I’ll be at the event tonight interviewing some of the Presenters, so check back again with audio clips, photographs, and more.
I went to Pecha Kucha 10 and had an amazing time, which you can read about in this VancouverObserver.com article. If you’ve never been to the event, it’s highly worth attending because you hear a range of inspiring stories by talented and creative people from diverse backgrounds.
Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
I spoke with one of the Earthdance Vancouver organizers, Sobey, about what makes this year’s Earthdance different than in previous years. This year to from morning to night with three different events. During the day, Earthdance will be taking place at Prospect Point in Stanley Park, then people will be riding bikes for Earthdance around the city, then culminating with events at W2 Storyeum in Gastown. The evening will include a dinner, conference and discussion time, and ending with DJ’s and Musicians from around the world playing until the late hours.
I interviewed Sobey about Earthdance Vancouver and his involvement with the Festival over the past 7 years. It’s clear from our conversation that Earthdance requires a lot of organization and passion to make everything come together on the day of the event.
The web plays a big part in making Earthdance connected together through online communities and streaming videos of Earthdance events around the world.
Listen to Earthdance organizer Sobey’s interview:
What are you going to do for Earthdance today? Going to Stanley Park, or going to the Dinner & Dance at W2Storyeum, or watch global Earthdance events online? Please share your Earthdance experience or photos!, and maybe I’ll share them with our readers! Write to: jonathan @ thevancouveroberserver (dot) com
Photos from Earthdance celebrations in Stanley Park by Luke Szczepanski.
Photos from Earthdance Night at W2Storyeum
Tune in online to Earthdance TV all day Saturday for various live feeds from around the world. Vancouver goes on from 8pm-10:30pm for our Conference then on till late at http://earthdance.ca/earthdancetv
More information on the global event that takes place Saturday Sept 18th.
Perception, Tribal Harmonix and Stereoshift combine forces to bring you Earthdance!
The Earthdance is a Global Dance Festival for Peace, which has grown to become the world’s largest simultaneous music and dance event.
Earthdance events have occurred since 1996 in over 360 cities in over 60 countries, with locations ranging from the club-lands of New York to the rainforests of Brazil.
…
The aim of the event is to bring together global communities to create a synchronized global festival and a dance event to help fund humanitarian causes and develop an environment of peace and communion throughout the global aware communities.
The highlight of the Earthdance is a simultaneous link up, when every event across the world plays the 4 minute Prayer for Peace track. Synchronized at the same time, morning in the Australian rainforest, midnight in London and sunrise over the Himalayas, the Prayer for Peace is a profound and powerful moment that unifies our intentions for world peace and the healing of the our planet.
2010’s focus is Embracing All Traditions – recognizing and honoring the diversity of faiths and cultures that make up our human family.
This years chosen charities are Pivot Foundation and W2
Check these web-links for more info on these two great organizations both working to benefit marginalized people.
10:30AM UNITY YOGA & MEDITATION FOR PEACE WITH SUSAN HORNING
11:50AM OPENING CEREMONY with MICHAEL MARS RIEL & JEANETTE KOTOWICH doing Metis DanceNoon-1PM BRIDEN
1PM-2PM BOMBUS
2PM-3PM TIMOTHY WISDOM
3PM YASMINA DANCE COMPANY
3:05PM-4PM LADY RA
4PM PRAYER FOR PEACE/SPIRAL DANCE
Dj ASH
5:30PM PIVOT FOUNDATION SPEAKER/ PHIL LANE JR
JAY MICHAEL
6:40PM CEREMONIAL FAN DANCE WITH BABETTE SANTOS & MUTYA MACATUMPAG, CHOREOGRAPHY by PATRICIA KIM
6:45PM DAYTIME CLOSING CEREMONY
6:50PM MOBILE SOUNDSYSTEM BIKE PARADE TO W2 STORYEUM!!!
ALSO DAYTIME WORKSHOPS:
1PM Vedic Teachings with Raghunatha das
Learn about the ancient Vedic scriptures and the spiritual culture that surrounds them. From Yoga, Ayuvedic medicine and the laws of Karma, to elaborate information about the structure of the universe and descriptions of the inhabitants of other planetary systems. These texts have guided sages and seekers of the truth for thousands of years. Learn how the Vedic “varnashram” system is a practical and workable guideline for global peace and unified spiritual practice. Share in the experience of chanting ancient Vedic mantra’s (including Om) and understand their meaning and purpose. Why does the word “Yoga” mean “linking” or “union”?. Learn how to make your food karma-free. Plus more!
