It’s quite coincidental that British Columbia’s BC Arts and Culture Week 2012 also takes place the same week as International Dance Week. We have a multitude of extremely talented dancers in Vancouver, although dance is only one of the fine and performing arts, and Vancouver is (despite funding challenges) one of the hubs of British Columbia’s arts scene. Throughout my travels in this wonderful province I was able to take in some of the great fine arts in British Columbia, and thus it’s fitting that I promote BC Arts and Culture Week 2012.
BC Arts and Culture Week is a BC-wide celebration of all things art and culture that turns the spotlight on the vital contribution that they make in learning and in life. Hundreds of arts councils, communities and schools across the province will be joining the fun by presenting a dazzling range of events and activities from pop-up dance performances to art crawls, exhibitions, open mics and much more. Music, films, media arts, dance, books, theatre and visual art are a part of daily life, and have a lasting impact. They inspire us, challenge us and broaden our horizons and help us to become informed, aware and contributing members of society. We invite all British Columbians to join the celebration by participating in local BC Arts and Culture Week events.
I have spent the majority of my last 6 years of blogging promoting the arts in British Columbia (and Canada) and thus I encourage you to take in and participate in some of the events of BC Arts and Culture Week. Check out the lineup of events here.
The 605 Collective perform on April 26 as part of The Dance Centre noon hour series, Discover Dance! (Photo credit: Gary Cotter)
In a new partnership between The Dance Centre and the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum, local dance artists perform outdoors alongside the monumental sculptures of the Biennale throughout the city (April 23-28). Events at Scotiabank Dance Centre include a noon performance for The Dance Centre’s Discover Dance! series by local favourites The 605 Collective, a partnership presentation with Co.ERASGA featuring Germany’s COCOONDANCE, and a day of free events on International Dance Day, Sunday April 29.
About National Dance Week/International Dance Day
The Canadian Dance Assembly is launching the first ever National Dance Week and the ‘I love dance/J’aime la danse’ campaign leading up to International Dance Day in 2012, celebrating the art of dance across Canada. International Dance Day was initiated in 1982 by UNESCO and is marked annually on April 29 around the world. The date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), regarded as the founder of modern ballet.
Some of the National Dance Week events
Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum (April 23-28): Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Biennale, dance artists perform outdoors at Biennale sculpture locations around Vancouver. As part of the Vancouver Biennale BIG IDEAS Educational Program, these free public performances will also include original works by students in dance, music, drama and poetry.
Monday April 23 Danny Nielsen performs a tap improvisation inspired by the natural rhythm of everyday life, 12 noon at Walking Figures, Broadway/City Hall Canada Line station.
Tuesday April 24 Ziyian Kwan/dumb instrument Dance in because the world is round, ‘a brief romance for two brides’ performed by Jane Osborne & Ziyian Kwan + Caitlin Griffin’s Disk Pin, a lighthearted look at expectations performed by Griffin and Elissa Hanson, 11am at Engagement, Sunset Beach Park.
Wednesday April 25 Flamenco Rosario performs Verde que te quiero verde, danced by Rosario Ancer and accompanied by guitarist Victor Kolstee + Ziyian Kwan’s echoes, a bilingual musical dance created with students from Henry Hudson School, 10am at Echoes at Kitsilano Beach Park.
Thursday April 26 A performance by The Landing Dance Company, 11am at Water #10 at Cambie Plaza, Richmond.
Friday April 27 Nicole Dupuis’ Pastures is a structured improvisation responding to ideas represented by the sculpture, 12 noon at Walking Figures at Broadway/City Hall Canada Line station.
Saturday April 28 The Contingency Plan presents what belongs to you (excerpts), a trio choreographed by Vanessa Goodman, 11.30am at Echoes at Kitsilano Beach Park.
Saturday April 28 Arash Khakpour’s The Righteous Floater is inspired by the tale of Cain and Abel and is performed by brothers Arash and Aryo Khakpour, 1pm at King and Queen, Harbour Green.
This week will also include Discover Dance!
The Dance Centre’s noon hour series features The 605 Collective in a sneak preview of work from their hotly anticipated new piece Inheritor Album. Fusing contemporary, hip hop, and martial arts to create a virtuosic and high-energy movement style, the company – dancers Laura Avery, Justine Chambers, Lisa Gelley, Shay Kuebler, Josh Martin and David Raymond – will perform excerpts, along with video projections created by Los Angeles-based experimental animation artist Miwa Matreyek, informal demonstrations, and a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Thursday April 26, 12 noon at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets $10/$8 www.ticketstonight.ca
While Gotye‘s song is about lovers, Glee’s producers were able to reframe it as a song sung between two brothers. I will fully admit that my relationship with my brothers has been always amazing. We have always been the best of friends. So I really can’t relate myself to the way in which the song is framed here. But I did get tears in my eyes when I listened to it and watched the video.
