Concurrence Gatherings #8 - 11

Concurrence Gatherings are concerts, talks and story-sharing events, featuring Indigenous Artists and emerging DTES Small Arts Grants recipients with NOW Society Musicians. Presented and hosted by the NOW Society at 8EAST in partnership with Downtown Eastside Small Arts Grants. Curated by Sophie Dow and Lisa Cay Miller.

 

 

 

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Past Gatherings

 Concurrence Gathering #11

Monday, December 4, 8 pm

Featuring: 
Eva Cho - Dance
Tallulah Photo - Film 
Jennifer Cooley - Poetry
Cole Alexandra - Film 
 

Eva Cho

Eva Cho is a dancer and a musical performer. When Eva was young, she enjoyed dancing and singing. She started to learn traditional Chinese dancing. Eva moved to Vancouver in 2010 from Regina, Saskatchewan. In Regina, she taught children, teenagers and adults. Since she came to Vancouver, she has enjoyed teaching dance at the Carnegie Community Centre and DEWC Women’s Centre. She is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of several styles of Chinese folk dancing including fan, ribbon, sword, flower and many more. She has given performances at the DTES Oppenheimer Park, Carnegie Community Centre, DTES Women’s Centre, Granville Island, and other places.

Tallulah Photo

Tallulah has been working for 20+ years in photography and has extended her work into video shorts and documentaries over the last few years.  Her work focuses on portraiture and documentary, including the impact of the environment, whether it be urban, such as homelessness in DTES Vancouver, war-torn countries such as Haiti and Afghanistan or the role of women in the conservation of elephants in Kenya. She launched the World People Project in 2012, a series of portraits and conversations that capture the unique, creative and quirky side of seemingly ordinary individuals, and co-founded Journeys to the Edge in the same period to document the stories of those who are marginalised and disenfranchised. In 2020, she was awarded the Telus Storyhive Local Heroes Documentary Grant to develop the 2019 Angels on Call Photo Essay (which was awarded the Canadian Church Press Award) into a 40-minute documentary. Telling the story of two outreach nurses who have worked in Vancouver’s DTES for over 40 years, the resulting Angels on Call documentary short went on to win awards. This year, she was awarded a Jack Webster Professional Development Fellowship, which has assisted her in furthering her studies in documentary filmmaking.

Jennifer Cooley

Jennifer has been writing as long as she could hold a pen. Her first story ever penned was at the young age of 5, her first Novel was written at the age of 13! She got in trouble for skipping school to write it, so Mom came home and threw it away one day, this caused a string of events that changed Jennifer’s young life forever! After 4 yrs of writers block and running around on the streets and seeking love and attention anywhere she could find it, young love, and first crushes finally helped to bring an end to her earlier trauma and she once again found her voice with the pen and has never stopped writing since she was 17 years old!

Her success today is on the edge of your seat excitement and you will find and learn all about these ongoing changes and successes right here at Future Productions Online website, so be sure to mark this as one of your favorite pages and come back often to read everything Jennifer shares with you here so that you may use this vital stream in her life to get to know her the best way you can, through discovering who she is in the work she writes and the stories here that she tells!

Cole Alexandra

Cole lives in Vancouver BC and is a multi-media artist that works in sculpture, painting, music and video. Her sculpture and painting is figurative and explores emotional and psychological associations, analyzing human behaviour.  Her work has a sense of humour and playfulness. Cole struggles with Depression and has been transformed through developing her art practice. Cole has a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. She has presented her work in VAV Gallery Montreal and Galerie Espace Montreal. She was the recent recipient of a DTES Small Arts Grant. 

 

Concurrence Gathering #10

November 30th, 8pm

Featuring:
Andre Besette and Lyric Tsuji - Dance
Kathleen Nisbett - Fiddle and Voice
Alexander John Kusturok - Fiddle

Alex Kusturok

Alexander John Kusturok

Growing up, Alex followed his mother Patti to Old time dances around Manitoba where he was enriched with the Métis fiddle from a very young age. By age 7, the passion for music became apparent and today Alex makes his living as a performer and educator.

 

André Besette and Lyric Tsuji

André Besette

André Bessette has been a grateful visitor to the traditional and unceded lands of the Tsawwassen, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations since his birth. His roots are mixed settler and Métis from the Red River Settlement on the ancestral territories of Anishinaabe and Nehiyaw Nations where Treaty 1 and 2 lay. As a disconnected urban Métis, he has sought reconnection with Métis and First Nations communities, cousins, and culture.

