Start your Valentine’s week by celebrating with the Vancouver Alpen Club’s Valentine’s Dance on February 9th.
The Vancouver Alpen Club kicks off the season of love with a dance party like only they can produce. Peter Juric & The Continentals, known for Vancouver Alpen Club’s rollicking Oktoberfest will keep you on your toes.
While working up a hunger on the ballroom dance floor partake in some of the comforting food from the Deutsches Haus kitchens, and what would a party at Vancouver Alpen Club be without beer!
You could enjoy the Valentine’s fun for yourself, enter to win a Vancouver Alpen Club Valentine’s Dance Prize Package including: 2 tickets to the dance, plus 2 food and drink voucher. A perfect package for date night!
To enter the contest:
Leave a comment below telling us the person who would take to the Vancouver Alpen Club Valentine’s Dance (1 entry)
Tweet the Following & Tag your Valentine (1 entry) :
RT to #Win an @AlpenClub #ValentineDance #prize package via @jminter http://ow.ly/pbER30nA7K5 #contest
Contest entries will be accepted until Noon on Friday February 8, 2019. One winner will be chosen at random. Please note, you must be 19 years or older to enter; Vancouver Alpen Club will require photo ID to access the ballroom dance.
Can you believe it’s already the end of January! Those of us in the West are already seeing blossoms, early but just in time for the Spring Festival events included in this week’s picks.
Lunar: Check out some of the fun and traditional Lunar New Year Festivities underway now throughout the city, at Jack Poole Plaza, Fly Over Canada, Oakridge Centre and others.
Laughs: Join Vancouver’s queer improv comedy troupe, Queerprov, at The Junction for improv laughter tonight.
Yoga: Don’t miss your chance to take part in the last free Wednesday yoga class at Gateway Theatre before the opening of their upcoming Yoga Play.
Annie played by Camryn Macdonald
photo: Emily Cooper
Orphan: Everyone’s favourite orphan comes to the Micheal J Fox Theatre, when Align Entertainment presents Annie, February 1 – 16
Rock: Prepare for grease-paint, leather and fireworks as the Kiss : End of the Road tour comes to Rogers Arena on Thursday evening.
Showcase: Friday night, join Midtwenties Theatre Society at Havana Theatre for its first Open Performance Showcase, check out original performances and pieces of theatre, poetry, dance and more
Broth: It’s your last days to visit participating restaurants in the 1st Vancouver Foodster Soup Festival to taste and vote for your favourite soup.
Cocoa: Warm your heart and soul with sips from the Annual Hot Chocolate Festival filling cups throughout the city until February 14th
Dine: It’s your last week to try out a new or favourite restaurant, experience a one of the unique foodie event, and sample some of the city’s multitude of food trucks, before Dine Out Vancouver Festival, ends for another year on February 3rd
Wander: The Winter Wander at Vanier Park returns on Saturday, February 2nd, a family fun event with $5 admission opening the doors to Museum of Vancouver, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Vancouver Maritime Museum, City of Vancouver Archives, and Vancouver Academy of Music with performances by Bard on the Beach and Vancouver Academy of Music, plus food trucks, prize and other fun all day.
Nicola Lipman & Ric Reid in The Matchmaker photo: David Cooper
Dolly: Find out if it’s a match made in heaven, and see Dolly Levi in action as The Matchmaker (the inspiration for the iconic musical Hello Dolly!) opens at The Arts Club Theatre Company Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
One of the world’s preeminent vocal ensembles, the Grammy Award nominated The King’s Singers make their debut with Early Music Vancouver as part of their 50th Anniversary season and North American tour. Royal Blood looks at King Henry VIII’s life and legacy with compositions from his turbulent court in the early 16th century. Royal Blood will feature works by King Henry VIII, William Byrd, Thomas Weelkes, Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, and more.
“This concert is a follow up to EMV’s 2017 presentation of the Choir of King’s College of Cambridge. The original King’s Singers were all previously choral scholars at King’s College of Cambridge, where the rigorous education they received played a central role in creating the high standard for which The King’s Singers are still known,” says Matthew White, Executive and Artistic Director of EMV. “Though the ensemble has performed in Vancouver many times over the years, we are excited to hear them perform a programme with an early music focus. English choral singers grow up on a steady diet of early music which is why they are among the best in the world at performing this repertoire.”
