Toronto Through My Lens

“Dream Ballet”

Dream Ballet by Hamilton native Harley Valentine sits at the southeast corner of Yonge Street and Front Street East, outside Meridian Hall (formerly the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts). Installed in 2016, the three metal abstract sculptures are 5.4-metres (18 feet) high.

The three towering figures are abstract representations of dancers and pay homage to the Meridian Hall’s former tenants, the National Ballet of Canada. The sculptor has remarked that if kids want to skateboard around the pieces, that’s fine with him; Valentine views skateboarding as a type of dance, and dance as a form of kinetic sculpting,

Sculptor Harley Valentine, with a model of his installation “Dream Ballet”

Harley Valentine has public art installations in several places in the Toronto area — including the Barbarians at the Gate exhibition at Campbell House on Queen Street West, a sculpture park in Scarborough, a permanent piece outside Humber College and a temporary installation in the Yorkville area. He’s also bidding on other projects in Palm Desert, California, New York and Detroit.

1 Comment

  1. David

    Seen it but didn’t know the background . Now I do. Thanks

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