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RECENT EVENTS
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Join Lulaworld across the city (and beyond) for our five-night CUBAN JAZZ FEST showcasing award-winning Cuban Canadian jazz artists!
Canada is home to some of the finest Cuban talent anywhere! Enjoy new works, classic compositions and open improv by Jorge Betancourt, Hilario Durán, Dánae Olano, Amhed Mitchel, Roberto Riveron Mederos & Alexis Baro.
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Presented in collaboration with Cuba in Toronto with support from Ontario Creates, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage.
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Jan 28 - BETA (Cuban Jazz Improv with Jorge Betancourt ) BSMT 254: 8 PM DOORS | 9 PM CONCERT
Jan 29 - HILARIO DURAN SOLO With Q & A - Lula Lounge 6:30 PM DOORS |7:30 CONCERT
Jan 30 - DANAE OLANO TRIO - Drom Taberna 6:00 PM DOORS |6:30 CONCERT
Jan 31 - SON ACHE - Lula Lounge - 7 PM DOORS | 10 PM CONCERT
Feb 1 - ALEXIS BARO at the Jazz Room (Waterloo) - 6:30 PM DOORS | 8 PM CONCERT
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8TH FIRE PROJECT
Lula Music and Arts was thrilled to partner with the Dundas West Open Air Museum and the Little Portugal Toronto BIA, to host a free matinee concert featuring Crystal Shawanda and Beny Esguerra as part of a multi-disciplinary celebration of the Indigenous history of the land on which we work.
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The Dundas West's 8th Fire project features a new original artwork by Philip Cote that maps and graphically illuminates our region's Indigenous past and present. Read more at dundaswest.museum.
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LulaLab
Ontario Curriculum Requirements met by LulaLab Workshops and Field Trips
LANGUAGES:
LulaLab workshops and field trips at Lula Lounge provide students with the opportunity to practice grade-appropriate listening comprehension strategies while experiencing engaging and interactive performances and presentations by talented, culturally diverse artist educators (presenters).
Students have the opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of the purpose for listening by responding to questions from the artist educators and following instructions for participation in dances and/or creating musical rhythms.
At each LulaLab workshop, students will gain intercultural awareness as they learn about French, Creole and Spanish speaking communities / cultures in Canada and around the world. Presenters will demonstrate sociolinguistic conventions as they teach students about their art form and the culture from which it has grown.
Groups choosing to dine in-house at Lula Lounge will demonstrate grade-appropriate listening and speaking skills for interaction as they place food orders in French, Spanish or English. Some students may even participate in role playing as they become volunteer assistants to the wait staff.
MUSIC
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During LulaLab workshops and field trips students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of various stages of the creative process, apply certain elements of music such as rhythm, tempo, timbre, etc. as well as use a variety of techniques and tools when listening to and performing improvised and/or arranged music.
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Students will use the critical analysis process when responding to, analyzing, reflecting on, and interpreting music being performed by the LulaLab artists and learn how traditional Creole music can reflect the society from where it comes as well as how it continues to affect communities and cultures. While participating, students get the opportunity to meet professional musicians and dancers and learn about opportunities for continued engagement in music and music careers.
While attending LulaLab workshops students will gain an understanding of music theory with respect to the elements of music such as how rhythm and beat differ in Creole music from other genres as well as gain some knowledge of the history of Creole music and its fusion with music from around the world.
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DANCE
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At LulaLab workshops and field trips featuring dance, students attending will combine the elements of dance in a variety of ways and gain an understanding of salsa dance techniques. While participating in exciting dance lessons from the Lula dance instructors, students will learn and use grade-appropriate movement and dance vocabulary while following step-by- step instructions making the dances fun and easy to enjoy.
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While watching performances and participating in the dances, students will use the critical analysis process to reflect on and evaluate their own and others’ dance works. Students will gain knowledge on how participating, creating and viewing dance contributes to a healthy lifestyle for individuals, groups and communities. Students will better understand the purpose and possibilities from continuing engagement in dance arts such as salsa.
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Students will learn grade-appropriate terminology when referring to the physiology of movement as it relates to dancing salsa as well as understand the social, cultural, and historical origins of salsa in Cuba and around the world.
GEOGRAPHY
Students will learn about challenges and opportunities presented by the physical environment of the French Caribbean and the ways in which people have responded with regards to the geographical location; students will learn about the role of African, European and indigenous (Tainos & Arawaks) cultures in the migration and evolution of Creole music to the Southern states, the Caribbeans as well as to Canada; During presentations, students will learn how natural disasters and geographical events have affected culture in the French Caribbean.
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Students will analyze a map of the Caribbean, reviewing geographical terms for physical characteristics of the area and learn about the location of different Creole and French speaking populations.