Somebody That I Used To Know is a song originally sung by Australian Gotye and New Zealander Kimbra that is featured in Big Brother, the fifteenth episode of the third season. It is sung by Blaine and his older brother, Cooper. The performance is the final song in the episode where Blaine and Cooper finally make up after the song in the auditorium.
Lyrics:
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it’s an ache I still remember
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I’ll admit that I was glad it was over
But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
No you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
Part of me believing it was always something that I’d done
But I don’t wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know
[Gotye:]
But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
And you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
[x2]
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you’re just somebody that I used to know)
(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody
We all know that one of the biggest issues in Vancouver is whether there will be at any point in time, affordable housing in this city. We all love living here, but the cost of renting an apartment or a house in Vancouver is becoming prohibitive. Tikva Housing and several other non-profit organizations are currently in the process of preparing a Third Housing Forum to be held Wednesday May 2nd, 2012 at 6:00pm at the Peretz Centre (6184 Ash Street, Vancouver BC V5Z 3G9).
Panelists include: TIM WAKE, Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, TSUR SOMERVILLE, UBC Centre for Urban Economics & Real Estate, BONNIE RICE, Katherine Sanford Housing Society, and NATHAN EDELSON, 42nd Street Consulting . The moderator will be PENNY GURSTEIN, UBC School of Community& Regional Planning.
As an academic who has done work on urban and industrial restructuring, I will do my best to attend, particularly because I love the work of Tsur Sommerville and of Penny Gurstein (two of my colleagues at UBC at the Sauder School of Business and UBC School of Community and Regional Planning). I’m keen to see what comes out of the discussion. Additional information that I received from the organizers:
Rent subsidy vs. building units has been a discussion topic for some time amongst housing advocates in Vancouver. As the housing affordability crisis has grown in Vancouver, organizations like Tikva and others have begun to examine this debate and its impact on their service delivery more closely. Tikva has received a $1M donation to purchase a building, but the high costs of real estate in Vancouver are making the search for a suitable site near impossible.
As Tikva looks to the future and how best to use this donation, the Future Directions in Affordable Housing Forum will provide invaluable insight and opinions in the best use of the donation in serving Vancouver’s most needy. The Forum will also provide an opportunity for other organizations to examine their own housing difficulties, and connect organizations with each other and concerned citizens to work towards finding a solution.
This is such an important topic that I hope that people in Vancouver will want to attend the forum. One of the most challenging issues in this city is also to make sure that the right people participate, so I would encourage you to attend.
More on Tikva Housing Society
Tikva Housing Society was formed in 1994 with a mission of providing safe, secure and affordable housing for working age people. In 2007, with the most generous assistance of Vancouver’s Guincher family, other community members and matching funds from B.C. Housing, Tikva Housing Society was able to purchase the Dany Guincher House, an 11-unit apartment building in Marpole. With the acquisition of the Dany Guincher House, nine apartments are now rented to working age Jewish singles and families.
As units become vacant, new Tikva clients are housed based on need.
6 years ago, I decided to start writing an online journal to chronicle my life in Vancouver. It was (as it continues to be), my personal canvas: the place where I write my view of this amazing city. You’ll see: the way I see it, I am the poster child of success in Vancouver. This city’s real estate may be unaffordable, prices may be high, salaries may be low, but you know what? I love Vancouver. I really do.
It’s the city where I have blossomed and flourished.
It’s the city where I have found lifelong friends.
It’s the city where I found love. Where I fell in love.
It’s the city where I found myself. Where I realized who I was and the full potential I had.
It’s the city where I went from being a PhD student to having a fairly well-read blog, and creating an intense and fulfilling life, all the while continuing my academic life.
It’s the city where I have taught some of the smartest university students in my career.
It’s the city where I have had my base, where I have been afforded to travel to places I never thought I’d see, to do cool things I never thought I would do.
I love Vancouver and I am proud of the last 6 years where I have written my life in this amazing city, with extraordinary people who work hard every day to make the best of what they have been given in this town. I am proud of the friends I have made, the colleagues I have interacted with and undertaken projects with. I am proud of the people I have mentored, including (for the first time in my career), my two interns (Anabelle and Jessica). I am proud of my former students, who have gone on to succeed worldwide and who still keep in touch with me. I am proud of the communities I belong to.
4,050 blog posts.
11,618 comments.
6 different social media platforms.
