| Time |
30 March · 19:30 – 21:00
|
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Location |
Historic Joy Kogawa House
|
|
|
|
| Created by: | |
|
|
|
| More info |
In
his role as Canadian playwright, radio writer, television story editor, and young adult author, Marty Chan explores the tensions between opposing forces of assimilation and the search for heritage and cultural roots. His new play, The Forbidden Phoenix, combines adventure, Please join us in the living room Ticket price $65 To purchase tickets, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
This |
Here are some great videos I found on youtube of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, plus fiddler Stephanie Cadman and accompanist Jake Charron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdZq-6_xVcU&feature=related
Stephanie Cadman and Jake Charron performed at
the Celtic Village (Georgia & Granaville street in Vancouver) in
March of 2011 at the CelticFest 2011. Stephanie Cadman is not only a
virtuoso fiddler, at 16, she was already the top female at the World Tap
Dance Championships, and held three step-dancing titles at the Pembroke
Championships. Cadman co-founded a dance show The StepCrew and toured
on her own production, Celtic Blaze and as a main violinist in BowFire.
Jake Charron plays the piano and guitar and is one of Canada's most
highly-regarded accompanists for fiddle music. Sunday's St. Patrick's
Day Parade 2011 concludes the CelticFest 2011 series of concerts and
events.
Great
day at the St. Patrick's Day Parade! Our Gung Haggis dragon was a hit –
interacting with the people lining the streets. The children LOVED it! Here is a picture of us with our parade dragon. Jennifer is carrying the head of the dragon, Todd is wearing the yellow Macleod kilt, Carolyn in a blue Fraser Hunting kilt, and Evan in green and purple “Pride of Scotland” kilt.
Da Danaan Irish School of Dance
The North Shore Celtic Ensemble
The Vancouver Police Lion Dance team was in the
parade…. Gung Haggis Fat Choy had a 5 person dragon…. Falun Dafa
had a “lotus float” + drummers…. BC Lions Cheerleaders had some
Asians, as did 93.7JR Country Radio (driving the truck)…. Koreans were
in the parade… but did you see the Hapa-Asian-Canadians in the Da
Danaan Irish Dancers… and the Stave Scottish Dancers?
Then off to the Celtic Village,
Johnny Fox's Snug for some
Guinness, Ottawa Valley step-dancing workshop with Stephanie Cadman,
then great music with Roolya Boolya @ Doolin's Irish Pub
“Taddy O'Wong” is getting ready for St. Patrick's Day Parade…
Hope you all can wear some GREEN too!
Gung
Haggis paddlers and friends are invited to the “Gung Haggis Fat Choy”
entry #84. come help us carry dragons and Chinese lions and dragon boat
paddles… in the parade. Meet Granville & Drake 10:20 am – look
for entry #84 Gung Haggis Fat Choy.
Parade is from 11am to 1pm
Afterwards
– enjoy the Celtic village of CelticFest… lots of performances,
workshops etc… on Granville St.
Check out this list of events
http://www.celticfestvancouver.com/schedule-tickets/2011/#sunday
1pm –Boris
Sichon – multi-instrumentalist
2pm see Michael
Viens' Bodhran workshop
2-4pm The Great Big Session Hosted by Jay
Knutson – Bring your instrument to jam with the BIGGEST kitchen
party jam session $5.
3pm – I want to try the step dancing workshop with Stephanie
Cadman
Years ago I would listen to Afro Celt Sound System – very cool. Afro beats set to great Celtic fiddling.
Vancouver & BC's history is Afro-Celtic. Sir James Douglas, founding governor was born in Guyana to a Carribean Creole mother and a Scottish father. In Canada, his wife Amelia was a Metis. Very Canadian!
On stage together for the very first time, some of Canada’s most
celebrated African and Celtic vocalists, musicians and dancers come
together to burst past boundaries and create musical alchemy at
CelticFest. Outstanding artists find musical affinity; two vibrant
musical traditions fuse into one unique concert that can only be
experienced live!
On stage are JUNO Award-Winning West African guitar maestro and singer, Alpha Yaya Diallo, former Mad Pudding band mates Amy Stephen (accordion), Allan Dionne (drums), and Boris Favre (bass), Ottawa Valley fiddler and step dancer Stephanie Cadman, world percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Boris Sichon, African dancer N’ato Camera and percussionist Yoro Noukoussi.
In the hands of these virtuoso talents, the electrifying rhythms,
melodies and connections between these two musical worlds is explored –
and a night made for dancing is born!
Your host for the evening is Todd Wong AKA Toddish McWong.
Click here for the video of the dance party
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/5542401724/
Todd Wong, Stephanie Cadman and Alpha Yaya Dialo
Amy Stephen plays her accordion!
Check out my flickr set pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/sets/72157626177412231/
On March 17th, Debbie, Deb & Todd went to Mahoney's Pub @ UBC
Here is more on KT Tunstall from wikipedia
President Obama nominates Gary Locke as the next U.S. Ambassador to China.
