October 8, 2009

Walter Hollasch, an instructor at the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario, operates one of the cranes at the Nuit Blanche event in Toronto Oct. 3.

Dancing cranes a spectacle in the sky at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche festival

GRANT CAMERON

special to DCN

It’s just after 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 3 at East Liberty and Pirandello Streets in southwest Toronto. In the darkness above, two high-rise tower cranes sit like giant metallic birds atop buildings at the Liberty Towers construction site, jibs facing north, trolleys at minimum radius, blocks up.

On the ground below, a crowd has gathered on sidewalks around the construction site, heads turned to the sky in anticipation.

A worker on the ground barks a few commands into his hand-held two-way radio. Lights on the cranes immediately blink to life, and the motionless mechanical giants begin to move in unison to classical music.

For the next 20 minutes, the two cranes “dance” together in a synchronized spectacle of motion.

The event was part of the fourth annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, a participatory celebration of contemporary art held in Toronto. More than 130 projects were featured in three zones across the downtown and southwest areas of the city.

The cranes were operated by Walter Hollasch, an instructor at the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario (OETIO), and Genadi Goren, an operator with Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers and employee of Yukon Construction Inc. Hollasch operated a Peiner SK 165 while Goren was on a Comedil 331 crane.

Local 793 got involved in the event after receiving a phone call from Brandon Vickerd, a Toronto-based sculptor and assistant professor in the department of visual arts at York University.

Vickerd wanted to do something special for the annual arts festival.

“I called the union and told them I wanted to put this together,” he said. “They were very supportive of this.”

Vickerd choreographed the dance with assistance from Dave Healey, director of training and operations at the OETIO, and Joe Dowdall, training co-ordinator.

The result was a mechanized ballet set to music. The dance was performed at the beginning of every hour, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.

During the event, the cranes would pivot, sway in harmony, each performing delicate manoeuvres and motions.

The display drew attention to the massive machines that build Toronto and highlighted the skill of operators.

Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher said the union was pleased to be part of such an event.

“Crane and heavy equipment operators are an integral part of building the high-rise structures in and around Toronto and ventures such as this allow us to showcase our trade.”

Training co-ordinator Dowdall said the event allowed people an opportunity to see the cranes in action.

“It was nice to be part of these celebratory events in the city and promote our trade and the skills that operating engineers have in building these large buildings.”

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