Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

SMOOTH BUT A BIT CRAZY - TALKING TO CRAZY SMOOTH TALKING TO CRAZY SMOOTH In the old days, the done thing in the downtown Bluma Appel Theatre was to stay quiet until a performance was over and then start clapping.  That ain’t going to happen starting this March 17th when Crazy Smooth and  Bboyizm roll, jump, hop and dance onto the big hall’s stage for three evenings of Break and Street dances.                                                          Crazy Smooyj “We want to hear and see everyone!” said famed street dancer and b-boy dancer Crazy Smooth. “We’ve all had to live through the new normal, but now I think our desire and need to be around each other is coming through. Stand up. Make some moves and let us hear you!   Below Right - Otawa's Crazy Smooth The show is called In my Body. Nine of Canada’s best b.boy / b.girl dancers,  young and old, are bringing street dance onto the stage for three nights of high energy. It is one of the first shows to go live in Toronto si

                                                T h e Parade Is A Go In 2022   Jamaal’s Revellers the First Band To Announce Launch   By Stephen Weir   Dust off your pans, tune up your singing voice, break out your costume. It is going to happen (probably).    Laverne Garcia the chair of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival confirmed to the Caribbean Camera that it is full speed ahead for the 55 th Toronto Caribbean Carnival's Grand Parade on July 31 st along the Lakeshore.  It was probably the worst kept secret at City Hall. The major events in the city from Pride to the Toronto Film Festival have all been given permission by Toronto and the Province to stage their annual events -- provided of course that Canada does not get hit by another wave of Covid.    “We will ensure compliance with all public health and safety precautions as the safety and health of the community is our top priority,” Garcia confirmed to the media last week. “This year marks our 55th Emerald Anniversary,

Caribbean Canadian Music With a Cause Remembered   By Stephen Weir   Standing inside the Friars Museum beside the two curators of the new free exhibition - Rhythm and Resistance - I listen as they tell the history of the Caribbean music scene in downtown Toronto. I am being schooled about what made Toronto the North American hub for Calypso, Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae, and now Hip-Hop music.    The Friars is the only museum in Canada (or even the world) that is housed inside a drugstore. The store has a micro-museum on its second floor and is l ocated at the epicentre of what was once Toronto’s Music City – Dundas and Yonge Streets.    The store is located where the Friars Tavern and later the Hard Rock Café stood. South of Dundas Square, it was a Jazz and Blues club until it closed in 1976. Two years later the Hard Rock Café took over the building and it truly did what the name suggested – it rocked loud and hard until 2017 when the structure was rebuilt into a new Shoppers Dru