LuminaTO, Part 1

LuminaTO has started here in the city. This arts festival has a bunch of events that you have to pay for, but most of the events that I'll probably try to go to are free. It's great that that there are all of these free events to make outings more accessible. I hope that lots of people take advantage of it! I need to do a little bit more research into what other free events are available year round. I tend to run out of ideas when I feel like doing something different on a budget. I did want to take advantage of this free outing, but I'm frustrated to say that something is wrong at their end because there was no follow through and I never got to participate in the experience.
So my first day of LuminaTO involved one and smidge events:
The first was a free screening of the documentary of the making of Leonard Bernstein's 1984 recording of West Side Story. The screening was held at the National Film Board in a small screening room. The theatre was not full, however, a film like this would attract a very limited audience. What a shame, because the film was fantastic. Commissioned by Deutsche Grammophon, there were German subtitles, the documentary gave the audience a front row seat in the recording studio with Bernstein. This recording featured some rockstars including Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Tatiyana Troyanos, and Kurt Ollmann. I can't express how much I love West Side Story. I wanted to sing along, get up and dance, but at the same time was riveted to my seat and enjoying the show. I liked the interviews with the performers and the conductor and watching them at work in the studio was so special. I'm sure it was no coincidence that the National Ballet has a run of their West Side Story Suite going on at the same time. As much as I love West Wide Story, I couldn't bring myself to watch the NBoC's version because I don't think that the dancers will be able to make the dancing, ummm, dirty enough. I doubt that these classically trained dancers will be able to neglect their training. Anyway, the point is, the documentary was lovely.
On my way to dinner, I passed by Yonge-Dundas Square that hosted another free event. There was a big line waiting to get into the L'Oreal tent, lots of people milling about the Square and taking in the different components of the event. I didn't get a chance to stay long, but I sort of wish I had. Apparently it was an amazing night of salsa.