Volume 28 Issue 6 | Summer 2023

VIDEO: HANDSPRING PUPPET

VIDEO: HANDSPRING PUPPET COMPANY Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Handspring Puppet Company was founded in 1981 by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones (pictured here) along with Jon Weinberg and Jill Joubert and is widely known for the creation of the life-sized horse puppets for the play War Horse which won five Tony Awards in 2013 and played to about 8 million people worldwide. They created Little Amal to walk thousands of kilometres in order to shine an urgent light on the reality of millions of young refugees. puppet, not a real person, has had access to in terms of people in power – people [who] will meet a puppet of a ten-year-old girl,” Zuabi says. “But will they meet a real ten-year-old girl who’s just arrived from across the ocean and who is without support and home?” The insight applies to organizations like Luminato as well, Campbell says: “The challenge that arises is being as inclusive of actual refugees as they have been of Little Amal. It also applies to the public: upon encountering Little Amal, will they then have enough curiosity to search about refugee experiences?” Hollway concurs: “I think it does all come back down to that little tagline, ‘Don’t forget about us’.” Indeed this is the hope, especially for refugees of colour. Yet, in this post-pandemic era are we – Luminato, and all of us artists – called to do more than hope? Will the entrenched music and arts institutions involved in welcoming Little Amal start systematically including refugees of the global majority in ways beyond arbitrarily welcoming them into spaces that still hold racist expectations of assimilation, tokenization, or othering? What is Luminato’s own responsibility, if any, in ensuring that the entrenched organizations it invited into its Walk with Amal will make concrete changes to their exclusionary practices once she leaves? Without a doubt, the act of organizing Walk with Amal has already impacted the city. What will Luminato’s role be in turning Little Amal’s impact into a social and institutional legacy? If we define culture as what we collectively value, what we preserve, and how we treat each other in community, is artistically commenting on a social issue enough? Or are we in a new era, when artists and arts leaders are called into a new purpose to propel society’s culture into new directions? The arts are forms of expression: in our current world, to have spaces for free expression is to have power – to nurture democracy. Luminato has the opportunity to pave a new way forward for the role of arts and culture in our social and political fabric, simply by carrying on what it has started here. “Don’t Forget About Us” Walk with Amal leaves us with this plea: “Don’t Forget About Us”. Luminato has sparked an important conversation – by bringing Little Amal here, and by demonstrating the beauty and feasibility of pluralistic festival leadership. Now I ask you to do your part: attend the parades; be mesmerized, be transported to new possibilities, be connected with others, and be viscerally affected, so that perhaps you won’t forget. Little Amal will surely be welcomed into Toronto, and with her magical presence will remind us of the refugees of colour we ought to welcome with open arms in our neighborhoods. Upon her departure, how will we ensure, in our lives and workplaces, that she, and those she represents, will not be forgotten? What will we each make of Little Amal’s legacy? See below for Amal’s Toronto journey WALK WITH AMAL TORONTO: June 7 to 11 2023 WED 7: Union Station, 5-7:30pm – A New City, a New Experience Little Amal is greeted at Union Station and led to Nathan Phillips Square by drummers and butterflies. Includes Dreamwalker Dance Company with Phil Davis, Joshua “Classic Roots” DePerry, Isaiah Gilsen, Digging Roots, Queer Songbook Youth Orchestra, Kuné Music Collective, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Institute for Canadian Citizenship, National Ballet of Canada THURS 8: Scarborough, noon-1pm – The Scarborough Scene At Albert Campbell Square Amal is introduced to the five stations of Hip Hop, giving her joy and confidence in herself and her purpose. Includes Randell Adjei and R.I.S.E. Edutainment, Toronto Public Library, Fondation Michaëlle Jean Foundation. University of Toronto, 2-3pm – Graduation to Gratitude Searching for her friends Basil and Adrian from Handspring Puppet Theatre, Amal encounters refugee scholars and University of Toronto music students and is swept up in the University’s Convocation rituals. Includes therapeutic clowns Fern and Jazz, Lawrence Switzky & UTM Drama, Adrian Kohler & Basil Jones (Handspring Puppet Theatre), Jackman Humanities Institute, U of T Music Department, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, The Hospital for Sick Children. Regent Park 6-7pm – Regent Park Community Stories Amal plays soccer at the Athletic grounds then checks out the neighborhood. On her way, she encounters the image of a Red Dress, and learns about missing Indigenous women and children through story and ceremony. Includes Herbie Barnes & Theresa Cutknife, MLSE Sports and Entertainment, Community Music Schools of Toronto (Regent Park). FRI 9: Brampton, noon-1pm – Brampton’s Many Mothers VIDEO: GOOD CHANCE THEATRE 12 | Summer 2023 thewholenote.com

