Carousel Theatre for Young People (“CTYP”) is launching its next AudioPLAY 蝦仔 Little Shrimp, an interactive audio performance led by theatre artists Nancy Tam and Derek Chan. Listeners are invited to follow along a bilingual audio performance about intergenerational relationships within Chinese culture and families.

Carousel Theatre Launches AudioPLAY About Chinese Traditions

When: April 8 – May 2, 2021 (listen anytime)
Where: Online, you can tune in from home or the classroom
Tickets: Available for purchase online ($18-$50 with individual or class packs). Recommended for children ages 6+.

蝦仔 Little Shrimp is created and performed by Derek Chan, Howard Dai, Nancy Tam, Natalie T.Y. Gan & Robyn Jacob. Open your imaginations and take part in Qingming and other Chinese traditions!

“What truly connects us to our cultures and families: language, food, or traditions? All of the above, and perhaps entirely something else? Our brave Little Shrimp with a big heart takes us on an adventure through the surprising, musical, and sometimes spooky underwater world to find out.” – Co-creators Nancy Tam & Derek Chan

Where do stories live? How are stories passed on from one generation to the next? Do our ancestors live within us? The show’s Cantonese title, 蝦仔 (“little shrimp” in English), is an endearing, diminutive, and gender neutral term for a small child. Commonly used about two generations ago roughly around the turn of the last century, the term connotes a kinship between the child and the adult.

蝦仔 Little Shrimp is an at-home AudioPLAY experience with interactive elements. It’s the third and final show in CTYP’s 2020/21 season of screen-free audio theatre designed to engage and excite. Follow on Facebook for the latest news and updates.

CTYP is Vancouver’s only mainstage theatre company for young audiences. Its mission is to provide
theatrical experiences with lasting impact for young people, families, and artists.

DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Western Canada’s largest documentary film festival, returns to present a very special 20th Anniversary Festival, streaming online May 6 through May 16, 2021. Today they have announced their Special Presentations and a full lineup will be available April 14th.

DOXA Documentary Film Festival

When: May 6-16, 2021
Where: Online
Tickets: $7-10 sliding scale per individual virtual ticket; Early Bird Festival Passes: $60; Regular Festival Passes: $75; Anniversary Festival Pass + Package: $200

DOXA Special Presentations

First on the list of Special Presentations is Shannon Walsh’s The Gig is Up, which takes a close look at gig labour, a growing phenomenon and employment path that promises flexible hours, independence and open recruitment to workers around the world. From delivering food, to transporting passengers, to tagging images online, millions of people—including those who might otherwise be unable to find work in more conventional environments—are being drawn to gig employment, task by task, for the chance to do any job that pays. But despite its utopian potential, the reality of the gig economy is something far less auspicious.

After a brief hiatus in 2020, DOXA is excited to relaunch their cornerstone Justice Forum programming stream, now in its 11th year. Our Justice Forum Special Presentation Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open), puts humanity and compassion first in its engagement with the substance-use crisis and drug-poisoning epidemic on the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta. A must-see for all (but policy makers and health professionals may want to take special note), Kímmapiiyipitssini charts a road map towards healing. Against the backdrop of the ongoing drug-poisoning epidemic happening in our own backyard, Tailfeathers compassionately crafts one of the most urgent and critical films of this year.

Directed by local filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams, Someone Like Me, follows a group of strangers from Vancouver’s queer community who unite under the banner of Rainbow Refugee, a non-profit that connects LGBTQ+ asylum claimants with sponsors. This special presentation will mark the eighth edition of DOXA’s Rated Y for Youth program.

Closing out the festival, Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché chronicles the life and story of Poly Styrene, frontwoman of legendary 1970s British punk band X-Ray Spex. The Anglo-Somali musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements, introducing the world to a new sound of rebellion.

All Special Presentation films will include a live streaming Q+A during festival dates. Follow DOXA on Facebook for the latest news and announcements.

Metro Vancouver’s one-of-a-kind home grocery delivery service, Legends Haul, saved me around the holidays when I was able to ship several of their tasty gift packages to clients and friends. They’ve upped their game for Mother’s Day this year, with new grocery packages and meal kits that will make a mom in your life feel very special! From a Mother’s Day Brunch Kit, a Treats + Sweets Kit, to a special Afternoon Tea Kit and gift options, there is something for everyone.

Legends Haul Delivers Mother’s Day

To honour moms, Legends Haul is also donating 10 percent of all sales from their Mother’s Day category to Cause We Care Foundation, a non-profit that provides aid to local single mothers and children to help them exit out of poverty.

Legends Haul’s curated Mother’s Day kits feature an array of local brands, restaurants, farmers, producers, and small businesses from British Columbia, with many owned or founded by moms. Boxes include three Mother’s Day Brunch Kits ($135) with meat, vegan, and vegetarian options, a Sweet and Salty Kit, an Unwind Kit, and a Tea Party Kit.