2PM Mayan Calendar Synergy Astrology with AlejandraUnifying ancient traditions with contemporary visions
Alejandra will guide participants through the Mayan Calendar, aiding them in understanding both the Calendar with its archetypes, and their own Mayan sign. Individuals learn to understand the wisdom of the Mayan Calendar and its correlation with the wisdom contained with various ancient myths and religions of the world. In addition to this, students create their own Mayan Synergy chart and are then guided through its interpretation. The intent of this workshop is to provide a broader perspective for understanding the role of the Mayan Calendar as an invaluable tool for self development in today’s world.
Join Laura for a fun afternoon of hula hooping. This workshop is designed for hoopers (and hoopers to be) of all levels. Participants will learn groovy hoop dance moves ranging from beginner to intermediate. Expand your hoop repertoire and learn to hoop all over the body including basic waist, chest/shoulders, hands, knees, and maybe even feet! Tosses, turns, tricks and partner work included. Principles of contact points, momentum, flow and dance will also be covered. Bring your favorite hoop, or borrow one from us!
No experience necessary. Hoops provided. All ages welcome!
The growth of post-rave dance culture is a maturation happening on a global scale. With it are growing pains and areas that demand intention coupled with attention. Join us for an hour of investigation into the highs and lows that are experienced in this social experiment found in cities and festivals around the world.
9PM Earthdance Theme 2010: Embracing All Traditions
Vancouver, is a rich cultural landscape that contains traditions from around the world.Joining together presenters representing a range of cultures and traditions we will examine how the world can move from division to embracing diversity drawing from the wisdom of each. Special guest Phil Lane Jr of Four Worlds International & more.
10PM Evolver Spore September Theme: Spirit in Action
In a world beset by destructive corporatism, political tyranny, and meaningless war, spiritual activism strives to alchemize and transform oppression into compassion while making
positive change on our planet. Special guest Velcrow Ripper,director of Fierce Light.
The Grow Conference took place Aug 19-21 at the Vancouver Convention center. I didn’t attend any of the Conference sessions, as I spent all day interviewing over 22 Grow Speakers, Organizers, and other Business people attending Grow.
The interview list includes featured Speakers such as; Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos.com, Leonard Brody, President of Clarity Digital Group, Wesley Chan, Investment Partner at Google Ventures, Robert Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Zynga, Jeff Clavier, Managing Partner at SoftTechVC, and Tom Conrad, Chief Technical Officer, Pandora Internet radio. I interviewed several event sponsors such as Jason Brandon, Director of Rogers Ventures, and Robin Axon and Duncan Hill, General Partners, Mantella Ventures. I also sat down and spoke with Dealmakermedia.com CEO and Grow Conference organizer Debbie Landa. These audio interviews will be published over the next week or two.
Featured interview: with Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos.com, whose company has grown to 1 billion dollars in yearly gross revenue from online sales. He wrote a book on his Entrepreneurial experiences and his company’s pursuit of “Delivering Happiness”.
Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com and Author of "Delivering Happiness". Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center. Sonia Ryan from Bootup Labs, and Tarlan Seyedfarshi from Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Listen to Tony Hsieh interview:
Transcription of the audio interview
Jonathan Hanley: Can you tell me your name and a bit about your company?
Tony Hsieh: My name is Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. Zappos – we’ve been around for a little over 11 years now. We started out selling shoes online but we actually sell alot more than shoes here, we sell clothing, and beauty products, handbags, and so on. The vast majority of our business is in the U.S., and really our goal is to build the Zappos brand, to be about the best customer service and customer experience. We’ve grown from basically no sales in 1999 to we’re now doing over a billion dollars in gross merchandise sales every year. The number one driver of that growth is through repeat customers and word of mouth. ( online sales ).
Prior to Zappos, I had started a company with a college roommate called Link Exchange. We specialized in online advertising. This was in 1996. We grew that to 100 or so employees, and ended up selling the company to Microsoft in 1998.
Jonathan Hanley: What was the reason for starting Zappos?
Tony Hsieh: After selling Link Exchange, then this guy Alfred, he and I got together and started an investement fund. We invested in 20 or so different internet companies. Zappos just happened to be one of them. But over the course of a year, I realised after a year that for me investing was pretty boring. I really missed being part of building something. It felt like I was always sitting on the sidelines. I ended up joining Zappos fulltime within a year.
