Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Toronto gets schooled by BC Ballet dancers By Stephen Weir This past weekend, the internationally known Canadian dance troupe Ballet BC returned to perform in Toronto. It’s been six years since their last visit, and at Friday night’s sold-out performance, the audience yelled, stamped, and begged them not to board the waiting bus outside the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts by the end of the three-performance weekend. The 20-member troupe performed two dances: Pieces of Tomorrow and their 50-minute, sometimes humorous signature piece, Passing. Pieces of Tomorrow is a ballet choreographed by Ballet BC's Artistic Director, Medhi Walerski, which premiered a year ago in Vancouver. It is a 25-minute piece featuring the full 20-member company, set to a Bach Violin Concerto, on a cloud-covered stage. As the dance races to its conclusion, a glinting, gold-like shimmer flitters ghost-like behind a blackened screen made from found pieces of shiny metal by Lyle XOX, a Vancouver-based multime...

Grenada’s Spicemas Carnival Expands Flights from New York, Miami, and Toronto By Stephen Weir When are you going to jump up and party? It all depends on the calendar—and where you're going! Carnival day is chosen based on the Christian calendar, Emancipation Day, a bank holiday, or even when the sugar cane is about to be harvested! Grenada’s Spicemas Carnival announced last week that the island is expanding the number of flights from New York, Miami, and Toronto to bring revellers south for the annual Spicemas Carnival. But when is Spicemas this year? Grenada's Spicemas, the island's annual Carnival, is traditionally held on the second Monday and Tuesday of August. In 2025, these dates fall on August 11th and 12th. The festival’s scheduling was established in 1981 to avoid clashing with other regional Carnivals and to accommodate Grenadians living abroad, who can more easily return home during the summer months. Prior to this change, Grenada's Carnival was celebrated be...

  It wasn’t a mistake, and it wasn’t on purpose By Stephen Weir Last week, I wrote a story about the birthday party of the year PanMan Pat, the city’s master of the steelpan, is turning 80! A black-tie celebration is planned, featuring a special guest appearance by the celebrated Winston "Gypsy" Peters, the T&T-based World Extempo Champion. It was set to be a sure sell-out—unless you read my story. I originally stated that the event would take place on April 25 at the Rembrandt Banquet Halls in Scarborough. Right place, wrong date. By the time The Caribbean Camera hit the stands, PanMan Pat had changed the date of the party to May 3! “Because of election fever in T&T and Canada, I was forced to move the event to May 3 at the same Rembrandt Banquet Hall,” Pat McNeilly (a.k.a. PanMan Pat) told me. “Gypsy is a former T&T Minister of Culture and head of the National Carnival Commission. He’s a politician and can’t travel that weekend. I’m awaiting confirmation from hi...