Mother’s Day Brunch Kit (bacon + eggs) for $135
Livia Sourdough Bread, Minor Figures Oat Milk, Mumgry Peanut Butter, Spades Bacon, Bohème Grove Maple Breakfast Sausage, Coligny Creek Organic Eggs, Birchwood Vanilla Yogurt, Loop Orange Juice, Cafe Medina Waffles, Cafe Medina Mixed Berry Compote, 1lb Legends Haul Coffee, Oranges 

Mother’s Day Brunch Kit (vegan) for $135
Silver Hills Organic Everything Bagels, Save Da Sea Vegan Smoked Salmon, Spread Em’ Meadow Cheese, JUST Egg Omelette, The Acorn Gluten Free Vegan Oversized Waffle, The Acorn Wildflower Syrup, Big Mountain Foods Vegan Breakfast Bites, Strawberries, Legends Haul 1lb Coffee, Loop Green Smoothie Juice, Local Salad Greens, Nightingale Turmeric Dressing

Mother’s Day Treats + Sweets Kit ($40)
Smart Sweets, Beta 5 Chocolate Bar, Truffle Chips, The Lemon Square, Mid Day Squares – Fudge Yah, Laid Back Snacks – Hearty Tamari

Mother’s Day Unwind Kit ($85)
Sangre de Fruta Rose Bath Salts, Nectrous Botanicals Soap Bar, Kov Skincare Lotion, Skwalwen Botanicals – KW’AS – Cocomint lip balm, Beta 5 Chocolate Bar 

Mother’s Day Tea Party Kit ($105)
Tealeaves Daily Ritual of Aroma Tea Sampler, Minor Figures Oat Milk, Blume Turmeric Latte Blend, Bel Cafe Scones, Lemon Square, Butter Baked Goods Morning Glory Muffins, Butter Baked Goods Cookbook

Other Mother’s Day gift items available include a beautiful One Wednesday throw, fresh bouquets, Sangre de Fruta hand soap, Midnight Paloma bath salts, SḴWÁLWEN Botanicals Cleansing Clay, the Monika Hibbs Gather At Home cookbook, and more.

Legends Haul currently offers free delivery in regions across Metro Vancouver. Orders placed by 11:59pm the day before (alcohol by 9:00pm) are delivered the next day. Deliveries can also be scheduled. Mother’s Day is May 9, 2021 so be sure to get your orders in before then.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra announced that the second annual Day of Music will take place May 15, 2021. This free event celebrates music and musicians from across the Province of BC. Over one hundred performances will be released as livestreams and recordings in the virtual Day of Music hub. Pop-up performances are also being planned around the province, health orders permitting.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Second Annual Day of Music

“Day of Music 2021 is a chance for British Columbians to come together in a massive celebration of music and its power to connect us. This has been a challenging year on so many fronts, and in particular for musicians. We witnessed firsthand how much stress our own VSO musicians have experienced. […] We plan to reignite the sheer joy of music and performance as our community gets ready to come out of this long hibernation.” – Angela Elster, President & CEO of the VSO and VSO School of Music

Call for Participants

The VSO invites amateur and professional musicians and ensembles from across the province to join in this celebration of music via a video recording, live stream or pop-up performance in their community. A limited number of honorariums ($400 for individuals, $1,000 for ensembles) will be awarded to select participants. While all musicians and groups are invited to submit proposals to participate, preference will be given groups related to classical, jazz, chamber, world music, indigenous and wind band genres.

Proposals to participate can be submitted at DayOfMusic.ca. Deadline to submit proposals is April 15^th, 2021.

Day of Music is the VSO’s annual free community celebration of music and musicians. The first celebration took place in 2019 and welcomed over 14,000 people to 100 free performances in celebration of the VSO’s 100^th Anniversary.

DanceHouse, in partnership with Digidance, announces the Canadian digital broadcast of More Than Dance, We Are A Movement. The film marks the 20th anniversary of Toronto-based interdisciplinary innovators Red Sky Performance – showcasing excerpts of their award-winning work and the remarkable story of their rise to one of the world’s most prolific and celebrated Indigenous performance creators.

More Than Dance, We Are A Movement

When: April 14 – 20, 2021 (Link available for 7 Days) Streaming in Canada only
Tickets: From $15 + applicable taxes, available online now

Filmed in celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, More Than Dance, We Are A Movement captures the creative drive of Founder and Executive and Artistic Director Sandra Laronde and the exceptional artistic vision that propelled Red Sky Performance to prominence and critical acclaim.

The 58 minute film also contains extended excerpts from two of the company’s award-winning creations, choreographed by Jera Wolfe: Trace, the recipient of two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2019, and Miigis, which received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation in 2018.

• Trace is a highly kinetic contemporary dance work inspired by Indigenous (Anishinaabe) sky and star stories, offering a glimpse into Indigenous ancestral origins as well as the future evolution. Trace made its world premiere in Toronto at Canadian Stage in November 2018, before its international premiere at the iconic Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the US in 2019. 

• Miigis represents the “the perfect breath” of life, a symbol that informs our origin story of travel from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes. Fusing contemporary Indigenous dance with athleticism in an extraordinary form, Miigis explores the catalysts for movement, ancestral forces and living memory, and the cycle of life. Having premiered as a site-specific work at Fort York in Toronto in 2017 and toured to the Venice Biennale in 2018, the featured excerpt gives audiences an intimate view on the nuance and elaborate creation.

The broadcast of More Than Dance, We Are A Movement is due to the coordinated effort of Digidance, a national initiative formed in response to COVID-19 between four of Canada’s leading dance presenters: DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Danse Danse (Montreal), and co-presented with Springboard Performance (Calgary).  

In the fall of 2021, Red Sky Performance will embark on their first international tour since the global COVID-19 pandemic, bringing Trace to cities across the US and Canada. 

Win Access

I have a ticket/access to give away to this streaming event. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw one winner at random from all entries on Friday, April 9, 2021 at 12:00pm. UPDATE! The winner is Selina!