Everyday Marvels was a memorable celebration of creative diversity and the coming together of community. Named one of the top things to see at Toronto’s 2013 Nuit Blanche event by Toronto Life and The Globe and Mail, this contemporary performance installation brought to life the objects we too often take for granted…a flashlight, spoons, a radiator.

Based on Governor General Award-winning poet Lorna Crozier’s The Book of Marvels – A compendium of everyday things, Everyday Marvels featured sixteen short vignettes, performed by over 40 professional and community-based dancers, including an enthusiastic team of bankers from the RBC’s premiere dance group – The Mobile Assets.

We really had so much fun creating this piece. It started in my living room around a coffee table full of crudités, hummus and artichoke dip. With DJ Jef Mallory we built a playlist of memorable life moments and shared the stories they inspired. The next week we met in the studio and transformed our memories into movement. Stories became gestures and dances set to the music that shaped us.

making everyday marvels

The unusual combination of dancers performing alongside bankers generated considerable curiosity and inspired a three part web documentary series by dance artist and filmmaker Linnea Swan. making everyday marvels illuminates the process of bringing together professional choreographers, experienced and emerging performers, and an enthusiastic group of RBC employees to create this twelve hour episodic performance installation at the Gardiner Museum. 

The creation of making everyday marvels  was made possible with support from RBC and the many generous artists, participants and volunteers involved. 

The documentary premiered in 2014 at The Spoke Club, with contributed video footage from Laurence Siegel and Phyllis White of Heartfelt Productions.