Blackwatch boys watch their step

Chatting with two of the members of Scottish ensemble Black Watch was a hoot. Ali Craig and Jack Fortune popped by the Luminato media hub on Friday morning after arriving late the previous evening. Because the military-based play is full of movement, the actors have to go through a one hour pre-performance workout to get ready for the show.

"It started because the director really didn't just want it to look like 10 actors goofing around as military men. It's necessary too get limbered up for the show, and particularly if you've had an extra beer or two the night before," said Craig, with a laugh.

The show has received rave reviews around the world, and had a even more interesting reaction in Sydney, where the cast's antics started reaching the gossip pages.

"It was a bit weird, as we kind of became semi-famous. Like it would be, 'anybody read the paper, today?' and in it, it would be 'Blackwatch Boys do karaoke,'" he said. "So it got that we had to be a little careful. (He put his hands up). Nothing to see here. My hands are in view at all times."

We'll have to wait and see if the show captures this city's imagination in the same way, but as if on cue, one of the Luminato programmers asked the boys if they got the list of parties and events they're hopefully expected to be at, starting off with tomorrow's post opening night "Afterprty" at Proof and the SkyLounge in Yorkville.

- Raju Mudhar

Dance, dance to the music in your head

Light on your feet is going to become light on your ears.

The extensive Luminato dance party programming taking place in Yonge and Dundas Square has added some last-minute programming, with a Silent Disco scheduled for Saturday evening starting at 12 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Here's how it works: Participants are asked to download a two-hour set by New York deejay AC Slater. (Scroll down here to download the tunes).

Put the music on your iPod (or music player of choice). Gather at Yonge/Dundas Square, put on your headphones and hit play at midnight. Then everyone can dance together, but in silence.

Of course, you can provide your own music as well, but part of the fun is the solitary-but-not-alone aspect of the group dancing together. There was a Silent Disco as part of the Yonge St. Festival a few years ago, but the it was originally conceived in British music festival Glastonbury, as a response to noise restriction bylaws.

That's the same reason it's here. Noise bylaws say that the Yonge Dundas Square concerts have to be finished by 11 p.m.

-Raju Mudhar

Prepare to be enchanted

Luminato, second edition, got off to an exquisitely luminous start last night with an invitation-only premiere of Slow Dancing, a magical celebration of dance by gifted New York photo artist David Michalek.

At a reception held by Telus, 200 guests mingled inside a tent on a field adjacent to Hart House, nibbling tapas, quaffing wine, listening to speeches and watching performances by young dancers from the National Ballet School. Then real drama began at dusk, when everyone moved outside and colourful yet hypnotic images captured by Michalek – using a special military camera – filled three huge screens at the end of the field.

Here’s the best news. Last night’s guest list may have been exclusive, but starting tonight, everyone in Toronto can savour this extraordinary can’t-miss creation, and it’s free. The only catch is you have to wait until dark. That’s when the nightly projection begins.

Michalek, a modest, quietly articulate 41-year-old artist who moved from California to New York, told the crowd that “I love dancers, and I love making pictures.” To appreciate an art form, he explained, it’s necessary to spend time examining the details. “You have to slow it down. You have to slow people down. You have to slow yourself down.”

That’s what he has done. We see 44 dancers, seeming gigantic on the big screens, in what seem at first like still photos, but then gradually and astonishingly, they move – but at an elegant, entrancingly slow pace.

Among Michalek’s subjects are Bill T. Jones, Judith Jamison, William Forsythe and Wendy Whelan (a.k.a. Michalek’s wife).

This unique marvel, co-commissioned by Luminato and UCLA, was first shown last year at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival. For Toronto, with the help of a donation from philanthropists Jim and Sandra Pitblado, two Canadian dancers were added: Clarence Ford (creator of Saturday’s funk festival at Nathan Phillips Square) and Sandra Lamouche, a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta.

Next stop: the prestigious Venice Biennale.

Our advice: Go on foot to Hoskin Ave. shortly before dusk and prepare to be enchanted.

-Martin Knelman