Get “Hali Gali” with WARPs UP latest music video!

スーツを着た男性たち 自動的に生成された説明

WARPs UP, a four-piece dance group with members from Japan and China and fans in both territories, have announced their latest song, ‘Hali Gali’, which is now on YouTube and as a limited release in China.

The music video for ‘Hali Gali’ is directed by filmmaker Kenichiro Shimizu (PELE) and Tokyo-based creative group REALROCKDESIGN, which also produces large-scale outdoor festivals and sensory entertainment show STAR ISLAND. Shimizu, working with Daito Manabe (Rhizomatiks), was the videographer and editorial director on British artist Squarepusher’s ‘Terminal Slam’ video. His works have garnered acclaim for their innovation and creativity, with ‘Terminal Slam’ receiving the Computer Animation Category Honor Award at Austria’s Ars Electronica Award 2020.

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Nerdy Picks of the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Theatre Festival

In addition to those shows in my picks of the Victoria Fringe Theatre event that are travelling over to Vancouver Fringe, my choices of this year include:

VanFringeFest_2019.jpgSome of the performers who appeared at the Victoria Fringe Festival do not have long to relax with the Vancouver Fringe celebration coming up days after. It’s a bigger event allowing for more venues and less walking to get around. In the works I have missed, I’m glad I have the option to do a day-trip over (weekend is better) to catch up on those that I missed due to overlap or some other reason.

When more space is available, this event held on Granville Island (and a few other areas nearby) allows for more acts to be pulled from the hat. In addition to those shows in my picks of the Victoria Fringe Theatre event that are travelling over, my choices of this year include:

Carey-OK!: Timeless Timely Tunes

Carey-OK!:
Timeless Timely Tunes

Chip Pop Productions
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Carey Wass
A mix of Robin Williams and Reggie Watts, Fringe fave Wass (Ride the Cyclone, **** —Globe & Mail) unleashes a one-man a cappella musical that blends singing, beatboxing, rapping, and dance into a series of uplifting song-o-logues about anxiety, social media, and his journey living in Vietnam.

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Step-by-Step with Cory Bowles, Trailer Park Boys and Black Cop

Corey Bowles

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

June 5th update: Black Cop is now available on iTunes and will be released to VOD on the 19th!

Making the journey West, fellow Trailer Park Boy, Cory Bowles will appear on Vancouver Island for the 2018 Victoria Film Festival to answer questions about his debut film, Black Cop. This multi-talented performer turned director is not looking to change the world, but he has a lot to say in this drama he wrote. It is filled with sociological concerns and his interest in examining his ethnic roots. For younger audiences interested in his other projects, he can be heard narrating the CBC stop-motion children’s animated series Poko. This show can be found in syndication.

Before he appeared on screen, he was performing on stage. He’s a professional dancer and choreographer. He trained in Africa, Brazil, States, and Canada. Much about what he’s learned hails from his heritage and he’s polymorphed it into the products he’s created since.

He’s worked for Halifax-based Contemporary Dance Company Verve Mwendo and Calgary-based Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. “I studied since I was 18. What I learned was a backward trajectory which started with breakdancing, and that developed into what we know as modern street dance. In addition to appearing in Trailer Park Boys, I’m a musician and teacher.”

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[Victoria, BC] The Muses are with Chimera Theatre’s Perseus & Andromeda

CrYHXGqUAAEnomdBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

If only the 2010 remake of the classic 1981 movie Clash of the Titans was told differently, like as an interpretative dance, then I’d be more receptive to the end product! Kamloops’ based Chimera Theatre is an aptly named company to take on retelling the myth of Perseus and Andromeda at the 2016 Victoria Fringe Festival.

To see when they will take this show on the road again, Andrew G. Cooper (who composed the fantastic new age soundscape and did the choreography) advised keeping an eye on this group’s webpage. Next up will be The Disordered Mind by Cooper, playing from September 9th to October 30th, 2016. Tickets will become available through http://www.kamloopslive.ca

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Exploring the Meaning of Bear Dreams, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

BearDreamsVENUE:
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

Aug 28 | 10:00 pm
Aug 30 | 7:15 pm
Sept 3 | 8:30 pm
Sept 4 |5:30 pm
Sept 5 | 7:30 pm
Sept 6 | 6:45 pm

The geek in me really has to ask: do androids dream of electric sheep? Can bears even recall what they ate last winter? When they hibernate, just what motor functions truly shut down? If I’m beginning to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, I apologize, but I just have to get this indulgence out of my system. The reason why I ask these questions is because the world created by Ian Ferrier is not about the future but is in regards to Canada’s past. The themes found in Bear Dreams are very closely related to Philip K. Dick‘s tale in how animal species are disappearing. Here, the question of what European colonization of this new world has done to the wilderness for these creatures, First Nations tribes included, is explored. In what I’ve noticed, the creatures are symbolic of a heritage being destroyed and must be recovered.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Waking to a New Dreamscape – Tales Told Through Dance, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dreamscape-300x300
VENUE: Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

PERFORMANCE DATES:
August 27th | 6:00 pm
August 28th | 8:15 pm
August 29th | 3:00 pm
August 30th | 9:00 pm
August 31st | 9:45 pm
Sept 1st | 6:30 pm

LENGTH: 55 minutes

Just what kind of dreams will emerge out of the human imagination? Some imagery is personal and others are symbolic. In what was presented by Viva Dance Company, it’s wholly about the experience and what feelings remain after the mind and body awakens from its trip through the Astral Plane. In this case, it’s in what people feel after leaving the show.

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