The King’s Singers
photo: Marco Borggreve
The King’s Singers were officially founded on May 1,1968, when six recently graduated choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge, performed a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. This debut was the launch pad for The King’s Singers’ now legendary career trajectory. Their original vocal line-up was (by chance) two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass; a format they have maintained ever since. Over the years, there have been 26 King’s Singers including the original six and 20 subsequent replacements. While it is no longer a prerequisite to have been a choral scholar from Oxford or King’s College, each new member must possess the same standards of musicianship and have an appreciation for the origins of the ensemble. Being a King’s Singer is now one of the most coveted vocal ensemble positions in the world.
Hear for yourself what makes them such an acclaimed vocal group when Early Music Vancouver presents The Kings Singers’ Royal Blood: Music for Henry VIII on February 9, 2019 at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts at UBC, at 7:30pm. For information and tickets visit earlymusic.bc.ca
Can you believe we’re already at the last weekend of the first month of the new year?! Let’s see what fun is to be had in these picks of the week
Canyon Lights
Canyon: It’s the last weekend to catch the thousands of lights spread throughout Capilano Bridge Park’s Canyon Lights, lighting up the bridge, Treetops Adventures, as well as 8 of the tallest living Christmas Tree, closing Sunday
Iced: Vancouver Canucks play host to Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Rogers Arena
Laughs: Join Vancouver’s queer improv comedy troupe, Queerprov, at The Junction for improv laughter tonight.
Music: Celebrating its 100th Birthday Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Day of Music on Saturday Jan 26th with 12 hours of free music spread over 10 stages.
Ball: Catch Vancouver Warriors Lacrosse on Saturday at Rogers Arena when they host Colorado Mammoth
Broth: The participating restaurants in the 1st Vancouver Foodster Soup Festival moves on to week three with a new set of super soups for the public to slurp and vote for their favourites.
Cocoa: The Annual Hot Chocolate Festival is warming the hearts of chocolate lovers with sips of sweet chocolate throughout the city until February 14th
Yoga: Don’t miss your chance to take part in a free Wednesday yoga class at Gateway Theatre in support of their upcoming Yoga Play.
Dine Out – Street Food City
photo: Carly Whetter
Dine: Find a new fave restaurant, experience a one of a kind foodie event, sample some of the city’s multitude of food trucks, all during Dine Out Vancouver Festival, now on until February 3rd
The 10-time Grammy Award winning artist, Bobby McFerrin is coming to the The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia on February 17, 2019. The genre-defying artist is joined by Gimme5; McFerrin’s newest band comprised of veterans from his a cappella Voicestra group Joey Blake, Dave Worm, Rhiannon, and Judi Vinar, as well local choral ensemble musica intima is on the bill.
Bobby McFerrin
photo: Carol Friedman
The concert supports Bobby McFerrin’s current Circlesongs tour centred on an Circlesinging, and improvised concert format based on McFerrin’s sweeping, soulful vocal language —a style encompassing elements from all genres including jazz, pop, R&B, classical, and world music. Requiring an innate sensitivity to surrounding participants the style results in a unique and spontaneous sound. Joined by the Vancouver-based eight-member choral group musica intima, McFerrin and Gimme5 will present an evening of sound that draws in the audience as co-performers.
“The music of Bobby McFerrin is rooted in his sheer joy of singing, and the delight he finds in the worlds of sound that exist within the human voice,” says Joyce Hinton, Co-Managing Director of the Chan Centre. “His passion for the art form really shines through in these one-of-a-kind performances that take listeners on an incredible musical journey.”