It's a proud moment for Asian-Americans, but Locke
criticized for being both “Too Asian” and “Too American” for others…
raising issues about race, national identity and patriotism – in both
China and the USA. Locke's grandfather immigrated to the US over a
century ago and Locke, a Yale graduate, has done much to help advance
Asian-Americans and the civil rights movement.
Here's some interesting stories about Gary Locke
Here's a good history on Gary Locke
http://www.historylink.org
Now… the Canadian Government… has made the unofficial symbol of Canada into an official symbol of Canada. Last year they recognized Tartan Day, to help celebrate Scottish heritage in Canada – this year they recognize the Maple Leaf tartan as an official symbol of Canada.
Read the Montreal Gazette story below.
The Canadian government has pre-empted a Liberal senator's
crusade to have Maple Leaf Tartan declared the country's official
Scottish cloth, announcing Wednesday that the distinctive green-and-red
pattern — inspired by the shifting hues of autumn leaves — has not only
been made the national tartan but also an “official symbol” of the
nation itself.
The designation means the tartan — designed
in 1964 by Toronto garment maker David Weiser ahead of Canada's
centennial celebrations — will join the flag, the coat of arms, the
beaver and a handful of other objects as state-sanctioned emblems of
Canada, according to a statement issued by Heritage Minister James
Moore.
“The Maple Leaf Tartan has been worn proudly and
enjoyed by Canadians for decades, but has never been elevated to the
level of an official symbol — until now,” said Moore. “Our national
symbols express our identity and define our history. The Maple Leaf
Tartan represents the contributions that the more than four million
Canadians of Scottish heritage continue to make to our country.”
The
Conservative government's declaration comes less than a week after
Liberal Senator Elizabeth Hubley, of P.E.I., gave a speech urging
support for her proposed legislation, Bill S-226, to make Maple Leaf
Tartan the official national tartan.
“The Maple Leaf Tartan
has been Canada's unofficial national tartan for many years,” she said
last Thursday. “It is time to recognize the rich contribution Canadians
of Scottish descent have made to this country by adopting a national
tartan for Canada, which can be worn by every Canadian, regardless of
their ancestry, as a symbol of national pride.”
Hubley's
office initially expressed “shock” at Wednesday's announcement. And in
comments to Postmedia News following the government's statement, Hubley
pointed to “eerie similarities” between Moore's declaration and her own
expressions of support for the Maple Leaf Tartan last week in the
Senate.
“I am pleased the government has been listening,”
she said. “And if you read the wording of the press release, there are
eerie similarities to my second-reading speech from last Thursday.”
She
also raised doubts about whether a simple announcement from the
government had the weight of legislation — duly passed by Parliament —
to declare the Maple Leaf Tartan an official emblem of Canada. “A press
release from a cabinet minister is not sufficient to create a national
symbol.”
Wednesday's announcement by the government made no
mention of Hubley's bill, but included comments from Conservative
Senator John Wallace, of New Brunswick, who recently spearheaded an
effort to have the government formally recognize April 6 as National
Tartan Day.
“The tartan is one of the most visual
expressions of Scottish heritage and culture,” Wallace said in
Wednesday's statement. “Making the Maple Leaf Tartan an official symbol
of Canada highlights the many significant contributions that people of
Scottish heritage have made to the founding of Canada.”
While
the Maple Leaf Tartan appears to have become an unexpected symbol of
political partisanship, both the Liberals and Conservatives do have
legitimate prior claims to being champions of the patriotic plaid.
In
2006, former Liberal MP John Matheson — a key player in the political
battle that led to the adoption of Canada's Maple Leaf flag in 1965 —
urged that the government adopt a national tartan as a readily
recognized “signal” to be displayed by Canadians of all ethnic stripes
to show that they “care about a united Canada.”
In 2008,
Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney (who has since added immigration
to his cabinet portfolio) announced that he had officially registered
the Maple Leaf Tartan with the Scottish Tartan Authority in Edinburgh to
secure exclusive rights for the pattern for the Canadian government.
“The
Government of Canada recognizes the many ways in which Scottish culture
and tradition have contributed to the strength of our communities,”
Kenney said at the time. “Scottish tartans are a wonderful symbol of
cohesion: each plaid, with its blend of different colours and patterns
represents a family, a region, an organization, or a nation.”
In
2006, after Matheson had launched his campaign for a national tartan,
the Globe and Mail reported that documents released under Access to
Information showed federal Heritage officials were giving the proposal
serious consideration.
One memo noted that Weiser's Maple
Leaf Tartan had been “greeted with wide acclaim” in the 1960s and was
already considered an unofficial national tartan by many Canadians.
Briefing
notes indicated that “the use of tartan by non-Scottish or Celtic
peoples has dramatically expanded around the world” and reflected a
“more multicultural reality.”
