| Culture, Sport And Media In The Halifax Regional Municipality |
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ARTS & CULTURE HRM is home to a vibrant arts & culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While Provincial arts & culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in HRM is increasingly :being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects. (See: Creative Class .) The Halifax Regional Municipality is in the process of drafting a Cultural Plan to guide the municipality’s development of its arts & culture over the next twelve years. While HRM is not as multiculturally diverse as its larger Canadian counterparts, this is slowly evolving, particularly as the municipality and province place more emphasis on attracting immigrants. Muslims comprise the second-largest visible minority in HRM, while the largest visible minority - the historic African Nova Scotian community - as well as the more recently established Greek and Lebanese communities provide important influences for local culture. The municipality's urban core benefits from a large population of post-secondary students who provide a strong influence on the local cultural scene. Performing Arts Halifax has been the home to live music and theatrical productions virtually since its founding. Writer-historian Thomas H. Raddall wrote that by the 1780s there were no less than two theatres, the “old” Grand Theatre on Argyle Street and the “new” Grand Theatre on Grafton Street. “The plays were mostly farces of the sort popular in London at the time…” (note Raddall). From 1876 until its demolition in 1929 , plays, concerts and even operas were performed at the Academy of Music building near the corner of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road. Reflecting the change in popular taste, the Academy building was torn down to make way for the Capital Theatre, a movie house. The old-style cinema was itself subject to obsolescence, and in the 1970s demolished for the sake of an office building. Theatre :Currently, HRM is home to a number of theatre groups, the most prominent being the :Other notable theatre groups include the “open air” Shakespeare By The Sea and Eastern Front Theatre based in Alderney Landing. There are several smaller theatre companies, such as OneLight Theatre Company, Zuppa Circus , Foghorn Theatre and 2b Theatre; as well as various community-based theatre groups including the Chester Players and the Dartmouth Players. :There is a theatre studies program at Dalhousie University and the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium is the largest performance theatre for dramatic and musical events in HRM. Dance :Halifax is the home of several dance organizations, the oldest and largest is the Halifax Dance Association {Link without Title} . Founded in 1973, Halifax Dance has over 1400 members (2005) and is the largest dance organization in the Atlantic region. Halifax Dance offers recreational classes in ballet, modern, jazz, creative movement, tap, hip-hop and physical theatre. It also offers the Intensive Training Program (ITP) for more serious study of dance, choreography and performance. Halifax Dance has several companies-in-residence: The Young Company which tours Nova Scotian schools and annually presents ''The Nutcracker''; as well as the modern companies Mocean Dance and Verve Mwendo. :The other major dance organization in HRM is the School of Dance at the Maritime Conservatory Of Performing Arts {Link without Title} . Music :The musical scene in Halifax is broad and richly varied, from School of Music and the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. Symphony Nova Scotia's conductor since 2002 has been Bernhard Gueller. :HRM is home to a vibrant Hip Hop community. Some notable artists to have emerged from Halifax include Buck 65 , Universal Soul, Classified, April Wine , and The Joel Plaskett Emergency . During the 1990s , the Former City Of Halifax was excitedly billed as the next Seattle because of its vibrant Indie Rock scene. Although it never managed to achieve Seattle's musical fame, a number of artists did emerge, including Sloan , Thrush Hermit , and Sarah McLachlan . Also see Music Of Nova Scotia . Visual Arts The Nova Scotia College Of Art And Design , since its founding in 1887 as the ''Victoria School of Art and Design'', {Link without Title} has had a major influence on the visual arts in Nova Scotia, particularly in urban Halifax. Many NSCAD graduates have remained in Halifax and practiced as graphic designers, photographers, film-makers, muralists, ceramicists, jewellers and weavers. HRM has a number of art galleries, both public and private, including the Art Gallery Of Nova Scotia , Zwickers Gallery, Eye Level Gallery and Studio 21. As well, NSCAD has its own exibition space, the Anna Leonowens Gallery in Historic Properties. Film HRM has become a film-making centre, with many American and Canadian filmmakers using the city's streetscapes, often to stand in for other cities that are more expensive to work in. The city's port status also makes it a popular location for films about ships; scenes from the films '''' were all filmed in the region, as well as numerous silver-screen movies and various documentaries. The tourism industry has had a strong influence on the region in recent decades and provides important spin-offs throughout the retail, restaurant and accommodation sectors, particularly in the downtown urban core of the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. In the summer, downtown vendors cater to cruise ship passengers and tourists, while destinations such as the Public Gardens, Point Pleasant Park , Casino Nova Scotia , Citadel Hill and most-famously Peggy's Cove all benefit from visitors. The Tall Ships came to Halifax Harbour in 1984, 2000 and 2004. Yacht races such as the biennial Marblehead To Halifax Ocean Race and the Route Halifax-SPM (Halifax to St. Pierre ) provide additional flavour. Important festivals include the Nova Scotia International Tattoo (sometimes exaggerated by locals as North America's largest annual indoor show or the world's largest indoor show), the Atlantic Jazz Festival, the Atlantic Film Festival, the Multicultural Festival, the Greek Summerfest, a Lebanese festival, and the annual International Busker Festival. Halifax also hosts an annual new music festival called the Halifax Pop Explosion each fall. The Halifax Port Authority has recently announced a potential plan to redevelop a waterfront area adjacent to its passenger/cruise ship terminal (which includes Pier 21 ); this will be known as the Seawall and is being promoted as a Bohemian district. Entertainment & Nightlife HRM is reputed to have one of the highest number of bars per capita of any Canadian city; even its QMJHL team is named after a New Brunswick beer company, Moosehead . Many bars have live music every night of the week and artists performing almost any style of music can be found. Venues Outdoor concerts are often performed on the slopes of Citadel Hill and at Alderny Landing in Dartmouth. Major indoor concerts take place at the Halifax Metro Centre .