Jonathan Hanley: What keeps you motivated to stay at Zappos?
Tony Hsieh: I think it’s that things are always changing. The sky’s the limit, since we’re building our brand about customer service. As I talked about in the interview at the Conference, there could one day be a Zappos Airlines. That’s just about the very best in customer service. I think if the business was just about selling shoes, I’d just get bored.
Jonathan Hanley: Maybe elaborate on your talk today. You spoke today at the Grow Conference, is that right?
Tony Hsieh: I was interviewed by Kara Swisher. I just talked a little bit about Zappos and the book that just came out called “Delivering Happiness” and the subtitle of the book is “A path to profits, passion, and purpose”. Part of the reason for writing the book is that Zappos may seem like an overnight success, but the truth is we made a lot of mistakes along the way. During the interview we talked, for example, hiring mistakes that cost us over a 100$ million dollars. We learned a lot of lessons along the way. Prior to Zappos, I learned a lot of lessons as well. So part of the goal is to share those stories with other Entrepreneurs and Business people and hopefully help them make fewer mistakes.
Jonathan Hanley: What was the reasoning behind the title of the book?
Tony Hsieh: Well, we started out in 2003, we decided let’s build the brand to be about the very best customer service and customer experience. That’s all about making customer’s happy, and then we decided to make culture the number one priority with the thought that if we get the culture right then delivering great service or building a long term enduring brand will just happen naturally on it’s own. The culture is all about making employees happy. So we decided, let’s just expand for the brand about delivering happiness, not only to our own employees and our own customers, but we now have a program called Zapposinsights.com which is about helping other companies build their own strong cultures and deliver great service to their own customers.
Jonathan Hanley: Was there anything that came out of writing the book that you took you in a different direction than you had expected?
Tony Hsieh: It’s been great hearing stories from people who read the book and decided to change their lives and follow their passion, or focus on company culture and customer service, then hearing them come back that their business profits and growth are up.
Jonathan Hanley: How have these stories translate into how you’re running Zappos. Has it affected Zappos in any way?
Tony Hsieh: Yeah, because for Zappos Insights we hold two day seminars at Zappos. In some ways, it forces us to make sure we never get too comfortable. We need to always think about how to grow and improve our culture, especially now if it’s own business we are selling to other companies.
Jonathan Hanley: In terms of a American-Canadian connection is there something, or was it more just coming up because of your Entrepreneur stories?
Tony Hsieh: Yeah, I always love Entrepreneur Conferences. Just the Entrepreneurial spirit in general. That combination of creativity and optimization is pretty infectious.
Jonathan Hanley: What are you going to take away from this Conference
Tony Hsieh: I don’t know. The first thing I did when I got here I got on stage, so I haven’t had a chance to see stuff.
Jonathan Hanley: Ahh..I just caught you in the beginning. Well I hopefully you have a good time and enjoy your time in Vancouver.
Entrepreneurs, Investors, Thinkers, and Influencers attending the Grow Conference at Vancouver Convention Center.
The Grow Conference took place Aug 19-21 at the Vancouver Convention. I didn’t attend any of the Conference sessions, as.I spent all day interviewing Grow Speakers, Organizers, and other Business people attending Grow. I interviewed ten of the events’ featured Speakers, several event sponsors, and organizer Debbie Landa.
Text here. 1
Debbie Landa, Organizer and Host of the Grow Conference at Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Debbie Landa interview:
Text here.2
Leonard Brody, President, Clarity Digital Group. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Leonard Brody
interview
Text here.3
Jeremy Toeman, Founder of Stage Two. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Jeremy Toeman
interview:
Text here.4
Ariel Poler, CEO of Textmarks Inc. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Robin Axon and Duncan Hill, General Partners, Mantella Ventures. Sponsor of Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Robin Axon interview:
Text here.6
Jason Brandon, Director, Rogers Ventures. Sponsor of Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Jason Brandon interview:
Text here.7
Wesley Chan, Investment Partner at Google Ventures. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Wesley Chan interview:
Text here.8
Joel Flynn. Lecturer at TechOne. MA at SFU, Segal Graduate School of Business. Grow Conference in Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Joel Flynn interview:
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Farhan Thawar, VP of Engineering, Extreme Venture Partners. Sponsor of Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Farhan Thawar interview:
Text here.10
Tom Conrad, Chief Technical Officer, Pandora Internet radio. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Tom Conrad interview:
Text here.11
Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com and Author of “Delivering Happiness“. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Sonia Ryan and Terian Seyedfarshi of Bootup Labs.