Untraditionally trained in dance, André found the gregariousness of jigging matched his personality. He has dabbled in Swing, Breakdance, House, and Burlesque. André was educated by Yvonne Chartrand, and other Métis dancers, in Compaigni V’ni Dansi since 2018. Andre Bessette has performed for three Louis Riel Day Celebrations hosted by V’ni Dansi (2019, 2021, 2022). As well, he jigged at the 19th Annual Talking Stick Festival (2020), Vancouver Pride Parade (2022, 2023), and the Taiwanese Canada Cultural Festival (2022). 

André is deeply intrigued in dance styles that developed through cultural, interpersonal, and passionate exchanges between communities. Most of his dance training has been from community dance educators rather than formal institutions. André’s practice is inspired by the concept of “Street Dance” where community builds style and steps from the ground up in connection and exchange, rather than isolation and separation. Métis community shares that Métis jigging combines Anishnaabe and Nehiyaw Pow-Wow steps with French, Irish, and Scottish Jigging producing a new dance bringing cultures and communities together.

Lyric Tsuji

Lyric was born in Vancouver in 1999. She began dancing at the age of four and studied many styles of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, Polynesian, musical theatre, stage, acrobatics, and tumbling. She is very passionate about the performing arts whether it be singing, acting, or dancing. Lyric has also been part of two musicals. She was Evillene the wicked witch of the west in The Wiz, and Ms. Potts in The Beauty and The Beast. Lyric joined V'ni Dansi in March 2017 and is honoured to be part of the company. Lyric is currently a full time student at SFU where she is studying Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Lyric is glad to have the V'ni Dansi practices, rehearsals, and performances as they provide an environment where she can destress and just enjoy dancing.

Kathleen Nisbett

Kathleen Nisbet is a fiddle player and singer from Vancouver, BC Canada. Classically trained at the Vancouver Academy of Music, She returned to her Métis roots, pursuing more traditional fiddle music. Since then she has worked with artists in a variety of genres. A collaborator and regular accompanist with Compaigni v'ni dansi  Métis traditional dance, she also has composed music for independent modern dance. Recent theatre credits include A Christmas Carol with Pacific Theatre and Salmon Row with Mortal Coil. Kathleen is an active member of Vancouver's thriving bluegrass and folk scene,  performing and touring regularly with her band Viper Central with whom she has recorded three albums. She has toured with  Vancouver bands, The Fugitives and CR Avery and has made guest appearances with Hedley, Fred Eaglesmith, The Belle Game, and The Vicious Cycles to name a few. She works regularly as a studio musician and has numerous studio recording credits. She is a teacher at Saint James Music Academy where Downtown Eastside kids are provided free music lessons.

Gathering #9

Thursday October 26, 8pm

Featuring:
TJ Felix - voice and guitar
Kiera-Dawn Kolson - Creation story/spoken word/music
MZ Shellz - Voice and Rap
 

 

TJ Felix

TJ Felix is a two-spirit Qelmucw from the Splatsin region of Secwepemculecw as well as a musician, multidisciplinary artist, colonial law breaker, drug user rights advocate & english language unlerner amongst many other things.

Kiera-Dawn Kolson

Kiera-Dawn Kolson is an award winning multidisciplinary artist and motivational speaker. A 2017 Minister’s Culture & Heritage Circle Award recipient, she enjoys developing her traditional and contemporary artistic skills. For over 15 years, she has travelled regionally, nationally, and internationally to advocate for the north, indigenous people, MMIW, climate justice, and youth involvement. With “Dream Big and Believe” as her philosophy, it’s exciting to see what the future holds!
 

 

Mz Shellz

Michelle Lee Runns AKA MzShellz is an emerging Cree Hip Hop artist and owner of “Native by Nature” Apparel hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan. Since relocating to British Columbia, the mother of 4 has been rocking stages from Vancouver Ottawa Toronto Las Vegas all the way to Albuquerque, NM. MzShellz has taken her new platform through her music to send messages of strength to the Youth and seeks to empower Women & girls around the world to know that anything is possible if you truly believe in yourself. She hopes to further these goals with her next album, “Boss Lady”, currently out now

 

Gathering 8

Thursday October 5, 8 pm, 2023

Featuring:
Dalannah Gail Bowen - voice
Norine Braun - guitar and voice, appearing with Alice Fraser
Sophie Dow - dance
 

Supported by NOW Artists:
Mind of a Snail, Jessica Gabriel and Chloe Ziner - shadow puppetry, Chloe Ziner - guitar and Lisa Cay Miller - piano

Presented and hosted by the NOW Society in partnership with Carnegie Community Centre. Curated by Sophie Dow and Lisa Cay Miller.

