Cirque du Soleil is returning to BC but this time the iconic blue and yellow tents won’t be setting up along False Creek. Their latest show Dralion will be performed out at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre.
The show’s name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizing the West. In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order take on a human form. Thus embodied, each element is represented by its own evocative colour: air is blue; water is green; fire is red; earth is ochre. In the world of Dralion, cultures blend, Man and Nature are one, and balance is achieved.
Featuring “a harmony of Eastern and Western acrobatic prowess” Dralion will premiere June 2nd and run until June 5th. Tickets start at around $37.50 and go up to $100 for premium seating. Children are welcome but require tickets if over the age of 2. Family packs of 4 tickets are available. The show will head over to the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria June 22nd.
Update I sent guest blogger John Biehler out to Abbotsford on Thursday to preview Dralion, here are his thoughts about the show:
Dralion was my first Cirque Du Soleil experience. I had seen a number of behind the scenes shows on the Discovery Channel before but had never been able to attend a performance in person until now. I can’t recall ever seeing an audience so transfixed on the stage, watching the performers and not playing with their smart phones.
It was truly a delight to see all the different performers do their amazing feats of skill, athleticism and artistry (sorry, no spoilers) up close and in a surprisingly intimate setting in the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre. While Dralion was my first Cirque show, it definitely won’t be my last.
This Friday marks the opening a play written by one of my favourite Canadian playwrights, Daniel MacIvor. Never Swim Alone is the story of two childhood buddies engaged in a verbal sparring match refereed by a girl in a blue swimsuit. The play is produced by year-old Hardline Productions, started by Studio 58 graduates Sean Harris Oliver and Raes Calvert. Please go out and support this young company as they staged a truly innovated and brilliant piece about male competition.
Never Swim Alone runs until June 5 at Hardline Studios (68 Water Street). To reserve tickets email tickets[at]hardlineproductions.ca and visit their website.
Community Dinner. Photo credit: Itai Erdal.
I’m super-excited about this one because it involves FOOD.
Next week, four of Vancouver’s most innovative theatre groups (Rumble Productions, Boca Del Lupo, Electric Theatre Company, and Neworld Theatre) along with MOSIAC (a non-profit organization that helps new immigrants settle and integrate into Canadian society) are putting on Community Dinner.
Part cooking show and part dinner party, Community Dinner is the outcome of a unique collaboration between members of Vancouver’s innovative theatre community and newcomers to Canada. Over a three-month period, the newcomers and the theatre artists (two from each company) met and taught each other cherished recipes and created a piece of theatre.
“It’s a collaboration with people who just moved to Vancouver in the last year and it was all about exchanging ideas and stories while using food as an anchor,” says Director Anita Rochon. “Vancouver is incredibly diverse and multicultural and this play reflects that.”
The newcomers include Esta Mun (from Singapore, who arrived in Vancouver four months ago), Angela Huo (from Northwest China, who moved to Vancouver five months ago), Rey Blasco (from the Philippines, who has lived in Canada for six years), Marta Lasso (from Ecuador, who has lived in Vancouver for six months), and Veronica Zhou (from Beijing, who has lived in Vancouver for eight months). Also added to the mix are some of Vancouver’s leading theatre artists, including Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Kevin Kerr, comedian Charles Demers, director James Fagan Tait, and the Vancouver Playhouse’s playwright-in-residence C.E Gatchalian.
Community Dinner runs from June 1-4, 2011 at Progress Lab 1422 (1422 William Street). Tickets are $37 per person (plus service charges) but this includes the show and dinner. They are already sold out but more tickets may be released closer to the date so be sure to check the website for updates.
This feature was written exclusively for Miss604 by actor, writer, and producer, Michelle Kim. Read all posts contributed by Michelle for Miss604.com and follow her on Twitter @miju.
Tens of thousands of young people, families, residents and visitors alike will flock to beaches and balconies to take in the spectacle. This year, there’s a new option for viewing the fireworks as a series of bleachers will be set up as the best seats around.
Tickets for bleacher seats are currently available online for $35 (before May 31st) and if you’ve been out on a “fireworks night” before, you may just know the advantage of having reserved seating in advance. On the bleachers you will have an unobstructed view of the fireworks barge, you will actually be able to hear the accompanying music, you won’t need to stake out your spot hours in advance, and the money you spend will go toward the Celebration of Light — ensuring that it remains as an annual event in Vancouver.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be giving away pairs of bleacher tickets for each of the fireworks nights. Here’s how you can enter to win tickets to the first fireworks show of 2011:
If you cannot see the contest box that is posted right above this text, you can enter by going directly to the hosted contest page.
2. Or for an additional entry, post the following on Twitter:
I entered to win bleacher seating for the @CelebofLight fireworks from @miss604 http://ow.ly/534g8
I will draw one winner at random from all entries (Twitter and the contest box) at 12:00pm on Thursday, June 8, 2011. As I have two unique entry methods, a Twitter name will be drawn and a name will be drawn using Contest Machine. I will then do a draw between the two for the winner.
The Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards (the “Jessies“) celebrate the best in small and large theatre productions in Vancouver. Yesterday the nominees for the 29th annual awards ceremony were announced based on performances during the 2010 season.
The Arts Club Theatre Company is leading the pack with over 30 nominations in the Large Theatres categories and Pacific Theatre is well-represented among Small Theatres. Nominees for Outstanding Production of the Year are:
Theatre for Young Audiences
500 Words (Green Thumb Theatre)
Bird Brain (Carousel Theatre)
Pharaoh Serket & The Lost Stone of Fire (Carousel Theatre)
The Shape of a Girl (Green Thumb Theatre)
Small Theatres
The Busy World Is Hushed (one2theatre)
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Glass City Theatre)
A Lie of the Mind (Main Street Theatre)
Playland (Pacific Theatre)
Tape (Alley Theatre)
Large Theatres
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Arts Club Theatre Company with Belfry Theatre)
The 39 Steps (Arts Club Theatre Company)
August: Osage County (Arts Club Theatre Company)
Glengarry Glen Ross (Arts Club Theatre Company)
Much Ado About Nothing (Bard on the Beach)
Last year I sponsored a live blog during the Jessies and I’ll be doing so again. The ceremony was so much fun and involved, as you would expect, performances and collaborations from all facets of the local theatre community.
This year the Jessie Awards will be handed out Monday June 20, 2011 at the Commodore Ballroom and tickets are available online for $25.50.
Tonight, for only the third time in team history, the Vancouver Canucks became Western Conference Champions and are heading to the Stanley Cup finals.
Sounds outside our door in Vancouver’s West End after Canucks game 5 win by John Bollwitt
We reached the final round in 1982 against the New York Islanders, and faced the New York Rangers in 1994. The team actually pulled out this win 17 years to the day of their win that sent them to the 1994 finals, which was also in double overtime. While our Eastern opponent has yet to be decided between Boston and Tampa Bay, the Canucks are reading to take on their final challenge of the season.
Fans at CBC Plaza. Photo credit: @CBCVancouver on Twitter
Congratulations to the Canucks, the people of Vancouver, all of BC, and those around the world who were on Twitter tonight showing your support from airports, bars, pubs, and offices.
Let’s keep the momentum going and never stop believing that our team can make this happen during the 40th anniversary of the Vancouver Canucks who are already President’s Trophy winners and Western Conference Champions for 2011. They’ve played with heart, with cuts and bruises, and on one good leg now and then.
