or Equity) or online at Brown Paper Tickets. Tix for next weekend are going fast so come early next week for best availability. It’s hilarious, inspired, and stunningly performed. Come and check it out!

Bastard Fugue fuses live performance and projection to explore fugal composition with a single dancer. The Bach fugue, originally composed for organ, is stripped of melody and becomes a propulsive rhythmic fundament for a powerful performance. Some preliminary special thanks:

• Naishi (Kamen) Wang of Toronto Dance Theatre for his valuable participation in the creation process;
• The National Ballet School and the National Ballet of Canada for donating rehearsal space;
• Malgorzata Nowacka for the opportunity to show this work;
• Jeff Morris and Robert Stephen for participating in the technical workshop which spawned some of the ideas explored in this work.

More information about the contest.