Listen to Tony Hsieh interview:
Text here.12
Alan Juristovski, CEO and Co-founder of Metroleap Media. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Alan Juristovski interview:
Text here.13
Rob Hayes, Managing Partner at First Round Capital. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Rob Hayes interview:
Text here.14
Jeff Clavier, Managing Partner at SoftTechVC. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Jeff Clavier interview:
Text here.15
Jason Bailey, GM of Virtual Currencies at Adknowledge ( aquired his company Super Rewards ). Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Jason Bailey interview:
Text here.16
Robert Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Zynga. Speaker at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Robert Goldberg interview:
Text here.17
Ian Bell, CEO of AppSocial Media. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Ian Bell interview:
Text here.18
Anthony Nicalo, CEO of Foodtree. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Anthony Nicalo interview:
Text here.19
Minh Le, Relationship Manager at Silicon Valley Bank. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Minh Le interview:
Text here.20
Robert Lewis, President and Editor, Techvibes. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Robert Lewis interview:
Text here.21
Boris Mann, Co-founder and Managing Director of Bootup Labs. Sponsor at Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to Boris Mann interview:
Text here.22
David Gratton, CEO and Founder of DEQQ. Grow Conference in the Vancouver Convention Center.
Listen to David Gratton interview:
Grow Conference related links:
Conference site: http://growconf.com
Organizers: http://dealmakermedia.com/team
A Grow Conference photo slide show. Hosted on flickr.com
keywords: techvibes, robert lewis, foodtree, anthony nicalo, silicon valley bank, minh le, super rewards, jason bailey, leonard brody, clarity digital group, ariel poler, textmarks, joel flynn, sfu, techone, mantella venture partners, robin axon, rogers ventures, jonas brandon, google ventures, wesley chan, metroleap media, alan juristovski, extreme venture partners, farhan thawar, pandora internet radio, tom conrad, bootup, sonia ryan, tony hsieh, zappos, softtech VC, jeff clavier, aydin senkut, Felicis Venture
Seemed like Halloween came early this year, as thousands of zombies filled the streets and stumbled their way from the Vancouver Art Gallery to Second Beach in Stanley Park.
I’d never been to the Zombie walk, but I was amazed to see so many people come out this year. When the walk was well underway, I looked both ways on Robson and saw nothing but endless zombies stumbling and screaming and scaring passersby.
Some photos by Philip Tong, a very talented Vancouver photographer. His photos are always colorful and vibrant.
Some photos by Susan Gittins.
Some photos by Teresa Marie. Check out her Zombie walk article: http://partydoll.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/vancouver-zombie-walk-aug-21-2010/
Some photos by Chris Gehlan. We met during the Zombie walk.
I walked or rollerbladed with PFLAG. The group is dedicated to helping parents, friends and families come to terms with their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered loved ones.
The following photos were taken by Autumn Lamondin, who roller bladed with me on her first Pride parade. Roller blading wearing a mini and taking photos in the middle of thousands and thousands of people: impressive. (Note: I didn’t wear the hat all day, but when we took a photo of a woman in a motorized wheel chair she asked me to put it on.)
A photo of the woman in the wheel chair, who took our photo, attending her first ever Pride parade.
Jonathan Hanley (me) carrying the Canadian flag to represent a country that allows Gay marriage and rights for Gay people. I wore the kilt in part as a dedication to my Gay dad, who has a Celtic background.
In the photo below, everyone is waiting for the parade to start. The energy built with music and color and excitement.
The star of the parade is pictured below.
Colorful drag queens were everywhere, including the lovely queen riding this unique bicycle with streamers.
PFLAG group walking in the parade.
A growing part of Pride is the Transgendered community, which is also a growing part of the PFLAG group.
One of many vehicles that were painted or decorated just for the parade, typically with the colors of the Pride rainbow.
The drag queens stole the show with their amazing outfits and style.
If you’re wondering why she looks so tall, it’s because she is walking on stilts!
Below is a drag queen who knows how to play to the camera.
Looking like an angel with glitter and wings…
A frontal shot that shows off the full outfit and angelic physique.
