Jane’s Walk
You don’t need to be Mr. Rogers to know that every day is a wonderful day in the neighbourhood. This weekend, the city is blanketed by roving hordes of walkers and talkers, in lock-step agreement when it comes to free, foot-friendly tours of communities, done annually in honour of the visionary urbanist Jane Jacobs. All the “walking conversations” have their quirks and charm, but you’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to outdo the Dawn Chorus Walk, a song-bird-seeking stroll in High Park (May 3, 5 a.m.). To May 3. Free. Schedule at janeswalk.org.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
“How can you be an artist,” asked Nina Simone, “and not reflect the times?” The brilliant and demon-wrestling singer posed a legitimate question, as does the director Liz Garbus with her documentary that aims to explain the “high priestess of soul” – one of the greatest singing talents of the 20th century and a fierce civil rights campaigner. The film is one of the countless stellar attractions of this year’s Hot Docs film fest (running to May 3). May 2, 1 p.m., Bloor Hot Docs Cinema; May 3, 9 p.m., The Regent. hotdocs.ca.
Peggy Baker Dance Projects: Locus Plot
A work based in pristine mathematical formulas adds up to the first-ever full-evening ensemble work from the lauded choreographer Peggy Baker. Five contemporary dancers blast, collapse and slip into theatrical scenes, while handwritten equations and locus diagrams are projected over the stage. Expect invention – Ms. Baker is not one for doing it by the numbers. May 2 (8:30 p.m.) and May 3 (4 p.m.). $22 to $28. Betty Oliphant Theatre , 404 Jarvis St., 1-800-838-3006 or peggybakerdance.com.
The Fight of the Century
Just as styles make a fight, styles make a sports bar. Scores of joints will screen the long-anticipated welterweight fandango – between the trash-talking, cash-flashing, women-battering Floyd Mayweather and the humanitarian Manny Pacquiao – and there’s quite a choice of taprooms to catch the good-versus-evil punch-up. Our picks? In one corner, the hipster-happy upstart (The Contender, 1166 Dundas St. W.) and, in the other, the seasoned, suds-soaked veteran (Wheat Sheaf Tavern, 667 King St. W.). Let’s get it on. May 2, 9 p.m. Various cover charges. List of venues at canadastarboxing.com.
Brantwood
This isn’t a professional production, but any theatre company could go to school on Brantwood, a site-specific experience in which audiences are taken by a school bus to a shuttered school. There, a choose-your-own-adventure unfolds, involving many storylines, characters, musical numbers and pop-up dance routines as presented by the real-life graduating class of Sheridan College’s musical theatre performance program. For fans of immersive theatre, attendance is mandatory. To May 3, 7 p.m. $35. Meet at Sheridan College, 1430 Trafalgar Rd., Oakville, 905-815-4049 or sheridancollege.ca.