Progress / Uma Nota Closing Weekend Party

Opening Reception
Wed / Jan. 30 / 8:30pm
Café

Kick off the opening of this year’s Progress with us. Following the opening performance of Cock and Bull.

Ping & Ting
Fri / Feb. 1 / 8:00pm
Café

Join us for a night of revelry, ping pong and signature ting drinks courtesy of The Theatre Centre bar. Kick off the opening weekend of the Festival with us! In collaboration with The Theatre Centre.

Community Meals
Fri / Feb 1 / 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Mon / Feb 11 / 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Café

Come together for a bite and informal conversation about Festival programming at our Community Meals. On Feb 11, we’ll be joined by international guest presenters to share and compare our local contexts.

Uma Nota / Progress Closing Weekend Party
Sat / Feb. 16 / 10:00pm
Venue-wide

Don’t go anywhere after Uma Nota’s presentation of real real  because we’re closing out the Festival with a night of liminal joy on the dance floor. Featuring curated live musical performance by Brazilian-Canadian electronic artist Nego Mozambique, live percussion, video projections, space specific decor and DJs. Expect Uma Nota’s classic unpretentious and warm vibe.

It’s About Time: Dancing Black in Canada 1900-1970
Gallery

Exhibition open daily 12:00 – 7:30pm during Festival, excluding Sundays
Jan 31, 6:00pm: Official Opening & Curator Tour
Feb 5, 6:00pm: Curator Tour

Curated by Seika Boye, It’s About Time illuminates the largely undocumented dance history of Canada’s Black population before 1970. Free admission. More info here.

The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale Installation Hours
BMO Incubator for Live Arts

Tues Feb 5 – Fri Feb 8, 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Sat Feb 9, 4:00pm – 7:00pm

An interactive art installation about the cost and value of love. Eight gifts given to Haley by ex-boyfriends are on display. Haley’s inviting you to appraise them, listen to audio interviews with her exes, add your break-up song to the Broken Hearts’ Playlist (400 tracks and counting) and contribute your stories about what love has cost you.

The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale Broken Hearts Auction
BMO Incubator for Live Arts

Sat Feb 9, 9:00pm – 10:00pm

A pre-Valentine’s day exorcism.  Grab a drink after the show and bring in that sweater from your ex that’s sitting in the bottom of your closet gathering dust and nauseating memories. The Broken Hearts Auction, hosted by Haley McGee, puts the audience at the centre of the experience.  5 audience members are invited to put gifts from their exes on the auction block, have them appraised with the highly-scientific cost of love formula (developed with Mathematics Collaborator Melanie Phillips), and auctioned off to an audience armed with Monopoly money. Think the Antiques Roadshow meets The First Wives Club, with a dose of Dr. Phil for good measure.  It’s more fun than burning them on the full moon.  And hey, you could win a sweater filled with sadness and bad juju.

Lost Together Installation Hours
BMO Incubator for Live Arts

Tues Feb 12 – Thurs Feb 14, 5:30pm – 9:30pm
Fri Feb 15 – Sun Feb 17, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Tour a growing collection of artifacts being created throughout the week and observe a performance currently underway.

Arm Yourself with Capitalism’s Tools – A financial literacy crash course
BMO Incubator for Live Arts
Fri / Feb 8 / 1:30pm – 4:30pm

The arts have a value and cost problem and most of us don’t know enough about money to parse the difference. We know money is a thing and yard sales to pay Visa bills isn’t a life-long solution.

Financial literacy gets you ahead of the hustle. Answer the money questions you’ve been embarrassed to ask. Learn your money management style through a game. Get budget basics and tools to plan your money month over month. This afternoon-long crash course is led by Kristina Lemieux of Generator and hosted by Haley McGee. Bring a laptop with Google Sheets.

The workshop is free, space is limited, click here to RSVP by February 6.

Performance Curation Talk
Sat / Feb 9 / 2:00pm – 3:00pm
The Art Gallery of Ontario

With Seika Boye, Soraya Peerbaye, Nikki Shaffeeullah and guests.

Moving/ Forward
Franco Boni Theatre
Sat / Feb 9 / 10:00pm – 11:15pm

Moving/ Forward brings a five-year survey of dance created for the screen by artists based in Western Canada. From flamenco to street dance, this program provides a chance to experience a lot of types of dance from a new perspective. Join us for a casual late night screening, a drink at The Theatre Centre Bar, and, of course – popcorn!
More info here.

The Performance Bus
Wed / Feb 13 / 9:30 – departs The Theatre Centre for Buddies in Bad Times
Sat / Feb 16 / 9:30pm – departs Buddies in Bad Times for The Theatre Centre

Hop on board the inaugural Progress-Rhubarb Festival performance bus, transporting the Progress audience over to Buddies in Bad Times for an epic Rhubarb Party on Wednesday night, and Rhubarb’s audience to Progress’ closing night celebration on Saturday. With pop-up performances en route!