Bobby McFerrin
photo: Petra Hajska
McFerrin was born to classically trained singers and into a world of music that took him from New York to Hollywood. His father, Robert McFerrin Sr., was the first African-American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera and provided the on-screen singing voice of Sidney Poitier in the 1959 film Porgy and Bess. The younger McFerrin grew up playing piano and clarinet, surrounded by a hodgepodge of genres that ranged from Duke Ellington to George Gershwin, James Brown to Led Zeppelin. It wasn’t until he turned 27 that he discovered a passion for singing — as well as an impressive range and the uncanny ability to transform his voice. As NPR noted: “Listen to Bobby McFerrin and it’s like you’re listening to an entire orchestra bubbling up through one man’s body. He becomes a flute, a violin, a muted trumpet, a percussion instrument, a bird, you name it.” The popularity and accolades of 1988’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” brought McFerrin worldwide attention and he has been collaborating, recording and touring ever since. Performing with orchestra’s across the world, and artists like; Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, Dizzy Gillespie, and more.
Join Bobby McFerrin, Gimme5 and musica intima for the spontaneous Circlesongs performance in the Chan Shun Concert Hall at Chan Centre for Performing Arts at UBC on February 17, 2019 at 7pm.
The songs of Canadian legend Joni Mitchell come to The Firehall Arts Centre in Circle Game : Reimagining the music of Joni Mitchell.
Circle Game
photo: Emily Cooper
In celebration of her recent 75th birthday, the revival of Circle Game pays tribute with a couple dozen tunes rearranged and mixed from Joni Mitchell’s iconic songbook. Co-creators Andrew Cohen and Anna Kuman forgo any storyline, presenting the music in a series of vignettes built around each song, some with a bit of drama, others feature Kuman’s choreography, while others are straight ahead performances. Like the collection of songs from a decades long career, Carolyn Rapanos’ set design it a beautifully curated display of musical paraphernalia.
Circle Game
photo: Emily Cooper
The six multi-talented performers; Samantha Bourque, Kimmy Choi, David Z. Cohen, Benjamin Millman, Scott Perrie and Adriana Ravali, dance, sing and perform all the instrument throughout the 2 hour show. The show takes some time to find its rhythm, but once I stopped trying to find a storyline, I was able to let go and just enjoy each song individually. Andrew Cohen’s arrangements have moments reminiscent of Godspell showtunes, a garage-band’s all out jam sessions, other times acapella, and then parts that felt like a 70’s variety show, bringing something for everyone to the stage. Circle game changes the tempo and pace on many of the classic Mitchell tunes, but some of her most recognizable classics get respectful treatment in the second act, with beautiful renditions of River, Both Sides Now, and Big Yellow Taxi to close the show and leave the audience with the memories of their memories of Joni Mitchell’s legacy.
Circle Game
photo: Emily Cooper
Circle Game : Reimagining the music of Joni Mitchell plays at The Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova St, until February 9, 2019. Visit firehallartscentre.ca for information, showtimes and tickets.
Part of The Cultch Femme Series, Dakh Daughters it making its Canadian debut at York Theater until January 19, 2019.
Dakh Daughters
photo: Tetiana Vasylenko
The cabaret-style performance sees six performers from Kyiv’s Dakh Theatre, taking the stage to create a unique evening of genre-bending music. The Dakh Daughters rotate through a wide variety of instruments; wind, percussion, keyboards and strings. Sung mostly in Ukrainian, and bits of English and French, with English surtitles, the traditional Ukrainian folk, pop, and original works songs are arranged to blend a diverse range of styles. Ballads bleed into rock, rap mixes with pop and reggae lends its beats, to create a weirdly satisfying cacophony of sounds. As with the music, the sextet’s costume changes take them from a start as hip babushkas with hints of DEVO, to burlesque-punk divas, stylish sirens, and political patriots.
Talking about the performance doesn’t do the rock-opera justice, there’s no way to describe the connection the music had with the audience. The opening night audience seemed to have a number of Ukrainian fans who connected to the music, singing along with the tunes, acknowledging the topics. An audience member near me went from laughing with the lyrics to being in tears during one of the heartfelt ballads.
Dakh Daughters
photo: Igor Gaidai
During the show’s encore the Dakh Daughters were very thankful to their first Canadian show and felt the audience was receptive enough to draw attention to the Crimean conflict and Oleg Sentsov, and other Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia.
Dakh Daughters; Natalia Charpe, Nina Garenetska, Nataliya Halanevych, Tetiana Havrylyuk, Solomiia Melnyk, Ganna Nikitina, take the stage at the York Theatre January 15 – 19, 2019. Visit thecultch.com for tickets and more information.