And most importantly: 6 years of amazing experiences I would never trade back for anything in the world. To the people who day after day, religiously, continue to read Hummingbird604: you are, in great part, the reason why I continue to face (on rare occasions) negative comments, online attacks. You are the reason I continue to organize contests. You are the reason why I continue to paint the canvas of my life in Vancouver: to share it with you. To promote local businesses, charitable causes, and others. Not to promote myself, to promote others!
If you want to give me a 6th year blogiversary gift, please do something nice for someone today. It may be, buying the coffee of the person next in line at the coffee shop. It may be buying a warm meal for a homeless person on the street. It may be taking to lunch someone who is facing financial difficulties and can’t afford it.
Thanks for making of Hummingbird604.com what it is today. I wouldn’t be here without my online community. Without all of you.
Postscript: The past two years I have organized a party to celebrate my blogiversary. I may do so this year, but I’ve been so incredibly busy with the end of the academic year that I haven’t planned for it.
This qualifies as one of the best finds in music I’ve done in a long while (and they are Canadian to boot). Soul Side In is a Canadian rock band who reinvented/adapted one of my absolute favorite songs, Invincible by Pat Benatar. I can’t stop listening to it. In a way, it sounds a little bit as (yes, heresy) Nickelback (and I know that some people have their issues with Nickelback, but I like their music). And yes, I know that for most people, it’s kind of impossible to see me liking hard rock music. But I do. For your listening pleasure, Soul Side In‘s version of Pat Benatar’s Invincible. If they come to Vancouver, I’m so going to their concert. Seriously.
For more on Soul Side In, they were featured in The Province. From Kevin Churko‘s website I gathered the following: The song was produced by Kevin Churko at The Hideout and the video was a directed by frequent hideout collaborator Brandon Christensen.
Normally I would write about music on Mondays (as it’s Music Monday), but I’ve also learned that sometimes you just need to crank out a post to remember things that you love, and the one I am loving right now (and thanks Parveen Kaler for reminding me of this song) is this tune by Patti Smyth and Scandal, The Warrior. For some reason, I always confused Pat Benatar (who sang Invincible, similar kind of tune and beat) with Patti Smyth. And I love both tunes (Invincible by Pat Benatar and The Warrior by Patti Smyth and Scandal). For your listening pleasure. And if you are an 80’s music fan, you probably do remember it.
You run, run, runaway
It’s your heart that you betray
Feeding on your hungry eyes
I bet you’re not so civilized
Well isn’t love primitive?
A wild gift that you wanna give
Break out of captivity
And follow me stereo jungle child
Love is the kill
Your heart’s still wild
Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you’ll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior
You talk, talk, talk to me
Your eyes touch me physically
Stay with me we’ll take the night
As passion takes another bite, oh
Who’s the hunter, who’s the game?
I feel the beat call your name
I hold you close in victory
I don’t wanna tame your animal style
You won’t be caged in the call of the wild
Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you’ll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior
I am the warrior
Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
And heart to heart you’ll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior
Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
– Marilyn vos Savant
One of the things I have learned about life is that it often throws you a curve ball and that you just sometimes need to roll with it. A couple of days ago, I couldn’t feel stronger. I felt on top of the world. And yesterday, despite all the work I had to do, I felt that I wasn’t myself. I felt exhausted, tired and sleep-deprived.
And then I remembered something I learned years ago. Something that my parents taught me that has kept me going: do something every day that moves you forward. This lesson is particularly valuable for someone who works in academia, like me. Most academic coaches will tell you (particularly if you are a young, up-and-coming, rising star, or if you have to juggle several projects in a portfolio-style kind of academic/consulting life) that you need to write EVERY DAY. Even if for 15 minutes, write every day.
I’ve kept my parents advice to heart and even though yesterday I felt crappy, I did the things that I had to do to move me forward. I wrote, reviewed research materials, read, had meetings with students and my teaching assistant. And then I took some time off to recharge. All of these things, whether I read 20 articles or I read one, have been things that move me forward. It’s not the number of articles I have read, it’s the fact that EVERY DAY I read.
It’s the fact that, every day, I do something (even if it’s small) to move me forward. That’s what needs to be done to get the work done.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
– Booker T. Washington
While I have publicly said how much I do NOT like Dragon’s Den (the Canadian show where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to angel investors and, more often than not, get throttled and clobbered), I love the idea of Dragon’s Improv Tank (a show that the Vancouver Theatre Sports League is putting together). I love the work that Vancouver Theatre Sports League has done (and yes, my ex used to love improv – that’s exactly how I got into the genre).