Artist Bios

Norine Braun

Vancouver singer-songwriter recording artist, Norine Braun latest is the groove oriented Songs For Trees. Thanks to a Canada Council For the Arts Award and a First Peoples’ Cultural Council Award, Norine set her musings during the pandemic to focus on climate change and the healing power of trees. She created a transformational musical walk through a west coast forest to help enlighten and inspire. Described as bluesy roots rock, eclectic, emotional and heartfelt. "Songs For Trees is unlike any other album I've ever heard. It's beautiful and genius.”  SubbaCultcha. The Vancouver Sun named it one of 5 albums you need to hear! Norine’s ancestry is Metis and Ukrainian and she identifies as Two Spirit. Norine is currently writing her 14th album set to record the album this fall 2023. Visit norinebraun.com for more info.

Sophie Dow

Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and Michif/Assiniboine + French/Ukrainian roots. An avid adventurer, Sophie exudes passions for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University.  Sophie presently fulfills roles as: artistic associate of O.Dela Arts, Chimera Dance Theatre & V’ni Dansi/Louis Riel Métis Dancers, residency coordinator at Dance West Network, musician with The Honeycomb Flyers, a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage, a trained facilitator & student of BreathWave, a freelance dancer/choreographer/sound designer and a puddle jumping trickster.

Mind of a Snail

Mind of a Snail is a shadow puppetry duo currently based out of Vancouver B.C. Canada, on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓wətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Since 2003, Chloé Ziner and Jessica Gabriel have been developing a multilayered style of visual storytelling using handmade projections. Their performances play at the intersection of puppetry, visual arts, clowning & music. They have recently been integrating live video and interactive live-streaming into their tool kit. As artistic collaborators, they love exploring beyond the boundaries of traditional theatre, and creating magical immersive experiences for their audiences. Mind of a Snail’s shadow theatre is like an early animation created live before your eyes.
 

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Gatherings 1 - 7:

 

 

Sunday December 4, 2022

6pm Artist talk, 7pm Performances at 8EAST

8 East Pender Street

FREE 18+

Featuring:
Dalannah Gail Bowen
Shawn Bullsheilds
Karen Colville
Francis Baptiste
Gunargie Ga'axstalas O’Sullivan

Presented by O.Dela Arts, hosted by the NOW Society in partnership with Skwachàys Lodge Aboriginal Hotel and Gallery and Carnegie Community Centre.

Dalannah Gail Bowen is now 77 years old and has been singing professionally for more than half a century. Dalannah released her most recent album known as Dalannah’s Diamond Collection titled “ In Her Own Words” . Her label Quest Records selected their 16 songs written and recorded by her on the label over the past 15 years and compiled this anthology to celebrate her 75 years of “Living and Loving.”  In November 2021, Dalannah was nominated for the very prestigious Maple Blues “Life Time Achievement” award. Meanwhile she has gigs and concerts and Festival appearances scheduled into late 2022 but even with all the music demands on her time she has still been very active and vocal about those issues she has espoused for more than 50 years… Shelter for the homeless and social housing; the wasteful and destructive behaviours destroying our environment, imminent climate change action and indigenous issues especially the “Missing Women Campaign, and of course the outrageous and inhuman Colonial disgrace and Canada’s shameful denials and shuffling under the carpet the Residential Schools program of cultural genocide and abuse of indigenous youth. She has been called “Our Matriarch of the Blues” and a “force of nature.” Seems about right so far.

Karen Colville grew up in a small rural town where there were bands with her neighbors on her street. The Musicians in her home town went on to great commercial success. Karen had some of the very same Musicians on her first release, Beauty of Dreams. Karen is a long standing member of SOCAN ASCAP. She attended Music educational conferences in Vancouver, Nashville and Hollywood to learn about the music business. She explored themes of cultural diversity in her work including Spoken word with First Nations, Cultural Anthropology with independent research in music history in arts and culture as a form of independent study. She is described as a soulful and a sweet Vocalist with themes of Peace, Love and Unity. She appreciates music from all backgrounds. Karen participates and supports a Music event Graceful Noise for over 5 years in a cabaret style with Trinity United Church. She is also interested in multimedia as an artistic cultural expression with performance art. Her recent release is included on the 100 Block2 compilation Rocking the Blues of DTES Artists. Karen is at present working on Country folk original songs based on her life experiences and her musical and connection to Canadian Americana nature journey.

