I feature Melena in my upcoming book, Catching My Breath: Dancing my way across Canada, in a chapter about the circus scene in Montreal. Although she gives a behind-the-scenes look at life in the circus, I wanted to profile her dance career outside of Cirque du Soleil, too, which is just as impressive.
Dances for a Small Stage blends theatre and dance like it should be mixed: like a super smooth and satisfying milkshake. The 23rd edition of the Vancouver show down on Commercial Drive’s Legion on the Drive is led by Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg who, as usual, steals the show. All of the short shows within...
I felt like an ant among a colony. I could hear the Bollywood music by Babukishan Das Baul from inside the theatre but was stuck in a growing crowd outside the door, being let in only as someone left. The 7th annual Diwali festival in Vancouver was the most popular place to be on...
Kesseke Yeo begins by saying that he forgot his performance clothes, so I’ll have to make do with his practice attire. It doesn’t seem to faze him when he starts dancing, though, something he’s done since he was seven years old. African Dancing in Vancouver From the northern Ivory Coast, Kesseke danced with the...
“This dance is for the women,” Kesseke Yeo tells us. No, not Beyoncé’s Single Ladies, but an African dance called the Koo Koo. West African Dancing: the Senoufo People As Kesseke explains to a group of 13 of us at his workshop in Vancouver, Canada, the dance we are about to learn is for...
I made my way through the throng of people hanging around the door of the Russian Hall in Vancouver. The hip hop music was vibrating through the open door and black “Circle Prinz” t-shirts were everywhere. I had arrived. Bboy and Bgirl Battle The gym was sweaty and hot, vibrating with the energy of...
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