Pearce Visser, Margret Nyfors, and Shaun Stewart are discerning Improv Dragons ready for Improv Inventor Ken Lawson’s improv game. Photo by Peter Williams
Opening Gala of Dragons’ Improv Tank is on Thursday, April 26th 7:30 pm – 9 pm at the Improv Centre. I really love the premise behind Dragons’ Improv Tank, and sounds like a lot of fun.
Dragons’ Improv Tank is a hilarious parody of popular business pitch shows, where Improv Inventors pitch “the next big improv game” to discerning Improv Dragons, hoping they’d invest their time, talent, and “money”. The audience will be exposed to at least 10 new ridiculous improv games by the end of the show! This is meant to be a fun evening, so we want you to just sit back and laugh!
To promote the new show, I am hosting a ticket giveaway. The offer includes four tickets to Dragons’ Improv Tank’s Premiere Night on Thursday, April 26th at 7:30 pm. Because I am launching this contest late, I am going to give you, my readers, a chance to enter until April 24th at 3pm (with, as usual, a maximum of 24 hours to claim your prize, otherwise I will redraw). This means that I am going to draw 2 winners, with a pair fo each.
Watch the Improv Dragons’ feeding on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 pm, starting this April 26th at The Improv Centre on Granville Island (1502 Duranleau St., Vancouver, B.C.) Tickets range from $10 to $21. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Vancouver Theatresports League website.
To enter my giveaway just drop a comment on this post telling me what’s the craziest business idea you have ever thought of pitching (if any). Entrepreneurship is hard, and I’m sure you all know that it takes a while to build a company, and some of those successful startups are the result of some crazy idea dreaming. So, tell me, what would be your craziest business idea?
To earn a second entry just post the following on Twitter:
Shared my craziest business idea w/ @hummingbird604 http://is.gd/teXVRO to enter to win tickets to @VanTheatreSport Dragons’ Improv Tank
Holy Fan Expo’s, Batman!!! If you know me at all, you’ll know that I’m a comics addict, and a superhero fiend. So I was thrilled to announce Fan Expo Vancouver 2012 which will take place at the Vancouver Conventions Centre this weekend. And there will be a number of celebrity guests, including Batman and Robin (Burt Ward and Adam West), The Hulk himself (Lou Ferrigno) and everybody’s favorite empath, Deanna Troi.
For the first time ever, Fan Expo Canada™ is extending it’s show westward! Highlighting celebrities, shopping, panels and workshops, you will be able to find the newest and hottest in Anime, Manga, Comics, Sci-Fi, Gaming and Horror. April 21st-22nd 2012, come out and meet your favourite celebrity or creator and shop for the hottest or most rare in comic books, graphic novels, manga, toys, t-shirts and more! Fan Expo Vancouver™ is brought to you by way of Hobby Star Marketing Inc. HSM was founded in 1992 as one of Canada’s premiere sports and entertainment marketing agencies. The company first staked its claim in 1995 with the successful launch of the Canadian National Comic Book Expo. It has since been re-branded as Fan Expo Canada featuring Comic, Anime, Science Fiction, Horror and Gaming. The event has evolved into a spectacular, annual, multi-media even with prestigious acclaim, becoming North America’s 3rd largest event of its kind.
To celebrate, check out the very first appearance of Yvonne Craig (the original Batgirl) joining Batman and Robin against The Penguin. And of course, now we realize why Alfred (Bruce Wayne’s butler) knows her secret!
You may remember that last year I promoted the Vancouver South African Film Festival 2011 (in fact, I reviewed one of the opening gala films, SKIN), and this year I am proud to promote it as well. The Vancouver South African Film Festival has been since its inception one of my absolute favourites simply because it is focused on a region that definitely requires as much support as it can get. While my scholarly research is not focused on Africa right now, my 2012-2015 research programme will see some work in Africa undertaken.
What: 2nd Vancouver South African Film Festival When: April 20-22, 2012 Where: Denman Cinemas Why: 1) To raise money for Vancouver-based non-profit Education without Borders, whose current focus is on South African township schools; 2) To broaden the public’s understanding and appreciation of South Africa’s rich and complex culture, and to celebrate South Africa’s emerging film scene.
One of the films that I think is most amazing and that is worth checking out is the Opening Gala film, Under African Skies, an award-winning documentary about Paul Simon’s return to South Africa on the 25th anniversary of Graceland’s release. This is the VSAFF Opening Gala film on Friday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. It is directed by Oscar-nominated Joe Berlinger.
There will be a lot of variety in the VSAFF, other films range in genre from drama to thriller to comedy, and documentaries deal with issues like xenophobia, gay and transgender rights, and justice. Spud, starring John Cleese, closes the festival on Sunday, April 22. The full schedule is available online.