Bramalea mothers respond in different ways to Amal’s distress as she searches for her mother. Includes Sharada Eswar & Jumblies Theatre, Brampton Arts Organization, Brampton Multicultural Community Centre, Gather Round Singers, The Hive, Newcomer Bus, Brampton Library, Broadening Horizons. Thorncliffe Park, 3:15-4pm – The Scents of Home A pop-up book from the Thorncliffe Library reminds Amal of the scents of home. Includes Shadowland Theatre, Aga Khan Museum, TNO: The Neighbourhood Organization, STEPSpublicart, Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee, North York Arts, Toronto Public Library, East York Town Centre, Thorncliffe Park PS. Rogers Centre, 6:15-7:30pm – Dancing the Seasons After navigating bustling baseball fans, Amal encounters dozens of young dancers at Harbourfront, who introduce her, through their various styles of dance, to the four seasons in Canada. Includes Robert Binet, Canadian Opera Company, Harbourfront Centre. SAT 10 Mississauga, 11am-noon – The Games of Home Little Amal has been wanting to play the games she knows and loves from home, and finds fun with new friends in Mississauga. Includes Leen Hamo, The Canadian Arabic Orchestra, Frog in Hand Theatre, Mississauga Polish Day, Peel Multicultural Centre, Arab Community Centre. Etobicoke, 3-4pm – Food is the Way to the Heart Amal is hungry and searching for something familiar to eat. The residents of Mabelle Avenue offer a visual parade of favourite dishes. Including MABELLEarts, Arts Etobicoke, Newcomer Kitchen, COSTI, Montgomery’s Inn. Esplanade, 6:30-7:30pm – Finding Home, Walking in Audacious Hope The Esplanade neighbourhood reenacts their rich history of home through stories, dance and pageantry in the streets of old Toronto, where Amal is met by rousing voices raised in song. Includes KasheDance, Jamii Esplanade, Market Lane School, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Performing Arts Lodge, St. Lawrence Market, Canadian Stage, TO Live. SUN 11 The Bentway, noon-1pm – The Bentway Animal Parade Racoons, blue birds, mice, foxes… oh my! Little Amal experiences urban wildlife in unexpected places and she is delighted, frightened, and everything in between. Includes The Bentway Conservancy, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, Fort York Library. Yonge-Dundas Square, 3-4pm – Walk for a Better Future Amal looks for a break from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto, discovers a friend in need of her help and is reminded of the hope and resilience of hundreds of thousands of young people across the globe fighting for a better future. Includes Why Not Theatre, War Child Canada, Clay and Paper Theatre, Muse. Waterfront, 6pm-7pm – Farewell Little Amal Toronto bids farewell to their new friend when Little Amal leaves across Lake Ontario to continue her search for her mother, encouraged by dancers, musicians, wise words, sweet songs and even tiny puppets. Includes Common Boots Theatre, Globe Theatre, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes, Orchestra Toronto, NAWA (Arabic Women’s Choir), Sabbara, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Waterfront Toronto. Natalie Fasheh is a leader and artist with a focus on social impact, working with communities of varying ages and lifestyles as an administrator, choir conductor, teaching artist, composer, consultant and writer. nataliefasheh.com University of Toronto Choral Conducting Symposium July 4-7, 2023 Dr. Jamie Hillman Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting, University of Toronto Dr. Felicia Barber Associate Professor of Choral Conducting, Adjunct, Yale University Dr. Darryl Edwards Professor, Voice Studies, University of Toronto Dr. Joy Lee Collaborative Pianist, University of Toronto UofT.me/conducting thewholenote.com Summer 2023 | 13