Francis Baptiste is an Indigenous songwriter and music journalist from the Osoyoos Indian Band. His debut LP, Snəqsilxʷ (Family), features songs sung in Nsyilxcən [nah-silk-sen], the endangered language of the Syilx [see-ilks] people. Approximately 50 elders can fluently speak Nsyilxcən. For Baptiste, his journey in learning the language and teaching it to his son begins with this album. Family (Snəqsilxʷ) is his effort to preserve and connect with this vital part of his heritage. Baptiste is also a music journalist who writes for Exclaim, Permanent Rain Press, and Vancouver Weekly. Currently, he lives in Vancouver, BC.

Shawn Bullshields is a singer, guitarist and harmonica player with natural charisma and professional delivery.  His repertoire of songs include the genres of pop, country and folk: the point where they intersect is through his masterful singing voice. Shawn commands instant attention because his voice conveys the truth, beauty and deep meaning within each song, expressed with the full weight of his personal life experience. Shawn sings from the heart and each song is truly a gift.

A member of the Blackfoot Nation, Shawn grew up on the Blood Reserve, Standoff, Alberta. In the early ‘90s he moved to Vancouver and started singing and playing the guitar; the harmonica came much later. Shawn has an inspiring personal story along with a beautiful, grounded, humble presence. At any given time, you can hear Shawn performing James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Elton John, Cold Play, The Lumineers, Snow Patrol and many others. Fans have described Shawn’s voice as magic, angelic, and peaceful.

 

Concurrence Gathering 6 was presented in association with the Heart of the City Festival, much gratitude to the Festival!

Sunday November 6

6pm Artist talk at Skwachàys Lodge
7pm Performances at 8EAST

FREE 18+

Featuring:
Yvonne Mark
Gunargie Ga'axstalas O’Sullivan
Tyson Night
Edzi’u

Presented by O.Dela Arts, hosted by the NOW Society in partnership with Skwachàys Lodge Aboriginal Hotel and Gallery and Carnegie Community Centre.

Yvonne Mark

Yvonne Mark has been a pillar in the DTES community since 1972. Yvonne is a published author with Megaphone, currently serves on the Board at Carnegie Community Centre, is part of the Indigenous Advisory Committee, graduate of Employ to Empower, winner of the poetry slam at Cafe Deux Soleils, and part of the 2022 DTES Writers' Fest. She is currently in Journalism school at Langara, and working on an anthology of her written works to be released in 2023.

Gunargie Ga'axstalas O’Sullivan

Gunargie Ga'axstalas O’Sullivan has been dedicated to community and campus radio since 1989 and attributes her knowledge to her guests and her community. The Resonating Reconciliation project was originally her idea and she helped develop the proposal. Gunargie is the founder of the shows “Late night with Savages” on CFRO-FM Vancouver Co-op Radio and “Nation to Nation” on CJSF-FM and currently produces “When Spirit Whispers” and “Sne’wayulh” at CFRO-FM. She is a member of the Tlowitsis tribe which she says “means mad, angry people ;)” Gunargie is both a direct and inter-generational survivor of Indian Residential Schools, and was fostered and then adopted by the age of seven.

Tyson Night

From the prairies of Saulteaux First Nations, Saskatchewan, Tyson Night grew up reciting poetry by famous authors, competing in poetry showcases, and writing his own work while developing his passion for performance. ln 2015, he worked at Banff Theatre Alberta, joining as a creator/performer in the Banff Theatre Collective. This ignited Tyson into the improv world, participating in cabarets, and always trying out new material for audiences. Tyson is proudly lndigenous, and does a lot of work for the community (volunteering at drop-in centres, and caring for his younger brothers). His own experience growing up through many struggles has been a huge source of inspiration for his writing, and his desire to write stems deeply from wanting to give back to the next generation. ln 2019/20 Tyson was a member of Playwrights' Workshop Montreal's Young Creators' Unit, where he began developing his first full-length play "Hung Up", inspired by stories of mental health and addiction. With development support from the Alberta Arts Council, he has created a first draft and workshop of his fantasy/comedic with a mission to create hope for the younger generation of First Nation's People. He was recently a performer in the experimental physical theatre piece RED{Z} MAID{Z}, based on the residential school system (created by Waawaate Fobister), that remains in development. Tyson continues to work as a performer, writer, and model (represented by Edge Talent & Model Alberta) and is currently training in dance, song, and piano.

