Arts & Culture in Pickering

Cofounder and artistic director of Les Coquettes Cabaret, Catherine Skinner—known onstage as La Minouche—takes the art of public seduction seriously. In a video posted to the troupe's YouTube channel, she notes, “You'll see a little bit of dancing, a little bit of singing, a little bit of aerial circusry, and a little bit of very tasteful striptease.” Setting comedy and titillation aflutter in a blizzard of double entendres, the troupe puts on shows that appeal to adult audiences of any age or gender. The aesthetic might evoke a Burtonesque gothic setting, the seven sexy seas of the pirate age, a neon-flooded nightclub of the '80s, or the future's inevitable dress code of sentient hairpieces. The company thoroughly impressed Kelli Korducki of The Torontoist, who praised the performers' "undeniable song and dance chops," adding that "cabaret patrons may come for the scantily clad dancers, but they will certainly stay for the talent.”

Praised by the Toronto Star as “one of the world’s top period-performance orchestras,” the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra dazzles music fans with an aural kaleidoscope of euphony. Based out of Toronto's imposingly grand Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, the group comprises a choir of angel-voiced singers and a virtuosic chamber orchestra that are dedicated to authentic period performance. An intense commitment to accuracy leads the musicians to adopt centuries-old performance techniques, such as playing only instruments styled after 18th century versions.