Tickets: Available now online at vsaff.org. Gala is $35. Regular films around $12. Tickets also at the door if not sold out.
ABOUT THE VANCOUVER SOUTH AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Started in 2011, the VSAFF is proud to present features and documentaries that explore the culture, history and politics of South Africa. We believe that the VSAFF is the first significant festival of South African films held anywhere outside of South Africa. The VSAFF is a non-profit event organized by volunteers. All proceeds go to Education without Borders.
About Education Without Borders:
EwB is a fully-volunteer Canadian non-profit foundation created in 2002 in Vancouver. Our current mandate is to foster educational opportunities and community building in South African townships.
EwB’s efforts are focused on Fezeka Secondary, Songeze Middle School, and the surrounding community in the township of Gugulethu (pop. 400,000), on the outskirts of Cape Town.
EwB projects in Gugulethu range from math and English tutoring, to photography and dance, to a food garden and lecture series. We believe in empowering local staff and students and have South African project managers and volunteers on the ground, as well as partnerships with several South African-based non-profits.
Through fundraisers and private donations, EwB has raised more than $750,000 for projects in Gugulethu since 2002, starting with the construction of eight classrooms.
– There is a large, vibrant South African community in the Lower Mainland, around 60,000, with many living on the North Shore and in Surrey. The VSAFF, we believe, is the only significant festival of South African film outside of South Africa. Last year proved to be a gathering ground for expats to discuss, debate and celebrate.
– EwB is a fully-volunteer Vancouver-based non-profit with two local founders, Ruth and Cecil Hershler. The Hershlers reconnected with Fezeka Secondary and founded EwB thirty years after leaving apartheid South Africa in 1971. As students in Cape Town, they had tried to organize lectures and tutoring at Fezeka but were denied by the education department. The government did not allow whites to teach blacks.
– Since 2009, EwB has been running a remedial maths program in Gugulethu that has proved highly effective. It is the brainchild of Dr. Rahael Jalan, a mathematician with the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) based out of UBC. Dr. Jalan has a proven track record of success in B.C. with First Nations students, starting with her time at Britannia Secondary. We have seen amazing results from her workbooks in South Africa. Some students have already become tutors! Maths and English are the great barriers to post secondary education and work opportunities for township students. The results have been so positive that we are now working with a local non-profit there to expand Dr. Jalan’s program across the Cape.
– Thanks to the generosity of our EwB supporters, money has been raised to fly our first South African-born project manager, Vimbai Nyatsambo, to Vancouver for the VSAFF on April 20-22. She will speak with audiences at the festival, give at least one talk at UBC about the importance of education in breaking the cycle of poverty, and she will accompany Dr. Jalan to inner-city schools to learn more about the maths program. Vimbai grew up in Johannesburg, moved to Cape Town in 2004 to study at the University of Cape Town, and has her Masters in Social Development. She has been an inspiration to the students and staff in Gugulethu, and to us.
I am at an incredible point in my personal life and academic career. I am enjoying my research, I have a fantastic research team (incredibly smart, motivated, confident, independent and self-starter students, and bright colleagues and collaborators), I have a wonderful teaching assistant and my research trajectory is flourishing. I have never felt more confident. Or at least, I can’t remember feeling this way. But the great thing is – it’s all associated with my professional life. I really couldn’t care less about my personal blog right now. Of course I write, of course I get pitched and write occasionally on projects I’m interested. But because of the workload I have in my academic life, right now blogging on here takes a fourth or fifth priority. And I’m giving myself again permission to do that. I’m blogging less because I’m writing academic stuff more.
And it feels glorious… I have never felt more driven.
You may remember that a couple of years ago, I wrote about Barre Fitness, a wonderful studio with very specific models of exercise (with a barre, like the one you use for classical ballet training). Barre Fitness has been so successful in Yaletown that they have expanded to the North Shore (the official opening is next week) and to celebrate, they’ve entrusted me with a prize pack: 2-week pass, a Barre Fitness t-shirt and socks so you can use them for your exercise. Frankly, I don’t think a lot of people realized how much of a workout you require to be a dancer, let alone a dancer who competes or does this for a living! So I’m glad Barre Fitness does this.
Barre Fitness is an invigorating 1 hour workout that will change your body! Ballet barre based workouts have been toning and shaping celebrity bodies for over 50 years, and now Barre Fitness is the first studio of its kind in Canada.
To enter my giveaway, all you need to tell me is what do you do for exercise? Most people ask me how do I get as much done in the time I have (to have an academic life AND a social media life). The answer is: I exercise very early in the morning. That way I am energized for the rest of the day. I do cardio 3 days a week and weights 3 days a week, but I am definitely considering joining Barre Fitness, given that I am trained as a competitive dancer!