Beautiful, sexy, creative – amazing Burlesque all weekend at the 5th annual Vancouver Int’l Burlesque Festival at the newly renovated Rickshaw Theatre. This year the VIBF features four jam-packed nights with 14 unique productions and 2 performer showcases by entertainers from Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Montreal, New York City, and Portland !
I went to the VIBF on Thursday and Friday. The shows were inspiring, the audience was wildly enthusiastic, and the theatre was beautiful. Every night was full of great performances, far too many to cover in one article
A few of the organizers and performers shared their stories with me on the VIBF and the exciting growth Burlesque in Vancouver.
Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick spoke with me about the Festival and his involvement as Vice-President of the Vancouver Burlesque Festival Society a non-profit that puts on the VIBF.
Burgandy Brixx, on the Board of Directors for the VIBF society, spoke with me about exciting growth of Burlesque from New York to Vancouver. Originally from New York city, she moved here two years to produce Vancouver’s longest running weekly burlesque show called Kitty Nights West at the Biltmore Cabaret. Burgandy works full time managing and performing in Kitty Nights while also running a dance studio featuring Burlesque lessons. She says that Vancouver’s Burlesque is rapidly growing and gaining International recognition. On Sunday night, she will in “Kitty Nights Burlesque: East Village meets East Van!” that will be a “food piece that involves cherries”, which exemplifies her style of classic Burlesque infused with comedy.
BonBon Bombay, Burlesque performer, dancer, and choreographer spoke to me about her show on Sunday and her work with Rosanna Wijenberg, aka Rosie Delight on “Rosie Delight… needs a New Brain!”. Rosie Delight was recently diagnosed with a very rare, progressive and disabling neurological movement disorder, which affects her ability to control her movements. BonBon told me that she worked closely with Rosie to include movements that triggers her disorder. During our interview I was told that Director Rick Podd and a film crew are working on a full length about Rosie, her life, and her disorder. In addition to discussing Rosie Delight’s moving piece, BonBon mentioned that she will be performing on Sunday at the Midnight showcase called “The Barber shop”
Jenny Magenta spoke to me about being a professional performer in Burlesque, Dance, Film, and Theatre. She started in Classical Ballet, which typically leads to a short dance career, so is proud to be dancing her forties as a full time performer and dancer. Jenny collaborates with Burlesque dancers in the Vancouver and North American communities. On Thursday she organized and performed in the “Banquet of Broads”, which showcase dancers unique performance styles that include puppetry, comedy, tragedy, and multimedia. Jenny talks about pushing the boundaries both within the Burlesque and beyond by experimenting with new styles, slideshows, nudity, and reverse stripping. One of the appeals that Jenny finds in Burlesque is how people with extensive dance backgrounds such as herself or Crystal Precious can dance but also people without experience or “perfect” bodies. She says that everyone is very accepting in the Burlesque community, which is reflected in the shows and workshops that are part of VIBF.
Valery Vyntage spoke with me about presenting her first shoe for VIBF at the Sunday midnight show called “Vyntage Fetish”. Her show blends the Burlesque and Fetish styles. In addition to her show, she has been involved in organizing Volunteers for VIBF. Valery got involved in Burlesque about a year and a half ago. She is actively involved in the Screaming Chickens Theatrical Society. After graduating from the Becoming Burlesque classes run by SCTS, she started performing at Burlesque nights around Vancouver venues.
For people wanting to explore dancing Burlesque for fun or a new career, there will be many workshops happening during the Festival. You can check out the workshop schedule here: http://www.vanburlesquefest.com/workshops.html. Several local professional Burlesque groups run dance studios that will continue to offer Burlesque lessons, but the workshops this weekend will give you a taste of this pleasurable and liberating experience
You can find all the details about the performers and the VIBF schedule at: http://www.vanburlesquefest.com Thursday and Friday were both sold out, so be sure to buy your tickets online using paypal or at the following venues around town: Scout, Virgin Mary’s, Zulu Records, Flaming Angels, and Cherry Bomb.
Here’s the schedule for the VIBF. The Festival runs from Thursday May 6th t0 Sunday May 9th.
Please note: if you’ve taken additional photos of the event and want me to mention or include them in this article, then contact me at jonathan@hanleymade.com
Burgandy Brixx backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.
Jenny Magenta backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.
Michael "Fitz" Fitzpatrick and Valery Vyntage ( working with Volunteers before her Sunday show ) backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.
