Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation is proud to present the 3rd Annual SPOTLIGHT ON ISRAELI CULTURE Festival from February 21 to April 10, 2016. The Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation has been showcasing Israeli culture in Canada for over 50 years and is dedicated to supporting and developing artistic life in Israel through scholarships, including the Sharett Scholarships Program for gifted young Israeli artists at the forefront of music, theatre, dance, film, television, and visual art.
SPOTLIGHT ON ISRAELI CULTURE, supported by the Consulate General of Israel and curated by the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, along with presenters Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, Ashkenaz Foundation, Aspaklaria Jewish Repertory Theatre, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, Miles Nadal JCC, Toronto Downtown Jazz, Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Society, Toronto Reference Library, and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, bring Israel’s vivacious and lively cultural scene to Toronto.
MUSIC
ONCE UPON A VOICE – February 25 @ Innis Town Hall
International vocal artist Victoria Hanna will lead a vocal workshop, presented by Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, that looks deep into voices and where the power of tone and pitch come from. Victoria has been described as being “blessed with one of those voices that demands full attention, holding audiences rapt with her acrobatic voice and leaving mouths agape.” Time Out NY
A WORLD OF PIANO – AN EVENING WITH GUY MINTUS – March 17 @ Gallery 345
Famed pianist, composer and improviser, Guy Mintus will make the trip from Israel to Toronto, once again, for his anticipated return to SPOTLIGHT with an intimate evening of solo piano, presented by Canada-Israel Culture Foundation. A Sharett Scholarship recipient, Guy’s influences range from Stride piano and the Greek Rebetiko blues, to the Turkish Makam, Indian Ragas, Bach-styled counterpoint, and the music of his homeland.
A-WA – March 20 @ The Mod Club Theatre
Presented by Ashkenaz Foundation, the three sisters who make up A-Wa - Israel’s hottest, most buzzed-about music group - will take over Toronto with their combination of unique close-harmony singing in the style of their Yemeni roots, and contemporary funk, electronica and hip-hop grooves. With songs in Hebrew, English and Yemeni-Arabic, their song Habib Galbi, became the first ever Arabic-language song to top the Israeli music charts.
ISRAELI JAZZ SHOWCASE – AVISHAI COHEN QUARTET & RONI EYTAN QUINTET – April 10 @ The Rex Jazz and Blues Bar
Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation and Toronto Downtown Jazz will be presenting the third annual Israeli Jazz Showcase, featuring outstanding emerging and established artists, and Sharett Scholarship recipients. Harmonica player Roni Eytan will bring his quintet colleagues from Berklee College of Music in Boston, representing the next generation of jazz musicians; and acclaimed New York-based trumpeter Avishai Cohen will perform with his quartet, demonstrating why he’s earned a reputation as one of the most exciting musicians on today’s contemporary jazz scene.
THEATRE
MIKVAH: A dramatic reading – March 6 @ Toronto Centre for the Arts
Inside the secretive world of the ritual bath, eight women’s stories unfold in this sensitive depiction of religious observance and evolving feminist consciousness. A knowledgeable examination of traditions and ritual, MIKVAH, presented by Harold Green Jewish Theatre, explores the ever-evolving position of women in Israeli society.
THE ODDS – April 3 @ Toronto Centre for the Arts
After a six-year run in Israel, THE ODDS, presented by Aspaklaria Jewish Repertory Theatre, will make its way to Toronto to delve into the stories of three men who discuss their marriages in this one-sided experiment of couples counseling.
DANCE
SHARABI & KUDELKA – A TRIPLE BILL FEATURING WORKS OF IDAN SHARABI & JAMES KUDELKA – March 1 @ The Citadel
This triple bill performance, presented by Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation and Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, features Sharett Scholarship recipient, Idan Sharabi’s award-winning duet, OURS; a new solo performance, NOW, featuring Sharabi with live piano accompaniment; and a staging of Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie Resident Choreographer James Kudelka’s celebrated THE MAN IN BLACK.
