As the Kaleido Family Arts Festival puts the finishing touches on plans to put on its annual weekend chock-full of arts and culture, festival director Christy Morin took a moment to comment on if she and her team at Arts on the Ave are pleased to pass the 10-year mark.
"Yes, we are! Celebrating a decade!" she exclaimed, noting that she has always been at the helm of the creative collaborative. "It's sort of crazy, isn't it?"
Clearly, enthusiasm is not a deficit item on the cultural accounting sheets at Kaleido.
There's probably a great reason for that. From next Friday to Sunday, organizers have scheduled more than 140 performances to take place along one of the most culturally and creatively diverse communities that Edmonton has to offer.
Alberta Avenue, a place where you could take 10 steps and hear 10 different languages being spoken. It's also a place where artists of every stripe have gravitated. That's one of the main characteristics of the area that then drama teacher Morin and actress Anita Lennie first noticed.
"We realized that there were a lot of artists that were living in the neighbourhood," she began. "It's really cool! It was an amazing time as we started uncovering and realizing that Corb Lund lived in the neighbourhood, and members of Captain Tractor, and a whole bunch of costume makers and opera singers that were all living here. We just started finding each other."
Well, we all know what happens when artists hang out. A festival was inevitable. Kaleido was born with their collaborative guidance, albeit under the moniker 'Arts Alive!'.
Rather than keep it all to themselves, however, they figured that the whole city would want in on the fun too. "Let's bring Edmonton to where the artists live and let's do it through all the arts," she said of the philosophy.
"We didn't want to be a one-disciplined arts festival. We didn't want it just to be a theatre festival or a music festival. We wanted to bring the arts together and see how they play and interact," she continued, noting that such ethnic and cultural diversity had to play a role too. In her eyes, the festival is a kind of grand cultural mosaic, or kaleidoscope, as it were.
"It is really lovely to have this neighbourhood become a centre for creativity and imagination and collaboration. It's pretty cool!"
Fond faves
Morin always looks forward to revisiting some of the previous performers who are making their repeat appearances. She loves the aerial wall dancers on the sides of the buildings. Souljah Fyah and Captain Tractor are back for more too, plus Montreal-based Guinean circus act Kalabanté is back for its fourth appearance.
St. Albert folk singer/songwriter Ella Coyes has been making quite a name for herself at such venues as this city's Harvest Fest and Seven Music Fest. She is pleased to return to the very full performing schedule for the second time.
"It was one of the first festivals I ever did. I was really lucky. I played a main stage spot. I had never done that before. It was the first time I had ever done anything like that. It was a really interesting experience to be able to see how that all worked because I'd only worked on such small stages."
In the past, she has been a solo act but now, she shares her stage (in whatever form it takes) as a full-time duo with Jasper Smith.
Kaleido was one of the first festivals she had ever been involved with, and this year she and Jasper will be bringing Rhea March and the School of Song with them. Coyes and March collaborated at that fest too, playing in an alleyway, one of the more unique venues that Kaleido prides itself on. There's also a balcony and a playground, not to mention anywhere on the sidewalk or street where you might catch a scene or listen to a song.
She said that an alley works well under the fest's banner.
"No one is hanging out there. You're there to pull people in. I busked before at the St. Albert Farmers' Market but it was such a different experience to play on a stage that big as well."
It sounds like she's ready to have a blast. The organizers, the other participants and the audience are all just a positive group of people, she said, and she really loves the whole festival so much.
The Alberta Avenue area has a lot to do with it too. It's changed so much for the better over the years.
"I remember the first time I was down there. I was pretty young. I was a little freaked out. Then I went down there for Kaleido and it was just so vibrant. There was just so much going on and everywhere you walked, there was something happening and you can see someone doing something. I never go see dance and I saw belly dancers there. It's so cultural in ways that I don't really expose myself to a lot. It's really amazing that they can do that in a space like that."
Joining Coyes to represent St. Albert on the scene are Paul Woida, Jenna Werhun, and Alison Irwin, a yoga instructor who will teach a class while Christine Hanson plays the cello for the musical accompaniment.
New faces to the scene
Morin said a mixture of old faces and fresh ones is a good recipe for the Kaleido Fest. Freshness in terms of unique performance and art is part of the mix too.
"We're looking all the time for new people and new musicians and new actors and new ideas, and what could work. Now, we have a lot of artists coming to us and saying 'could we try this at your festival?' because they know we're this fertile ground of trying new stuff and beginnings of new shows starting here. That's great. How exciting to know that the artists of Edmonton and Canada are calling and saying 'can we try this?' That's a real neat success piece for us," she said.
This year, she's excited to see the merger of theatre and business as the Imaan East African restaurant (located at 9411 118 Ave.) will be hosting a Canadian play called Eaves Drop.
Actress Laura Raboud also has a show called Mrs. Kowalchuk's Stories, an original and bilingual children's show compiled from information about different shopkeepers and their families. Apparently, it involves a monster making machine, a polar bear, and a character called Cipitio from Salvadoran folklore.
"It's an acting walking tour of these places and businesses. I definitely want to go on that!" Morin exclaimed. "The newness and the freshness of it is what I love. You sit back and go, 'Wow! That was great!'"
New to the lineup this year is an incredible group act called Jack Forestier and Family. Jack is not your average performer.
"The star of the show is our 10-year-old son, Jack," explained Marie Forestier. There are two violins and one guitar in the trio, with Jack taking one of the shoulders.
"He is really a 'violinist extraordinaire.' Jack gave his first performance at the age of three and has delighted audiences ever since."
Together, they were semi-finalists on Canada's Got Talent when Jack was seven and he made his Carnegie Hall début this March. They also took the main stage at Edmonton's Folk Fest a month ago.
"We perform regularly at farmers' markets and are very active in the arts scene across Canada. We love participating in the vibrant festivals here in Edmonton where Jack is a well-known performer!"
A full slate of performances and venues is available at www.kaleidofest.ca.