But the documents also
contained a caution that “the notion of a national tartan might have
little resonance with Canada's multicultural communities, given its
traditional association with Scottish and British heritage.”
According
to the website of Canadian Heritage, 11 of the 13 provinces and
territories have their own official tartans, while Quebec has popular
design that is widely — though unofficially — used to symbolize the
province. Nunavut is not mentioned on the site.
The
Canadian government also recognizes the maple tree as the country's
“national arboreal emblem,” the beaver as its official animal symbol and
red and white as Canada's official colours.
Vancouver Sun: Celtic Fest plumbs culture roots.
Great preview story in Vancouver Sun, Thursday March 10th.
Todd Wong is hosting the Afro-Celtic Dance Party on March 18th, Friday at the Edgewater Casino. This is going to be a fantastic event as the performers are great. Imagine putting high energy jigs and reels together with hypnotic African drum rhythms.
I am really excited that African guitarist and singer Alpha Yaya Diallo is involved. He is going to be creating something wonderful with fiddler Stephanie Cadman and accordionist Amy Stephen. I have always loved Amy's accordion work with Mad Pudding and Jou Tou.
Artists include Alpha Yaya Diallo, Amy Stephen, Boris Favre & Allan Dionne (formerly of Mad Pudding), Stephanie Cadman, Boris Sichon, African dancer N’Nato Camera, and powerhouse percussionist Yoro Noukoussi.Vancouverites worth their wellies will recognize what comedian Hal
Roach was saying when he declared of his homeland: “You know it's summer
in Ireland when the rain gets warmer.” Apart from our strikingly
similar weather, there are plenty of connections between Canada's Wet
Coast and Ireland's Wet Everything, especially now that the economic
meltdown back home has many young Irish men and women seeking a new
future here.
The buildup to St. Patrick's Day in Vancouver used to
consist of circling March 17 on the calendar and wearing something
green that's clean and ready to spill a drink on. Since CelticFest
arrived in 2004, however, booze takes a back seat.
“We try to stay
away from the myth of Celtic festivals, that you have to drink and get
drunk,” says executive producer Rita Albano. “It's not about that, it's
much more about the culture, the traditions and the artistic component.”
Everything
is building toward the big weekend of March 19 and 20, just past
Paddy's Day, when two blocks of Granville Street will be closed to
traffic during the day and a Sunday parade unfolds along Howe Street.
But CelticFest Vancouver 2011 actually kicks off this Friday.
That's
when TV personality Fiona Forbes hosts the inaugural St. Patrick's Day
Luncheon, to be held in the Hotel Vancouver's historic Panorama Roof
Ballroom. The Ireland Fund of Canada sponsors this unique event, which
will see simulcast electronic links to similar luncheons in Toronto and
St. John's.
The next taste of festival events comes Tuesday when
the Colin Grant Band performs in a free lunchtime concert at Georgia and
Granville. Similar noonhour shows will take place all next week, and
the action spreads to places where you can indeed sing Whiskey in the
Jar with a whiskey in your hand: Ceili's Irish Pub, Doolin's Irish Pub
and Johnnie Fox's Irish Snug, all on and around Granville Street.
The
big day itself will be celebrated next Thursday night with what's
dubbed The World's Greatest St. Patrick's Day Céilidh. The Yale hosts
this traditional social gathering (pronounced KAY-lee), and a dozen
different performers, from Olympic opening ceremony fiddler Daniel Lapp
to Juno-winning fiddler Shona Le Mottée, will offer jigs, airs, reels,
polkas, ballads and singalongs.
Since founding CelticFest in 2004,
Albano has constantly sought new avenues to explore. The AfroCeltic
Dance party on Friday, March 19, certainly fits the bill.
“Basically
we're creating a night made for dancing,” she says. “It's going to be
amazing -imagine a step-dancer and an African dancer, playing to boran
[Irish drum] and African percussion.”
Juno-winning West African
guitarist and singer Alpha Yaya Diallo will be joined by Irish and
African dancers and musicians. In keeping with the multicultural nature
of CelticFest, the show will be hosted by Todd Wong who, when wearing
his kilt and playing the bagpipes, is better known as Toddish McWong.
The annual St. Patrick's Day
parade takes place on Sunday March 20th. Take in events before and
after the parade. As usual, we will have a Gung Haggis Fat Choy parade
entry… past years have seen us put dragon boats on trailers into the
festival. 2 years ago we had a 5 person Chinese dragon boat walking
with the Gung Haggis Pipes & Drums during a snow storm.
Check out my story about the 2009 parade (2010 was canceled due to the Olympics & Paralympics games):
Gung Haggis Pipes & Drums & dragon boat paddlers… brave the snow in the Vancouver Celticfest St. Patrici's Day Parade
a maker of leather sporrans 
Irish Wolf Hounds
The program for Celtic Fest
Roolya Boolya- Mark Downey on lead vocals and guitar with the amazing Mary on fiddle.
Japanese-Celtic-Canadian