I will draw winners of this giveaway on Friday April 27th at 2pm, so that you can make use of your 2 week pass right after the opening. And as usual, a comment here and a tweet will earn you a total of 2 entries. Good luck everyone!
Shared my exercise regime with @hummingbird604 to enter to win a @barrefitness prize package http://is.gd/iJCwVB. What’s your routine?
More about Barre Fitness below.
Barre Fitness™, is an exceptional one-hour regime of ballet, pilates, strength and flexibility training using a ballet barre. This total body conditioning technique has been intertwined to create an intense workout, guaranteed to transform and sculpt your entire body. The classes are choreographed to the hottest music in a fun, supportive and high-energy environment.
At Barre Fitness™, we embrace our commitment to healthy living. From Canadian maple hardwood floors to recycled slate tiling, our studio design has been guided by the principles of sustainability. We love our purified water bottle filling station, and encourage all our clients to bring a refillable water bottle to class. We’re doing our best to reduce our carbon footprint in all areas of operation.
Last week I met with one of my students who asked me how do I get everything done and how does my calendar look like. I have always scheduled myself to the every last minute, but since this past week I have actually been tracking my every minute as well. So, for example, if I am spending time on blog-related matters, that time is subtracted from the time I can assign to read scholarly articles, teach, do research or do consulting stuff.
The other improvement I have done is adding what contests I’m running on Hummingbird604.com. This enables me to keep track (given that I no longer have interns and I still get pitched quite a lot) of the contests I am running.
When a contest turns pink, it means it’s passed and I should have drawn tickets already. And because I have my Google Calendars synchronized with my iPhone, I get instant notifications of when the contest is about to expire. One thing I can tell you is – once you start tracking minute by minute the time you spend on activities, you realize how much of your time is actually wasted, and how little productivity you have. And sad as this sounds – social media is one of those distractors that makes me lose productivity!
Every year, I write about the Projecting Change Film Festival, as I thoroughly believe in its mission and mandate, the organizers are my friends (Lindsay and Brady), but unfortunately this year my schedule is so booked that I did not realize that it was coming up, and thus I did not make myself available to be an expert speaker to host one of the films on time. So, the opening night is tonight, but there are a number of films that you totally should check (I myself want to check them out!). Especially, Pipe Dreams and Miss Representation.
Vancouver’s Projecting Change Film Festival is forum for film and dialogue about social and environmental issues. Our marquee six-day event features inspiring, eye-opening, and often award-winning films from around the globe, each followed by a dynamic speaker and panel discussion. The unique festival format is a platform for audience engagement, with all proceeds donated back to local initiatives.
Founded in 2007 by Brady Dahmer and Lindsay Nahmiache, the festival has proven popular amongst a truly diverse group of innovation-minded people. Co-founder Brady Dahmer attributes this to the festival focus “PCFF is about positive change. Come to our festival hungry for knowledge and we promise you will leave with a head full of inspiration.” Inspiration no doubt in part due to the participation of such luminaries as Dr. David Suzuki, Captain Paul Watson and Mayor Gregor Robertson – all former festival speakers.
You can buy tickets here including tickets to the Opening Gala (tonight) and closing gala (April 22nd).
I did not have the time to liveblog my dear friend Bif Naked’s keynote at Breathe Now in Victoria this past weekend as I was enthralled with her talk. But I did Storify the tweets associated with it. Hope you are as inspired by her as I was. Thanks to the organizers of Breathe Now for inviting me to an amazing conference, and to Bif for always being so down to earth and amazing.
My current earworm is Doncamatic by Gorillaz featuring British singer Daley. And it is, not surprisingly, definitely a Gorillaz song, but the original is actually kind of more grungy than this version. I know I have some other singer in mind when I listen to this song, but the combination is definitely worth listening to). For your listening pleasure.
This week is National Volunteer Week in Canada 2012, and the theme of volunteerism really resonates with me. I have volunteered front-line with the Union Gospel Mission serving meals, co-organized a fashion show for Out In Schools alongside Erin Gee, Ashley Mangat and Niki Blasina, co-organized Mental Health Camp alongside Isabella Mori, hosted Freelance Camp for 2 years in a row, and on top of that, I consider blogging part of my volunteer activities, as I promote the arts in Vancouver, non-profits and other charitable causes relentlessly through my social platforms, especially cancer and HIV/AIDS-focused. In addition, much of my scholarly research has been on environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). So, it’s fitting that this week is National Volunteer Week in Canada (organized by Volunteer Canada).