Vancouver International Burlesque Festival at the Rickshaw Theatre on Hastings street.
Misty Greer’s Trunk show vendor booth at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.
”Celebration of Nature, Music and Dance” took place in a unique setting at Tzvi’s Place, 1823 E 2nd Ave in Vancouver. Music and dance started last night, Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 7:30pm and ran through Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 2:00am. The event was described as “honoring our Ancient Forests with incredibly talented musicians, dancers and artists.”
The event was partially a fundraiser for the Ancient Forest Alliance, which is a new British Columbian organization working to protect the endangered old-growth forests of BC and to ensure sustainable forestry jobs in the province. It was founded in January of 2010 by former Western Canada Wilderness Committee activists Ken Wu, TJ Watt, and others, and by Vancouver old-growth activist Michelle Connolly. I spoke with Michelle Connolly about the groups mission to be a grassroots environmental organisation working to foster knowledge and connection to these forests, as well as to advocate politically for their protection.
The organizers divided the event into three different levels at Tzvi’s Place. The unique setting allows for people to experience music and dance in different settings and environments. On the main Level: an inner journey into the beauty of vibration, universal rhythm and movement with master didgeridoo player *Shine Edgar*, guitar virtuoso *Michael Waters* and cello maestro *Allannah Dow*. You can listen to some of their music at http://www.ladybirdmusic.com | http://www.ladybirdmusic.com/Dissolve%20Prestigious.mp3
Around the Fire: Open musical jam with the Sisters of Sound – Colleen Ariel on harp, Sparrow Deviyani and her guitar/singing bowls, Sacha Levin on Drums. Madeleine Bachan Kaur, Satya Diana Grove, Arielle Moscovitch with there magical healing vocals and Natania Rogers with her belly dancing and amazing hang playing. Captivating world music DJ’ed by ElementalRhythm (Jordan Tal)
Downstairs: Dancing to a fusion of blues and world music with amazing dancer-teacher duo David Yates and Diane Garceau of Night and Day Dance. http://www.nightanddaydance.com
With** Special Guests**Joseph Pepe’ Danza an electrifying percussionist and multi-instrumentalist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffo9K6FvB9I Robin Layne driven by Latin-spiced hand percussion: cajón, congas, and shakers. Zamir Dhanji an amazing hang player and Imran Dhanji a talented beat-boxer.
Schedule
7pm – Doors Open 7:30-8:30 – Concert inside / Musical Jam outside 8:30-9:00 – Break – participants and musicians will have a chance to trade places. 9:00-10:00 – Concert inside / Musical Jam outside 10:00-11:00 – Sisters of Sound / The Giving Tree / Sounds of Nature and Forest 11:00-12:00 – ** Special Guests** 12:00-2:00am – Dance into the night with the *11 Hour Orchestra*
http://www.myspace.com/11hourorchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SsraBTukec
Sisters of Sound- NO WOMAN NO CRY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKyx9E161rQ
** ALL PROCEEDS WENT TO SUPPORT THE ANCIENT FOREST ALLIANCE AND LOCAL MUSICIANS **
About The Cause: Old-growth forests are our natural heritage, and BC’s south coast holds one of the last such ecosystems on Earth. Our ancient forests support a complex network of which we are all part, yet these forests continue to be logged at a rate that will soon lead to their extinction if we do not make a change. The Ancient Forest Alliance is a grassroots environmental organisation that works to foster knowledge and connection to these forests, as well as to advocate politically for their protection.
Beautiful, sexy, creative and amazing, burlesque hit the stage all weekend at the 5th annual Vancouver Int’l Burlesque Festival at the newly renovated Rickshaw Theatre. This year the VIBF features four jam-packed nights with 14 unique productions and 2 performer showcases by entertainers from Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Montreal, New York City, and Portland.
I went to the VIBF on Thursday and Friday. The shows were inspiring, the audience was wildly enthusiastic, and the theatre was beautiful. Every night was full of great performances, far too many to cover in one article
A few of the organizers and performers shared their stories with me on the VIBF and the exciting growth of burlesque in Vancouver.
Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick spoke with me about the Festival and his involvement as Vice-President of the Vancouver Burlesque Festival Society a non-profit that puts on the VIBF.