Edzi’u

Step into the lush and heart wrenching sounds of Edzi'u. A Tahltan and Tlingit artist, based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, Edzi’u is an innovative songwriter and composer who paints stories of the past, present and future with textures, elders stories and words, and her ethereal voice. Her debut album, Kime Ani, features three generations of her grandmothers voices, as well as audio of future generations. Feature track, "What Does Nation Mean?" asks the listener to examine their hearts, mind, and place amidst colonial so called Canada. Being rich in culture, full of passion and spirit, the power behind their use of sound goes deep within the listener, inspiring them to be bold and genuine, while living fully within their hearts. Edzi'u has a style and sound like no other, a quiet icon in the landscape of Indigenous music on Turtle Island. Their music and sound installations have been featured on CBC Radio Reclaimed, Talking Stick festival, shown in Tkaronto’s film festival imagineNATIVE 2018 as well as 2019, while debuting internationally in 2019 at the Document Film Festival in Glasgow, Scotland.

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Concurrence Gathering 5
Thursday, March 12th, 2020

Featuring:
Dakota Camacho
Clayton Charleyboy
Apendilo Duo
Eva Cho and Wilson Liang

Supported by
Adrian Avendaño - drums
Lisa Cay Miller - piano

Wilson Liang - translation

7:00 - 7:30pm Carnegie Community Centre Theatre - 401 Main Street, Lower Level
8:00-9:00pm  8EAST 8 East Pender St

Artist Bios:
Apendilo Duo Erin Ryan and Cat Raphael perform songs of blues, folk and gospel origin. Cat is an accomplished slide guitar player and Erin is specifically trained in gospel soul roots singing. Their voices together make a soulful dynamic that touches the heart. Apendiglo Duo are DTES Small Arts Grants recipients!

Clayton Charleyboy (Tsilhqot'in) is a multi-instrumentalist and music producer. Recently he's been creating guitar-driven hip hop in an attempt to utilize all of his past experience performing with different bands playing different genres on different instruments. "I've put a lot of time and work learning the basics of music, live performance, and music production over the past 12 years, and yet I feel like I'm just getting started." - Clayton.

Dakota Camacho is a multi-disciplinary artist / researcher working in spaces of indigenous lifeways, performance, musical composition, community engagement, and education. Ancestral Lineages: Matao/CHamoru, Ilokano, European. Camacho holds a Masters of Arts in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in Gender & Women's Studies as a First Wave Urban Arts and Hip Hop Scholar. Camacho is a chanter, adjunct instructor, and core researcher for I Fanlalai'an Oral History Project based at the University of Guåhan. Camacho co-founded I Moving Lab, an inter-national, inter-cultural, inter-tribal, and inter-disciplinary arts collective that creates community and self-funded arts initiatives to engage and bring together rural & urban communities, Universities, Museums, & performing arts institutions. Camacho has worked at festivals, universities, and community organizations as a public speaker, facilitator, composer and performer across Turtle Island (USA), Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Sweden, and South Africa.

Eva Cho and Wilson Liang -- Artist Statement --
We aim to encourage cultural sharing  understanding, exploring intersection of different art forms, and inspire hidden talents in our neighborhood. We develop our own music and write original songs for our performance. We blend contemporary dance and music elements into traditional Chinese cultural dance and music to inspire cross culture sharing and understanding. We will use expressive arts as a tool to develop, enrich, and inspire our performances.

 

 

 

River (Cassandra) Blondin-Burt is a Dene/Canadian Songstress, Poet, Storyteller and Agent Provocateur. She uses music and comedy to subvert ever-present colonial/patriarchal power structures, studies philosophy/creative writing at Vancouver Island University, is the owner and operator of Free Range Mama Herbal Living, as well as senior host and producer of Medicine Talk Radio - a program designed to give platform to Indigenous Politics and Music on Vancouver Island. She is new to the performing circuit, but story-telling, performance, and the arts have been weaving magic in and around her bones since pre-conception in her mother's womb.

Joe Chow is a singer song writer guitarists and composer and chord arranger!!! He has been a musician for over 40 years!

Janine Island The phrase, "No man is an island," suits the occasion when speaking of sound-sculptress and creative improvisor, Janine Island, whose isolated 70's-hippie/anarchist communal upbringing fostered a savant autonomy culminating in a staunch resistance to the military-industrial-complex affecting western culture.