Volunteer Canada is the national voice for volunteerism in Canada. Since 1977, the organization has been committed to increasing and supporting volunteerism and civic participation through ongoing programs, special projects and national initiatives, by developing resources and by engaging in research and training across the country. Working with volunteer centres, community and national organizations and businesses, Volunteer Canada actively leads national dialogues on how volunteerism is related to citizen engagement and civil society and provides leadership on issues and trends in the Canadian volunteer movement.
If you are interested in volunteering, there are a million worthy causes in Vancouver, the Lower Mainland and the rest of Canada. You can check the Get Volunteering website for more information.
It Only Takes a Moment to Fall in Love with Hello, Dolly!
Royal City Musical Theatre has a difficult job every year:pulling off a big, bright, bold version of a classic musical that will live upto the high expectations set the previous season. Last year’s production of The Will Rogers Follies captivated, so Iwas really looking forward to this year’s show: Hello, Dolly! It did not disappoint.
Colleen Winton and David Adams – photography by David Cooper
Hello, Dolly!,which first premiered on Broadway in 1964 starring Carol Channing, is anambitious choice of show, requiring impressive big dance numbers and comictiming from the actors. It tells thestory of Dolly Gallagher Levi (played by Royal City Musical Theatre alum andfamiliar Vancouver theatre face Colleen Winton), a matchmaker whose goal is tomarry the wealthy Horace Vandergelder (David Adams) and send his moneycirculating among the people like rainwater, the way she was taught by her latehusband.
In the process, Dolly also matches up Horace’s head clerkCornelius with the widow Mrs. Molloy, Cornelius’ assistant Barnaby with Mrs.Molloy’s assistant, and Horace’s niece with a struggling artist.
Colleen Winton is superb as Dolly, making the audience rootfor her at every step of her mad-cap quest to love again “Before the ParadePasses By”. Adams, who starred with Winton in RCMT’s production of South Pacific 18 years ago, is also astrong, yet very funny presence.
Dustin Freeland as Cornelius and Sayer Roberts as Barnabymake a great comic dancing team – when Dolly teaches them to dance so they cantake Mrs. Molloy and her assistant to dinner, the resulting number (“Dancing”)is one of the highlights of the show.
It takes a cast of more than 40 – including a dancingensemble, singing ensemble, and chorus of children – to pull off. And Artistic Director Valerie Easton madesure they did pull it off, while also putting a unique RCMT stamp on theproduction, this time in particular with the set design.
The set, designed by Omanie Elias, is made to look like aseries of paper cutouts. It was an ingenious way of tying the whole showtogether, being light and notable but not distracting.
Hello, Dolly! Runs until April 28 at the Massey Theatre inNew Westminster. It runs just under 2.5 hours including intermission. I highlyrecommend seeing it. You can buy tickets online here.
My guest reviewer Jarrah Hodge attended Hello Dolly! on media tickets provided and wrote this review in exclusive for Hummingbird604.com. Jarrah Hodge is the founder and editor of the Canadian feminist blog Gender Focus and has written for the Huffington Post, Bitch Magazine Blogs, and the Vancouver Observer. She’s a fan of politics, crafts, boardgames, musical theatre, and brunch.
Heroes. Villains. A quest for destiny. Treachery. Sea monsters…Ken dolls?
Using only the contents of an old trunk and a wooden cart (designed with breathtaking cleverness by Robin Peoples), Scottish actors Tim Settle and Simon Donaldson of Glasgow’s Visible Fictions energetically retell the Greek myth of Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece with intimacy, humour, and virtuosic performances. With shows at the Waterfront Theatre until April 29, Jason and the Argonauts marks the end of the 2011/2012 season of literary classics presented by Carousel Theatre.
Jason also marks one of Carousel Theatre’s first steps towards offering programming for older youth audiences and though younger children (age 7 and up) will still find much to enjoy, it is adolescents and teenagers (and their parents!) that will appreciate this ingenious retelling of the ancient story the most.
While at first your smarty pants youngster (or you) may be incredulous that the story of “like, 50 guys who are supposed to be on a boat with monsters and stuff, and you know, like, a beautiful princess” can be told effectively by only two actors (both men), the magic of Visible Fiction’s Jason and the Argonauts is not only found in the story itself, but in the way in which Settle and Donaldson are able to convey it using only their abilities as performers and the few props at their disposal (Ken dolls, paper boats, and sticks are used to great effect in this production). The gasps from the Saturday-night audience as the Argo appeared from seemingly nothing did not go unnoticed (or uncommented upon) by the actors. It is this back and forth between performers and audience, and this recognition of our intelligence and interest, which allows us to wholeheartedly root for the characters of “Andy” (Settle) and “Josh” (Donaldson) as they take on the telling of this epic quest for glory and justice.
