Darren O'Donnell
Performance
Ballroom Dancing, an all-ages dance party, is a public forum for children and adults to play together all night long in a room filled with thousands of rubber balls.
Dare to dance with Darren O'Donnell to the tunes of his team of 10-year-old DJs. Children and adults alike are invited to play in a gymnasium transformed, disco lights and all, into a kid's ball-room-meets-nightclub DJ-ed by children. Reclaim the perception of the public sphere as a place of safety and communication, rather than danger and atomization. Participate in an exciting and unusual opportunity for 10-year olds to assert their identities. Give children control of the playlist and relinquish your own inhibitions.
How often do you give yourself over and dance with abandon to Sean Paul? Rest assured if 10-year-old kids are DJ-ing, you'll likely hear him more than once.
A nap area is provided for adults who need to crash.
Darren O'Donnell's barber is 10 years old. O'Donnell is a Toronto-based writer, director, actor, and the artistic director of Mammalian Diving Reflex (Haircuts by Children). The Globe and Mail says, "He writes like a sugar-addled genius at 300 km/hr."
Lighting Designer: Rebecca Picherack
DJ Instructor/Sound Designer: LAL (Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murrary)
In association with University Settlement House and Mammalian Diving Reflex.
Photo courtesy of D. O'Donnell
Map location 8
University Settlement House, 23 Grange Road
