Luminato 2015

Toronto's ninth annual Luminato Festival takes over the city this month for a colourful celebration of arts and culture. The 10-day multi-arts schedule (June 19 - 28) features local, national and international artists, and includes a diverse offering of music, theatre, dance, visual arts, film and literature. Plus, in a nod to the upcoming Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, this season's programming features daily concerts, literary talks, free family-friendly events and food all inspired by different Pan American countries.

The Festival Hub at David Pecault Square is the place to start. Where to go from there? We selected six must-see performances to help you narrow it down.

7 Monologues - June 20 -21

7 Monologues is actually seven separate shows—a two-day festival-within-the-festival including Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor's new work Who Killed Spalding Gray; Antonio Skármeta's The Referendum (a retelling of El Plebiscito, the campaign of hope that ended Augusto Pinochet's Chilean regime and the foundation for Pablo Larrain’s 2012 Oscar-nominated film No starring Gael García Bernal); as well as Dolor Exquisito, a reinterpretation of French artist Sophie Calle's story of heartbreak by artist Emilio Garcia Wehbi and actress Maricel Alvarez.

Apocolypsis - June 26 - 28

Performed in full for the first time since its world premiere in 1980, R. Murray Schafer’s epic musical voyage Apocalypsis blends professional and amateur talents in a cast of 1,000 local singers, musicians, conductors, actors and dancers to create one of the largest performance events Toronto has ever seen. Conductor David Fallis leads a team of close to 20 conductors and their ensembles on stage with solo performances from multi-disciplinary artist Nina Arsenault, Tony Award-winner Brent Carver, dancer Denise Fujiwara, Polaris Prize-winner Tanya Tagaq, rising New Zealand opera star Kawiti Waetford, and the voice of renowned performance artist Laurie Anderson.

El Pasado es un animal grotesco - June 19 - 21 at the Bluma Appel Theatre

Mariano Pensotti, one of Latin America’s brightest theatre talents brings El pasado es un animal grotesco to the 2015 Luminato Festival after highly successful runs in Buenos Aires, Madrid, Norwich, Bern, HAU Berlin, Rotterdam, Zürich, Groningen, Amsterdam, and Geneva. The story follows a group of twenty-somethings in 1999 Buenos Aires as they grapple with love, adulthood and the collapse of Argentina’s economy over the course of a decade.

Late Night with the TSO: Holst the Planets - June 26, 10-11pm

Stay up late to hear the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s take on The Planets, an incredible astronomical work by Gustav Holst depicting the seven planets (known at the time of composition) of the solar system. An annual nocturnal tradition, Late Night with the TSO explores Holst’s greatest orchestral hit, conducted by TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian

Malpaso Dance Company - June 24 - 26

Acclaimed Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company performs a different repertoire each night over a three-night run. Founded by Osnel Delgado, Dailedys Carrazana and Fernando Saéz, this group of 10 talented young dancers from Cuba’s premiere dance schools and companies create work that embodies the country’s rich dance tradition.

My One Demand - June 25 - 27

Toronto’s streets become an open-air, interactive film studio for audiences worldwide with My One Demand, a film about unrequited love shot live with a Torontonian cast. Filmed in a single continuous shot and live streamed, the story follows seven people as they embark on a journey across Toronto. Created by UK-based artist group Blast Theory, and featuring Faisal Butt, Sascha Cole, Clare Coulter, Gia Nahmens, Julian Richings, Brielle Robillard, Max Sebastián, and Maggie Huculak as the narrator, audiences watch and interact with the cinematic journey as the film unfolds in real-time from mobile devices inside the movie theatre or from their tablets or computers at home.

The Luminato Festival runs from June 19 to 28, 2015. Tickets can be purchased 24/7 at luminatofestival.com or by calling the Luminato Festival Box Office at 416-368-4849 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, or in person The Festival Hub Box Office at David Pecaut Square (55 John St.). Ticket savings are available for youth (18 and under)/students, arts workers and groups (10+), or by bundling four or more events in a ticket package.

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