Incredibly disciplined performers, Settle and Donaldson play the dramatic moments of the story as well as they do the comic ones, with real sorrow, tyranny, and danger all alive on the stage as Settle and Donaldson make switching from one character or scene to another look as easy as breathing. The show is charming, intelligent, and thoroughly entertaining.
Jason and the Argonauts is also a breath of fresh air from a continent whose tradition of theatre is centuries more well-established than our own, and therefore, whose expectations of their what their audiences will be able to engage with seem to be much greater. Precious few theatre companies (especially those who wish to be accessible to younger audiences) would be comfortable staging or presenting such a complicated two-hander, with worries that the constant switching between characters (and the lack of costume changes, etc. to indicate the switch) would make the show “too confusing” for audiences to follow. Visible Fictions trusted their actors to tell the story, and trusted their audience to follow it. Carousel Theatre has placed its trust in us and in its older youth audience as well, and guess what? We can follow Jason’s journey just fine.
In fact, due to Carousel’s practice of holding Q & A periods with the actors after every show (not just on a special “Q & A Night”), watching a more complex show like Jason and the Argonauts can also be incredibly instructive for those pre-teens and teens of yours who are interested in theatre. When I attended on Saturday, a large group of high school drama students were seated in the first two rows. I was impressed by their intelligent questions (see? We don’t need to “dumb down” great theatre!) and by Settler and Donaldson’s thorough replies about their training, rehearsal process, their lives as working actors, and the physical and psychological skills they employ to find and maintain so many different characters in one show.
It is wonderful to see a show that is both accessible and enjoyable AND assumes its audience to be sensitive and intelligent. I am excited that Carousel is pursuing programming for older youth audiences and hope to see more productions of the same caliber in their future seasons.
Jason and the Argonauts will be performed at the Waterfront Theatre until April 29, with school performances during the week and public performances Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 pm, with 2:00 pm Saturday matinees. Tickets can be purchased online through Carousel Theatre’s website, or by calling their box office at 604-685-6217.
Disclosure: Lauren’s ticket to see Jason and the Argonauts was provided by Carousel Theatre. She maintains full control over her writing, and of course, I (Raul) maintain full control over any content posted on Hummingbird604.com. This guest post was written by Lauren Kresowaty. Lauren blogs at Nifty Not Cool and can also be found on Twitter. Thanks, Lauren, for always being willing to guest-post on my site!
I created a Storyboard on Storify for Breathe Now that includes the session that I attended (It’s Ok to Plan Ahead) and tweets from the other two sessions. You can check it here, after the jump.
The organizers of Breathe Now 2012: Yukari Peerless, Angela Rafuse, Janice Mansfield and Janni Aragon
I am currently attending the first session. This session will be on Financial Planning and Estate Planning. The session is complimented with a presentation about Planning: Creating Your Reality.
PLANNING AND VISIONING YOUR REALITY – Lisa Edwards
Lisa Edwards (@radiatewell) talks about Thinking into Results and bridging the gap between goals and realities. The conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind gets imprinted with memories, beliefs, habits and self-image. If you can catch a negative thought before it is fully formed. When we think what we want to think and we emotionalize them in a positive way, they create new things in our lives.
4. Gratitude
– Mental attunement
– Focus on what you want in life
– Continuous
– Include all things
When you go through a transformation, you need to surround yourself with the right people. So true.
BUILDING A FINANCIAL ROADMAP – Barb Hopkins
Having a financial roadmap is the first step to ensure that you can create a future that is long-lasting. Your financial plan changes over time as your needs change. You first focus on your family, and then you get further along. First you build (income protection), then you protect (asset protection) then you enjoy (estate protection). YOU PAY YOURSELF FIRST.
– Pay yourself first
– Create a monthly budget
– Plan for monthly savings
– Use credit cards with caution
– Pay off debt/mortgage
– Have an emergency fund
If you fail to plan
– Inefficient use of resources
– Risk fo not meeting financial objectives
– Unprepared for catastrophes
– Pay higher taxes than necessary
You need a plan in place, but you need to plan and review your plan frequently.
Note – Our sessions are being visually recorded by Lisa Edwards. This reminds me of my dear friend Nancy White.
How to get started? – begin by having a discussion with your spouse, children or other family members. Create a plan, use your checklist to get started. Visit a professional who practices in this area. A professional can assist you in preparing a legally valid will. You need to visit a professional, to ensure your wishes are accurately reflected. Ensure that your will meets the legal requirements, and provides legal advice, education and guidance.