''Source: "Indie nation" , Canadian Geographic Online'' SPORTS Hockey is probably the most popular sport in the HRM. The Metro Centre is home to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 's Halifax Mooseheads , who usually lead the league in attendance. The older Halifax Forum hosts the Halifax Wolverines Junior-A team. The Dartmouth Sportsplex hosts the Dartmouth Destroyers of the CEHL (Partly owned by the Trailer Park Boys ). Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey is also popular, with teams from Dalhousie University and Saint Mary's University having a fierce rivalry. The Saint Mary's Huskies Canadian Interuniversity Sport football team is a very popular draw, and play their games at Huskies Stadium . Rumours of a Canadian Football League team have been around for decades, with one team, the Atlantic Schooners , existing only on paper. Halifax has considered lobbying to have a CFL team located in the area, though the proposal has never been formally endorsed by the municipal or Provincial governments. Huskies Stadium hosted Touchdown Atlantic, a CFL exhibition game, in 2005, and planned to host another in 2006, but the suspension of one of the scheduled teams forced the cancellation of the game. Many other sports are represented in the area. The Nova Scotia Keltics play in the Rugby Canada Super League , and there are many Soccer and Baseball leagues. HRM has been selected to host the next World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in May , 2007 . The inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championships were held in Hamilton, Kitchener, Mississauga , and Oshawa, Ontario , Canada in May , 2003 . National teams from Australia , Canada , the Czech Republic , the Iroquois Nation, Scotland , and the United States participated. Canada defeated the Iroquois Nation in the final by a score of 21-4. The World Indoor Lacrosse Championships is an International Lacrosse Federation -sanctioned event. Halifax will also co-host the 2008 IIHF World Championship with Quebec City . Halifax has been selected as the bid city for Canada in the Commonwealth Games . This is the first time that Halifax has ever been chosen as the bid City . The proposed facilities for the 2014 Games are projected to cost upwards of $700 million dollars, however, Halifax officials estimate the economic spinoff of the event to be $2 billion. The largest cost ($285 million dollars) would be the construction of a 40,000 seat stadium and sports complex (including athlete's village) at Shannon Park in Dartmouth. Officials believe that Shannon Park would be the most suitable area as it is by the Halifax Harbour and is linked to all the major roadways but this location is disputed for many reasons. The construction of this stadium would also allow Halifax to host the CFL franchise. The Commonwealth Games Federation will announce the host city for the 2014 Games at an Annual General Assembly in Sri Lanka on November 9 , 2007 . MEDIA '' The Chronicle-Herald '' is a daily Broadsheet paper, covering mainland Nova Scotia. The paper is independently owned, and usually has a moderate Conservative editorial policy. '' The Daily News '' is daily Tabloid paper, focusing primarily on Halifax. Its editorial style is Populist , and it is owned by Transcontinental Media. '' The Coast '' is a free " Alternative Weekly " focused primarily on HRM's urban core, especially the Halifax Peninsula . The independently owned paper is known for its generally Left Leaning or Progressive editorial policy. A Maritimes gossip tabloid '' Frank Magazine '' was established in HRM and subsequently expanded into central Canada; it has since retracted to focusing on the Maritimes. Television Several television shows are created in Halifax including the CBC news satire show '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes '' as well as the mock-reality show '' Trailer Park Boys '' for Showcase. Several Television stations operate in HRM:
The CTV and Global stations broadcast to the entire Maritime Provinces . ASN is a Cable / Satellite -only network operating in conjunction with CTV Atlantic. Several specialty digital television channel licenses have also been developed in HRM in recent years by Salter Street Films . Cable services are provided by EastLink . Radio Various radio stations broadcast in HRM:
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