Video

For All People

Culture Shock Toronto By Jillian Groening

Culture Shock Toronto / Directed by Emma Wathan

Get ready, get set. Culture Shock Toronto and Bollywood Monster Mashup are teaming up for what might be one of the most dynamic partnerships of the summer festival circuit. Combining the hip hop troupe’s slick performance skills with the bombastic energy of Canada’s largest South Asian festival, the event is sure to inspire. Focusing on innovative performance, artist development and community enrichment, Culture Shock Canada is an organization that utilizes hip hop outreach and dance education as a tool to unite. In this video, artists with Culture Shock Toronto perform a work that exemplifies their motto: “We are a troupe of individuals who through the power of music and dance, cultivate self-worth, dignity and respect for all people.” Directed by Emma Wathan, smiling dancers bust a move in city streets to the eternally catchy Major Lazer and DJ Snake track “Lean On”.

Culture Shock Toronto is set to perform a hip hop and Bollywood fusion piece the evening of July 23 at Mississauga Celebration Square. The event is free.

Posted July 20, 2016

Caribana is Our Stage

Themes of becoming, shaping from and returning to are central to Caribbean performance arts. As one of these art forms, Carnival is a nuanced performance art practice rooted in the cultural memory of the lives of Caribbean peoples throughout Canada and the diaspora. But whose story is told (or not told) and in what context? The telling or omission of stories can be traced to a lack of understanding of the complexity of the Caribbean and its Carnival – a performance tradition that is more than the mass commodification, sexuality and “loud music” we often associate it with.

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