Introducing Emily, and Body Talk in Nanaimo

Welcome to Nanaimo's new outreach coordinator, Emily Phillips! Emily's been busy with the Body Talk Cru, a young adult leadership group at Crimson Coast Dance Society, mentored in event and program planning and administration, as well as peer leadership skills. From left to right here we have Cru members Sam, Darian, (Holly Bright, Artistic Director of Crimson Coast , Emily) and Gee.

The Cru just organized a series of Hip Hop and Latin Fusion dance workshops with Vancouver's Over the Influence Dance Crew . There were two workshops, one for teens and one for families, with a final performance on March 13th.

I asked Emily to tell us a bit about the project, and also a bit about herself. First things first, Emily on Emily:

"I have always had a passion for the arts. At the age of three I remember resting my chin on the railing of the balcony at performance of “Cats” and falling in love with the theatre. Not one for being on the stage myself, instead my love of the arts took me to Vancouver Island University where I obtained a BA in English. I am a strong believer in arts education and I have really enjoyed helping the Cru plan the Body Talk Event!"

And now, Emily on Body Talk:

" Body Talk 2010 was a success! The week of free classes in Nanaimo BC facilitated by “Over the Influence,” a hip-hop dance crew from Vancouver, was fun, fast and fabulous! (That's Over the Influence over there.) Teens danced for 5 hours a day from 12-5 and families came out at night from 6-7:30. I was so impressed by everyone’s ability, and determination. You could tell that some of the participants had danced before, and were really comfortable; however, there were also participants who had never danced before and were just having a blast!

This is my first year doing the Body Talk project, and my first experience being a facilitator for a dance event. It was a great experience for me too. The final performance on Saturday night was amazing!“Over the Influence” performed, as well as the participants from the week. “Over the Influence” is a super talented dance crew who tell an intelligent and humorous story with their wicked moves. The teens and families preformed very well, there was not a nervous face in the bunch. The crowd was really supportive which was great to hear and see.Everyone did a great job, and had lots of fun. I hope that Body Talk has made an impression on the participants and the spectators, so that they will get out and dance again soon!"

More flashmob.....

What makes a flashmob a flashmob? Strictly speaking it's a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Generally it's not for PR, although the idea continues to morph, develop, and be used in different ways. (Wikipedia has an entry describing it's origins in 2003 in Manhattan by Bill Wasik, the editor of Harper's Magazine. Bill Wasik discusses the flashmob phenomenon, social media, and public space here). And it's not restricted to dance- pillow fights, freezing in space, "spontaneous" clapping- a whole range of happenings that have developed around the simple act of having mass, organized fun, in public space.

At least two Made in BC dance outreach coordinators are secretly plotting flashmob-type events for some seemingly-spontaneous public dancing (it's still secret if I don't out you). So: I asked Julie Lebel of Foolish Operations (see a few posts ago) for some planning tips based on her recent dance flashmob experience, and here is what she said:

Lessons learned:

-Get a local choreographer to set the dance. The simpler it is, the faster it will propagate. Friends will teach it to each other.
-Get people to learn it in community practices in community centres or other places.
-Publish the video choreography on the web (youtube or other...)
-Partner with schools, community centres and organizations to get more numbers.
-Think about the music! Where does it comes from? Is it representative of your local culture? Hire a local DJ to build a mix or to compose something.
-Ask your participants to be aware of what they wear. Big brands on t-shirts is free publicity for corporations. Flash Mobs are photographic events and it will be posted on the web!
-Make sure participants are aware that they might appear on the web! It is an extension of the public space.

***
Thanks Julie!

And here are a few more videos to inspire you:

Improv Everywhere's Frozen Grand Central. Check out their website for more missions, including the (self-explanatory) No Pants Subway Ride, and a fun recent one called "Where's Rob", involving hundreds of helpful people at a Knicks game.



Since I am a fan of Michael Jackson's choreography, and the architectural fabulousness of public squares, I wanted to share this one by Bounce in Sweden.




If I've done my homework right then this is the Red Mitten FlashMob organized in Vancouver by Jojo Zolina and Harbour Dance:



And if you've somehow missed it, the T-Mobile dance:

Oh, the blazing speed of the internet...

Well there readers, so much for your 'sneak preview'!

The new section of the website is officially live, it's in the projects dropdown menu -> Groundwork + Pitch Session; or just click here.

The Shortlist!!

I'm super pleased to announce the list of shortlisted companies chosen by Made in BC's presenter network! Who are they, you ask?

Well, you'll have to keep reading, because I'm even more excited to give you -- our blog readers out there -- a special sneak preview to a new section of our main website, which lists our seven shortlisted companies, along with descriptions about the work they are proposing, links to each of their websites, as well as links to video you can find elsewhere on the web.

As I said, it's a sneak preview -- this section will be up officially any moment now!

Here's what it looks like, you can click the image to take you to the new section and find out who's been shortlisted this year:


Each of the companies have been invited to our annual Pitch Session on March 24, where they'll be able to meet the presenters face-to-face and pitch their work in person.

Interested? Any questions? Let us know, we'd love to hear it!

Flashmob!

I've had the pleasure of working with Julie Lebel of Foolish Operations on a flashmob project for the Olympics, at three Vancouver community centres... check us out at our first one!