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Event
Skins & Steel - A Caribbean Cabaret
PAL Studio Theatre Society presents
SKINS & STEEL
A Pioneers of Performance Cabaret Featuring The Afro Caribs
8:00pm, November 10 & 11, 2011
PAL Vancouver Studio Theatre (581 Cardero Street)
Tickets: $10
Skins & Steel celebrates the early days of Caribbean culture and artists in mid-20th Century Vancouver.
Through performance, archival footage (including 1954's Bamboula, the first live television broadcast of a musical-variety show on CBC; Bamboula featured a multiracial cast in an era when it was uncommon and, in some places, illegal to do so), and spirited discussion, Skins and Steel shines the spotlight on members of the Afro Caribs (Rudy Richards, Felix Assoon, Clyde Griffith, and Ron Rogers), a small band of musicians who came to Vancouver from Trinidad to attend UBC and brought a Calypso explosion to the West Coast, as well as the legendary Thelma Gibson (who danced in Bamboula) and Kenrick Headley, considered one of the best pan players in the region.
"Hogan's Alley is a tremendous story, but it doesn't include my family and other Caribbean artists," said Skins & Steel producer Vanessa Richards, an interdisciplinary artist with a strong interest in community arts. "People are surprised when I tell them that we had steel pan drumming and cricket matches down in Stanley Park when I was a kid, and that these family picnics became the Caribbean Days Festival in North Vancouver. I want to acknowledge hard-working artists like my father, whose contributions might not be as well documented as others, but whose impact is significant in context of African and Caribbean culture in the region." Richards will emcee the event and perform with her father, dancer Rudy Richards (who worked with the African master drummer, Olatunji, for all his Vancouver appearances), accompanied by steel drum.
Richards hopes that attendees will leave Skins & Steel with a new appreciation for Caribbean culture in Vancouverits presence, nuances, and roots. "Anticipate drums, dance, song, archival film and something inter-generational, unexpected and beautiful," said Richards.
Skins & Steel is the third of PAL Studio Theatre Society's Pioneers of Performance cabarets; the firstJuly's Speeding & Rollingcelebrated Vancouver's film and television history, while September's Tucked & Plucked shone the spotlight on Vancouver's Drag Queens.
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LocationPAL Studio Theatre (View)
581 Cardero Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 1R4
Canada
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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