The Ticket

Culture

Next Act This spring, Wolfe will be debuting her first solo dance short film in collaboration with VFX specialist Shea Oracheski. Stay tuned for movement and effects that will hit you right in the feels.

THE TICKET

STEP IN TIME

Ballet and street dancing don’t often take the stage as one. And yet, at an open audition for local street-based dance group Ouro Collective, emerging contemporary dancer Shana Ai Wolfe felt an instant connection—even though she was surrounded by hip-hoppers, waackers and breakdancers. “Figuring out how to communicate with them didn’t actually feel like a barrier to cross, because we are all dancers and movers,” explains Wolfe. “We speak the same language.”

It’s a language Wolfe grew up fluent in. As a teen, she completed Arts Umbrella’s half-day training program (meaning she spent mornings hunkered down in high school and afternoons sweating it out at the studio). “Dance has always been the lens through which I see the world,” she says. “My body craves movement.” She did another two years of post-secondary training with Arts Umbrella and a season apprenticing with Ballet BC before taking a brief hiatus to live in Japan, and once she returned to Vancouver she joined Ouro Collective.

The collective is made up of artists from all across the dance spectrum. “Our choreography always has a lot of group work, but not necessarily unison,” Wolfe says. Even so, there’s a harmony created by each dancer showcasing their unique skills: she describes their collective movement as “inventive and engaging.” What seem like opposite arts thrive together, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts in the most spectacular way.

@ourocollective

Feed Your Calendar

Events are—dare we say—feeling close-ish to normal again. Here are the best to-dos in the city for springtime.

by Alyssa Hirose

CLOUD ALBUM

DATE March 11 to May 1 VENUE The Polygon Gallery COST By donation thepolygon.ca Clear blue skies? Boring. This new photography exhibition is all about clouds—from old-school gelatin silver prints to the most modern satellite snaps, there are over 250 culturally significant works on display.

MONSTER JAM

DATE March 18 to 20 VENUE Pacific Coliseum COST From $20 monsterjam.com What we’ve really been missing during this pandemic (besides, you know, human connection) is monster trucks. No longer. Monster Jam returns this year with freestyle, skills, donuts and racing competitions between 12,000-pound vehicles. Get amped.

CANADA SEVENS

DATE April 16 and 17 VENUE BC Place COST From $134 canadasevens.com Lovers of rugby (and folks with a serious commitment to costumes) unite. Watch some of the world’s best athletes compete over two eight-hour days of pure party time.

Sansei: The Storyteller mixes history with humour.

Apparel brand Poppy Barley visits Flax Home on April 28.

See Grave Digger, the “black and green wrecking machine,” at Monster Jam on March 18. SANSEI: THE STORYTELLER

DATE April 28 VENUE UBC’s Chan Centre for the Performing Arts COST From $15 chancentre.com Award-winning creator and performer Kunji Mark Ikeda shares a dark chapter of Japanese Canadian history— and its ongoing effects—in this stunning dance show, tackling internment, racism and resistance.

FLAX HOME’S POPPY BARLEY POP-UP

DATE April 28 to May 1 VENUE Flax Home Showroom shopflaxhome.com If the shoe fits (and is ethically produced) wear it. Edmontonbased ethical shoemaker Poppy Barley is popping up inside Flax Home this spring, so you can try both luxury footwear and super-soft linens in one place.

DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

DATE May 5 to 15 VENUE Online COST $10 doxafestival.ca This year’s online fest provides easy access to the best new documentaries—once you buy a ticket, you can stream your chosen film for 48 hours. Local highlights include Kalinga (Care), which shares the stories of Filipina caregivers and nannies in Vancouver, and Nude to Me, a deep dive into Canada’s oldest nudist club.

Kalinga (Care) is a documentary following local Filipina caregivers and nannies.

Shining a light on women and addiction.

We’re dealing with a health care crisis in BC and women are being overlooked.

Availability and accessibility to treatment options for women living with addiction are limited and virtually inaccessible—leaving them with little to no options for recovery.

This March, as the world celebrates women, the HERstory of Hope campaign is shining a light on the unique challenges and traumas experienced by women living with addiction.