Click here to see the book that documents the Crepuscule project in words and images.

Crepuscule is a dynamic community performance taking place in the Arboretum at the University of Guelph on Saturday, May 14th from 2pm-5pm.

Conceived and led by Douglas R. Ewart, Director of Community Orchestra Inventions, Crepuscule brings together diverse people and communities from different walks of life and abilities in a massive, organized, outdoor improvisation.

Douglas R. Ewart is former chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). A versatile composer, improviser, sculptor and maker of masks and instruments, educator, lecturer, and all around visionary, he has led projects in diverse media throughout an award-winning and widely acclaimed 40-year career. He has woven his remarkably broad gifts into a single sensibility that encourages and celebrates the wholeness of individuals in culturally active communities. He performed in the 2015 Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium and remained in residence in Guelph and Waterloo conducting master classes and instrument-building workshops with artists and groups in both communities.

Crepuscule will engage a broad combination of community groups and artists organized into “pods” who perform at the event. Poetry, spoken word, ukulele, dance, drum groups, puppetry, choirs and Tai Chi are just some of the intercultural and intergenerational pods who will be collaborating at the Arboretum. The gathering takes place near a body of water, trees, or botanical gardens as a means to draw energy from the setting itself. The circle is imagined as a source of endless nature and power, and persons collaborating in Crepuscule events join hands at some point as a demonstration of that power, unity, and community.