TAC/F 2006 Annual report

tac client stories

In 2006 Toronto Arts Council invested $25,500 in Cahoots Theatre in support of their 20th anniversary season of activities. Founded in 1986 by Beverly Yhap, Cahoots Theatre is committed to work that expresses the diversity of Toronto's society and a belief that cultures do not exist in isolation. The company engages in productions, training and development work. They have also launched a youth outreach and training program called Crossing Gibraltar in order to promote theatre as a "personal and expressive culture among culturally diverse youth."

Dusk Dances is another TAC funded organization which is accessible to youth. In 2006 they received $13,000 in funding. Their mandate is to bring dance to the community by making it accessible physically (their venue is public space such as parks), financially (admission is pay what you can), and artistically (their programming is diverse, for all tastes and ages). They give choreographers a unique opportunity to showcase their work in a non-traditional dance venue, in front of a large and mostly new audience. Their 2006 programming took them to neighbourhoods such as Jane-Finch where they are committed to building relationships in the community.

Toronto Arts Council grants to music organizations include $130,000 to Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Not only did 2006 mark their 25th anniversary season, but Music Director, Jeanne Lamon, also won the 2006 Murriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Music and Dance. Founded in 1979, Tafelmusik is one of the world’s leading period performance ensembles. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, specializes in baroque performance practice and vocal technique. They have been hailed as “the best period-performance choir anywhere in the world” by The Globe and Mail. Tafelmusik is also the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. They perform over 50 concerts a year at home in Toronto, as well as touring extensively around the world. To date Tafelmusik has released over 70 CDs and received nine Juno Awards. In 2005, they also received a Grammy Award nomination.

2006 Community Arts grants include $22,000 to Jumblies Theatre. Under the artistic direction of founder Ruth Howard, Jumblies Theatre is going into their third year running an arts program in the Mabelle complex of Toronto Community Housing. Their activities include youth, seniors, children, and families participating in a wide range of artforms. They were selected to be part of the Fresh Ground series at Harbourfront Centre, one of the few Toronto-based companies to be so honoured, and will be presenting their community-based performance Bridge of One Hair from April 25 – 29, 2007. Working with a mix of professional artists and participants from Mabelle, Bridge of One Hair is a performance and installation that combines Somali and First Nations poetry, local history, tea ceremonies from a range of cultures, original choral music, puppetry, and an English folktale about a girl who discovers a new home for herself. Jumblies Theatre is gaining international renown for its pioneering work in neighbourhood-based arts programming, and especially for its commitment to working in Toronto Community Housing areas.

A number of playwrights were also awarded TAC support in 2006. Emerging writers received $2,000 while established writers received $7,500. In-Surp Choi received a grant to write Kim's Convenience, a play about a Korean family and their store in Korea town. It begins when Jung, the eldest son, returns home having run away 10 years earlier. Norman Yeung received support to work on his play about a bilingual Chinese family who has lived in Canada for over twenty years but struggles to communicate. The father does not speak English and the son does not speak Cantonese. After the father dies, the mother resents her son for his selfishness. Toronto Arts Council also invested in Alannis King, with a grant to write a period piece told in the Ojibway language about young Ojibway orphans making their way in the "new world order" of their homeland, an island in the Great Lakes.

tac client stories
	In 2006 Toronto Arts Council invested $25,500 in Cahoots Theatre in support of their 20th anniversary season of activities. Founded in 1986 by Beverly Yhap, Cahoots Theatre is committed to work that expresses the diversity of Toronto's society and a belief that cultures do not exist in isolation. The company engages in productions, training and development work. They have also launched a youth outreach and training program called Crossing Gibraltar in order to promote theatre as a "personal and expressive culture among culturally diverse youth."
Dusk Dances is another TAC funded organization which is accessible to youth. In 2006 they received $13,000 in funding. Their mandate is to bring dance to the community by making it accessible physically (their venue is public space such as parks), financially (admission is pay what you can), and artistically (their programming is diverse, for all tastes and ages). They give choreographers a unique opportunity to showcase their work in a non-traditional dance venue, in front of a large and mostly new audience. Their 2006 programming took them to neighbourhoods such as Jane-Finch where they are committed to building relationships in the community.
	Toronto Arts Council grants to music organizations include $130,000 to Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Not only did 2006 mark their 25th anniversary season, but Music Director, Jeanne Lamon, also won the 2006 Murriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Music and Dance. Founded in 1979, Tafelmusik is one of the world’s leading period performance ensembles. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, specializes in baroque performance practice and vocal technique. They have been hailed as “the best period-performance choir anywhere in the world” by The Globe and Mail. Tafelmusik is also the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. They perform over 50 concerts a year at home in Toronto, as well as touring extensively around the world. To date Tafelmusik has released over 70 CDs and received nine Juno Awards. In 2005, they also received a Grammy Award nomination.
2006 Community Arts grants include $22,000 to Jumblies Theatre. Under the artistic direction of founder Ruth Howard, Jumblies Theatre is going into their third year running an arts program in the Mabelle complex of Toronto Community Housing. Their activities include youth, seniors, children, and families participating in a wide range of artforms. They were selected to be part of the Fresh Ground series at Harbourfront Centre, one of the few Toronto-based companies to be so honoured, and will be presenting their community-based performance Bridge of One Hair from April 25 – 29, 2007. Working with a mix of professional artists and participants from Mabelle, Bridge of One Hair is a performance and installation that combines Somali and First Nations poetry, local history, tea ceremonies from a range of cultures, original choral music, puppetry, and an English folktale about a girl who discovers a new home for herself. Jumblies Theatre is gaining international renown for its pioneering work in neighbourhood-based arts programming, and especially for its commitment to working in Toronto Community Housing areas.
	A number of playwrights were also awarded TAC support in 2006. Emerging writers received $2,000 while established writers received $7,500. In-Surp Choi received a grant to write Kim's Convenience, a play about a Korean family and their store in Korea town. It begins when Jung, the eldest son, returns home having run away 10 years earlier. Norman Yeung received support to work on his play about a bilingual Chinese family who has lived in Canada for over twenty years but struggles to communicate. The father does not speak English and the son does not speak Cantonese. After the father dies, the mother resents her son for his selfishness. Toronto Arts Council also invested in Alannis King, with a grant to write a period piece told in the Ojibway language about young Ojibway orphans making their way in the "new world order" of their homeland, an island in the Great Lakes.