How To Festival: Luminato 2023

Walk with Amal Toronto
June 7 – 11, 2023 | Across the GTA
Come to meet an extraordinary 12-foot puppet; leave having experienced our city through the eyes of a refugee girl.

Help us welcome Amal to the city. She’s a 10-year-old refugee girl from Syria and will be here from June 7– 11. Join us as she discovers the real Toronto.

Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha
June 6 – 17, 2023 | St. Lawrence Centre

Experience Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, an opera set in the post-slavery era which fuses classical music with ragtime, folk, and gospel. Witness a Black woman’s journey as she discovers her power and leads her community towards a new future.

Puppets in Action: Theory, Practice and Possibility
June 7, 2023 | Innis College Town Hall 2 Sussex Avenue
 
Start the festival off with a panel discussion between the creators of Little Amal, Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, moderated by Professor Lawrence Switzky (UTM English and Drama). This insightful conversation will provide a scholarly look at Handspring Puppet Theatre’s development and effects on the practice of puppetry.

Nuit (1986)
June 8 – 10, 2023 | Fleck Dance Theatre
 
This Canadian contemporary dance classic choreographed by Jean-Pierre Perreault was last presented 21 years ago. Nuit will enthrall audiences with its intense physicality, and the rhythmic power of the dancers turning their bodies into percussive instruments. 
 
Arts Worker tickets are available at seat selection for Nuit.

Aalaapi
June 8 – 10, 2023 | Ada Slaight Hall

Aalaapi means “be quiet so you can hear something beautiful” in Inuktitut. This performance invites you into the home of two young women living in Nunavik. Experience an intimate portrayal of daily life through Inuktitut, French, and English languages, radio, and Northern landscapes.

Love Across Borders
June 13, 2023 | York University, Accolades West Building, Room 109

In this lecture and panel discussion, hear readings from Love Across Borders, Anna Lekas Miller’s newly published book. Join us for a panel discussion from experts and artists with lived experience of forced migration and love across borders. 

Loss
June 14 – 15 & 17 – 18, 2023 | Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Loss is a deeply honest, live retelling of an intergenerational family story, written by Ian Kamau and his father Roger McTair. This multimedia performance explores depression and grief in Afro-Caribbean communities and moves the audience towards healing.

Words, Music, and Black Experience
June 15, 2023 | Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Following the incredible success of Beloved last year, join Donna Bailey Nurse in conversation with leaders in the realm of music, theatre and history, as she explores words, music and the power of Black experience in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha and Loss. This year, Donna will be joined on stage by D. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Founder, Artistic Director and conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada’s first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation, performance and preservation of Afrocentric music of all styles; and ahdri zhina mandiela, founder and past artistic director of the legendary b current performing arts.

Dragon’s Tale
June 15 – 18, 2023 | Harbourfront Centre Concert Stage

Explore Chinese-Canadian identity through the eyes of multiple immigrant generations. Dragon’s Tale is the story of a second-generation Canadian who falls into the ancient past in escaping her fraught relationship with her father. She witnesses the mythological origins of Dragon Boat racing and in doing so uncovers a new truth about her father and, ultimately, herself.

A Literary Legacy: 33 Years of CBC’s Writers & Company
June 16, 2023 | Glenn Gould Studio

Celebrate the legacy of CBC’s flagship literary program, Writers & Company, at this special onstage event. Join host Eleanor Wachtel for a live taping of the show’s last original episode, in honour of its 33-year history and her esteemed broadcasting career. Joining her onstage will be Matt Galloway, host of CBC’s The Current, along with novelists Gary Shteyngart and Brandon Taylor. Don’t miss this opportunity to send off the show in style and be part of history in the making.

Luminato Music Weekend
June 17 – 18, 2023 | David Pecaut Square

Music Weekend will see outstanding musicians, local and international, bring David Pecaut Square to life! Running June 17– 18, we’ll hear jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, and dance music from across the world.

Weekend Passes with GO! Buy your online $10 One-Day on the weekend travel pass, or $15 Weekend travel online.