Burgandy Brixx, on the Board of Directors for the VIBF society, spoke with me about exciting growth of burlesque from New York to Vancouver. Originally from New York City, she moved here two years to produce Vancouver’s longest running weekly burlesque show called Kitty Nights Westat the Biltmore Cabaret. Burgandy works full time managing and performing in Kitty Nights, while also running a dance studio featuring burlesque lessons. She says that Vancouver’s burlesque is rapidly growing and gaining international recognition. On Sunday night she will star in “Kitty Nights Burlesque: East Village meets East Van!” that will be a “food piece that involves cherries”, which exemplifies her style of classic burlesque infused with comedy.
BonBon Bombay, a burlesque performer, dancer, and choreographer, spoke to me about her show on Sunday and her work with Rosanna Wijenberg, aka Rosie Delight on “Rosie Delight… needs a New Brain!”. Rosie Delight was recently diagnosed with a very rare, progressive and disabling neurological movement disorder, which affects her ability to control her movements. BonBon told me that she worked closely with Rosie to include movements that trigger her disorder. During our interview I was told that director Rick Podd and a film crew are working on a full length about Rosie, her life, and her disorder. In addition to discussing Rosie Delight’s moving piece, BonBon mentioned that she will be performing on Sunday at the midnight showcase called “The Barber shop”
Jenny Magenta spoke to me about being a professional performer in Burlesque, dance, film, and theatre. She started in classical ballet, which typically leads to a short dance career and she is proud to be in her forties still working as a full-time performer and dancer. Jenny collaborates with burlesque dancers in the Vancouver and North American communities. On Thursday, she organized and performed in the “Banquet of Broads”, which showcased the dancers’ unique performance styles that include puppetry, comedy, tragedy, and multimedia. Jenny talks about pushing the boundaries both within burlesque and beyond by experimenting with new styles, slideshows, nudity, and reverse stripping. One of the appeals that Jenny finds in burlesque is how people with extensive dance backgrounds can dance, but also people without experience or “perfect” bodies. She says that everyone is very accepting in the burlesque community, which is reflected in the shows and workshops that are part of VIBF.
Valery Vyntage spoke with me about presenting her first show for VIBF at the Sunday midnight show called “Vyntage Fetish”. Her show blends the burlesque and fetish styles. In addition to her show, she has been involved in organizing volunteers for VIBF. Valery got involved in burlesque about a year and a half ago. She is actively involved in the Screaming Chickens Theatrical Society. After graduating from the Becoming Burlesque classes run by SCTS, she started performing at burlesque nights around Vancouver venues.
For people wanting to explore dancing burlesque for fun or a new career, there will be many workshops happening during the festival. You can check out the workshop schedule here:http://www.vanburlesquefest.com/workshops.html. Several local professional Burlesque groups run dance studios that will continue to offer burlesque lessons, but the workshops this weekend will give you a taste of this pleasurable and liberating experience
You can find all the details about the performers and the VIBF schedule at:http://www.vanburlesquefest.com Thursday and Friday were both sold out, so be sure to buy your tickets online using paypal or at the following venues around town: Scout, Virgin Mary’s, Zulu Records, Flaming Angels, and Cherry Bomb.
Here’s the schedule for the VIBF. The festival runs from Thursday May 6th to Sunday May 9th.
Please note: if you’ve taken additional photos of the event and want me to mention or include them in this article, then contact me atjonathan@hanleymade.com
BonBon Bombay backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
Burgandy Brixx backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
Jenny Magenta backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and Valery Vyntage ( working with volunteers before her Sunday show ) backstage at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
Vancouver International Burlesque Festival at the Rickshaw Theatre on Hastings Street
Misty Greer’s trunk show vendor booth at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
On Saturday I spent a memorable evening at Heritage Vancouver’s first event for their Long Table Social series called: Heritage & the Arts: Inaugural Long Table Social. ‘Heritage and the Arts’ is a new Heritage Vancouver program connecting the visual arts with Vancouver’s heritage structures. The event took place at the Page building located at 330 West Pender. We had to enter the building from the back lane, which gave the event a 1940′s speak easy or 1990 underground feel to start the evening. Organizer Linus Lam spoke about the event with me. (
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Heritage Vancouver hosted mix and mingle at a Long Table Social in the beautiful interior of the “Page Building”, which is currently in the process of being restored. At the event, building owner Eric Cohen gave a brief history of his “1907 Neoclassical Revivalist BC Permanent Loan Building”. A metal bank vault and stain glass dome ceiling highlight the beauty of the original bank’s architectural features.