FILM
SPECIAL INTERVIEW – February 21 @ Al Green Theatre
Director Nitzan Rozenberg’s Special Interview (2012) is an uplifting documentary about two young people with disabilities who become star reporters in Israel. Efrat Dotan is 27 years old with Down syndrome and Matanel Bitton is 20 years old with developmental disabilities. They have interviewed many well-known personalities but their shared dream is to interview President Barak Obama. Presented by Toronto Jewish Film Society and Miles Nadal JCC, Special Interview follows the two journalists as they pursue their dream.
THE KIND WORDS/HAMILIM HATOVOT – February 28 @ Cineplex Cinemas, Empress Walk
Filmmaker Shemi Zarhin offers a heartwarming story about three siblings who are confronted with a revelation about the identity of their 'real' father in The Kind Words/Hamilim Hatovot (2015), presented by Toronto Jewish Film Festival. What follows is an unpredictable journey through Paris and Marseille as they search for their own identities. Israel’s biggest box office hit of the year, The Kind Words was also nominated for 12 Israeli Academy Awards.
ISRAELI FILM SERIES – March 12-13 @ Al Green Theatre
A weekend of films presented by the Israel Consulate General and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto includes the coming-of-age, multi-generation, familial tale By Summer’s End/Ad Sof Hakayitz (2011), set in a rural community in Israel, on the backdrop of the imminent peace accords with Egypt; Little Heroes/Giborim Ktanim (2006) follows four children as they embark on a journey to overcome adversities and learn about themselves; The Farewell Party/Mita Tova (2014) tells the story of residents of a retirement community building a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend; and The Band’s Visit/Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (2007) where members of the Egyptian police force house band, head to Israel to play at the opening of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town.
VISUAL ART
DREAMLAND: AFTER MARK TWAIN IN THE HOLY LAND – March 2-30 @ Miles Nadal JCC
In 1860, Mark Twain wrote a comprehensive diary of his trip to the Middle East. 152 years later, following in Twain’s footsteps, photographer Motty Levy retells his story through a different lens in DREAMLAND, presented by Miles Nadal JCC. Motty captures historical landmarks that were visited by Twain and highlights how things have changed drastically in over a century and a half.
LETTERS
A READING AND DISCUSSION WITH NORA GOLD – March 31 @ Toronto Reference Library
Presented by Israel Consulate General, Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, and Toronto Public Library, the award-winning Nora Gold, author of the 2015 Canadian Jewish Literary Award-winning novel Fields of Exile, and the forthcoming The Dead Man, will discuss her works and read excerpts from the novels highlighting the Israeli elements that influence her writing.
LIVING BETWEEN LANGUAGES – April 4 @ Toronto Reference Library
Award-winning author, Ayelet Tsabari returns to SPOTLIGHT to interview American-Israeli novelist Reuven Namdar, winner of the prestigious Sapir Prize 2014, about language, place, and cultural translation for LIVING BETWEEN LANGUAGES, presented by Israel Consulate General, Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, and Toronto Public Library.
Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation
presents the 3rd Annual
SPOTLIGHT ON ISRAELI CULTURE
February 21 – April 10, 2016,
Various locations across Toronto
Each individual presenter has set their own box office policies and ticket prices
Some events are Free
For a detailed schedule of events and ticket prices please visit
@israelspotlight • #IsraelSpotlight
The Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation is a member-supported charitable foundation dedicated to supporting and developing artistic life in Israel, as well as showcasing Israeli culture in Canada. For more than fifty years, CICF has played an important role in the development of many of Israel’s largest cultural institutions, as well as in the artistic development of Israel’s finest artists in every discipline. With a special focus on young artists, CICF develops artistic life in Israel by awarding scholarships and grants. Past recipients include Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, and David Broza when they were young and needed it most. For the past fifty years, the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation has continued to build an ever-growing bridge between the two countries.
2016-02-08
Toronto: The Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation presents the 3rd annual Spotlight on Israeli Culture