Local actor MacKenzie Grey hosted the event with style and personality. He wore a tuxedo, top hats, and fedoras to reflect the changing look and history of Vancouver. The evening was highlighted by a mixture of artist presentations, live music performances, and historic movies, with the relationship to place and history enhancing each performance.
The live performances included special musical talent, Vancouver’s Kick Evrything — a mixture of synth-drenched fuzz rock and acoustic folk; a special presentation from internationally-renowned artist Brendan Lee Satish Tang, whose ceramic series of work amalgamates Ming Dynasty-style porcelain with Japanese anime and manga; and the conceptual work of artist Germaine Koh which modestly and concisely reconfigures the world around us..
Paul Armstrong chose a a selection of short films filmed in downtown Vancouver from 1907 to 2007 to reflect the heritage and history of the Page Building, which is in the heart of Vancouver’s historic financial district. The Celluloid Social Club curates Stan Fox’s 1948 “In the Daytime”, Larry Kent’s 1962 “Hastings Street” Giada Dobrzenska & Tara Hungerford’s “Mon Amour Mon Parapluie” with cameos from Douglas Coupland and William Gibson, Mike Jackson and Peter New’s “the Bar” featuring Peter Deluise and the Vancouver Historical Society’s “City Reflection’s (1907-2007).
The event was the first in a series of Long Table Social events, which will be held in various historically significant buildings around Vancouver. All proceeds will go to support Heritage Vancouver’s initiatives to conserve Vancouver’s built heritage.
Co-Organizer Linus Lam speaks about the Heritage Vancouver’s Long Table Social series called: Heritage & the Arts: Inaugural Long Table Social.
Paul Armstrong, Founder of the Celluloid Social Club speaks about the CSC and their selection of historic movies for the Long Table Social event.
Artist Brendan Lee Satish Tang speaks about his East meets West style of pottery.
Visual Artist Germaine Koh speaks about her conceptually-generated work, which is concerned with the significance of everyday actions, familiar objects and common places.
Poet Ray Hsu speaks about his “slideshow Karoeke” improve presentation with Alex Leslie. Ray reads a poem about child soldiers in the Sri Lankan civil war, from his new book of poems about North American Imperialism called “Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon”
Movie still from “Mon Amour Mon Parapluie”.
Pottery by Brendan Tang
Art project by Germaine Koh
A glimpse at the stain glass dome ceiling at the Page building on Pender street.
The metal door of the bank vault of the Page building on Pender street.
Pecha Kucha Night Volume 13 ( view site at: http://www.pechakuchanightvancouver.com/ ) The Vogue Theatre Thursday, Sept. 30th Door: 6:30PM Start: 7:30PM Ticket: $15 Online Sale: https://tickets.voguetheatre.com/ or call (604) 569-1144 Box Office: Mon-Sat 10am – 6pm, Sun 12pm – 4pm Robert Calder – Owner of Secret Study/Boompa Records Amanda Gibbs – Director of Museum of Vancouver [...]
I spoke with one of the Earthdance Vancouver organizers, Sobey, about what makes this year’s Earthdance different than in previous years. This year to from morning to night with three different events. During the day, Earthdance will be taking place at Prospect Point in Stanley Park, then people will be riding bikes for Earthdance around the [...]
My name is Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. Zappos – we’ve been around for a little over 11 years now. We started out selling shoes online but we actually sell alot more than shoes here, we sell clothing, and beauty products, handbags, and so on. The vast majority of our business is in the U.S., and really our goal is to build the Zappos brand…
The Grow Conference took place Aug 19-21 at the Vancouver Convention. I didn’t attend any of the Conference sessions, as.I spent all day interviewing Grow Speakers, Organizers, and other Business people attending Grow. I interviewed ten of the events’ featured Speakers, several event sponsors, and organizer Debbie Landa.
Seemed like Halloween came early this year, as thousands of zombies filled the streets and stumbled their way from the Vancouver Art Gallery to Second Beach in Stanley Park. I’d never been to the Zombie walk, but I was amazed to see so many people come out this year. When the walk was well underway, [...]
I walked or rollerbladed with PFLAG. The group is dedicated to helping parents, friends and families come to terms with their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered loved ones. The following photos were taken by Autumn Lamondin, who roller bladed with me on her first Pride parade. Roller blading wearing a mini and taking photos in [...]
