The WIF performance  will be followed by displays, workshops, and a scrumptious salmon BBQ dinner!

Here is the agenda and location for this incredible celebration:

Opening Ceremony and live performance of Women In Fish

• Start time: 11:00am
• Location: Simon Pierre Longhouse

Displays, workshops, and salmon BBQ dinner

• Start time: 1:30pm
• Swaneest Longhouse

The performance is free.  The Salmon BBQ dinner is by donation – suggested amount $10.

If you are interested in attending please be sure to RSVP with Karen at 604-476-2781 or via email at karenp@mract.org! Since space is limited, reservations are required!

We hope you to see you fellow urban inkers at the celebration! This is an event you definitely won’t want to miss!

We’re excited that the work is about to enter a whole new, vitally important life! We need your help to make it happen. We’re finalizing the translation of ribcage to Français, edging us that much closer to our dream: bilingual touring! With your help,ribcage: this wide passage will become thorax : une cage en éclats thanks to renowned Montreal translator wordsmith. Nadine Desrochers. And I will officially become a full-fledged bilingual performer able to share this piece of history with anglophone and francophone audiences across Canada … heck, maybe even beyond!

The final workshop performance will take place May 3rd & 5th at Native Earth Performing Arts’ AKI Theatre 585 Dundas Ave. E. For information and tickets contact Heather Hermant at heatherhermant@gmail.com.

Donate to Heather’s indiegogo campaign here and read more about ribcage: this wide passage here!

Driven by big ideas and strategy, Sean approaches branding by drawing upon many interests and passions, from sustainable technologies and cultural studies to photo-journalism. To read more about Sean click here.

We’re super thrilled to have a marketing expert join our board! Let’s give Sean a big warm welcome!

We are very delighted with the overwhelming support we have received for BOLDSKOOL. It has been inspiring to see everyone come out and enjoy the workshop! BOLDSKOOL would not be where is it today without the help of our design team Omari Newton, AD Diane Roberts and Education and Outreach Consultant Mia Perry alongside our amazing faculty members:

Kia Kidari (MC)
David Nelson AKA: Emotionz (beatboxer/MC)
Keyin Mayede AKA: B-boy Keyz (breakdancer)
Sammie-Jo Rumbaua (community facilitator)
Mutya Macatumpag (theatre, community facilitator and multidisciplinary artist)
Jerilyn Webster AKA: JB the First Lady (MC, spoken word artist)
Kim Villigante (MC)
Patrick Sabongui (theatre artist)
Lee Williams (community facilitator, writer, theatre artist)
Janice Valdez (community facilitator, theatre artist)
Ruby Smith Diaz (community facilitator)
John Zador (community facilitator)

These faculty members definitely deserve a big thank-you and big love for everything they have contributed to BOLDSKOOL!

It has been incredible seeing BOLDSKOOL increase in popularity and spark inspiration within the participants. We can’t wait to see the workshop continue to grow in this new year!

Here’s so lovely photos of our BOLDSKOOL faculty! Thanks Photographer Elanna Nolan for the fancy snaps!

After much hard work, playwright and resident artist Omari Newton, has completed a new draft of the script. We’re thrilled to see this work continue to develop and deepen after every draft! We’d like to give a big thank-you to Emma Tibaldo and Playwrights Workshop Montreal (PWM) for her dramaturgical insights and support!

Introducing…the Sal Capone design team!

Ana Cappelluto, our Set and Lighting Designer, is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University. An award winning scenographer, she has designed shows produced in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Italy and Paris.

Candelario Andrade, our Video/Projection Designer, born and raised in Mexico, has designed for companies such as Theatre Replacement, Neworld Theatre, Rumble Productions, and Leaky Heaven Circus.

Troy Slocum, our Sound Designer, is an award winning Sound Designer, Music Producer, and Audio Engineer. He has been heard in many productions and venues across the United States and Canada.

Sarah Hall-Khlifi, our Costume Designer, has left her mark in the Montreal urban arts scene. She has designed costumes for Black Theatre Workshop’s successes such as A Raisin in the Sun, Blacks Don’t Bowl and The Lady Smith. Her work has also been published in magazines such as Urbania, Applied Arts, Nightlife and Carne.

We are thrilled to have this amazing team on board and, under the direction of AD Diane Roberts, are excited to see the creative ideas they will to bring to the production.

We’re also happy to welcome aboard Dima Alansari as Associate Producer and Ataif Abdelkefi as Interactive Programmer and Technical Director. Stay tuned for more updates and news of our kickstarter campaign to be launched next month.

Film Producer, Multidisciplinary Artist, Yoga Teacher and Community Activist Dima Alansari, our new Resident Artist, was born in Beirut, Lebanon. After obtaining her BA from the Lebanese American University in Radio/TV/Film and Theatre she completed a Diploma from the New York Film Academy from King’s College London and continued with a Chevening Scholarship to obtain an MA in Feature Film from Goldsmith College, University of London. She appeared on the Vancouver scene in 2010 after co-producing the internationally acclaimed National Geographic’s ‘Journey to Mecca’, a 2D IMAX® feature-length docu-drama about one of the greatest travelers that ever lived, Ibn Battutta.

With over +10 years experience in the TV & Film production industry, Dima has worked in Kuwait, Lebanon and Dubai and most recently was the General Manager and Executive Producer for one of the top leading and most active film investment and production companies in the Middle East, Desert Door Productions.

Dima has a history of theatre acting and TV presenting in Kuwait where she won a national award ‘best upcoming young actress’. She now lives and creates in Vancouver, Canada and has been working with urban ink for almost 2 years.

Jammay Louie, our new Marketing and Sponsorship Coordinator, is a third year Beedie School of Business student studying at Simon Fraser University concentrating in Human Resources and Marketing. She is also our very first co-op student!  Through using her  marketing and sponsorship knowledge from coursework and experience from extracurricular activities, such as her involvement with AIESEC SFU, we are confident that she will help improve our day-to-day marketing efforts and sponsorship activities! Jammay will be in charge of various tasks at urban ink – such as writing blog posts, managing our social media, and helping out with our upcoming Kickstarter Campaign.

We are thrilled to have these individuals on our team! Lets give them both a big warm welcome to urban ink!

Snapped here urban ink’s General Manager, Rohit Chokhani. by Amita Daniels

In October, urban ink welcomed on board Rohit Chokhani as General Manager.

Having left Mumbai, India, in his tender twenties to pursue his Masters in computer graphics in the USA, fate and a plane brought Rohit to Vancouver 3 years ago.

He made his theatrical splash at the 2010 Vancouver Fringe Festival as Manager of the pick of the fringe, Siddhartha: The Journey Home.- a site specific performance piece at the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Rohit has also managed to get noticed within the local film community placing in the top 20 in 2010’s Crazy8s with his short Arranged, which he continues to develop in his spare time. Now, mostly he is devoted to steering urban ink through its second decade keeping the company focused, and with a clear vision and purpose. The Sal Capone Project is something Rohit is really looking forward to make fly.

And here I catch him on the fly with some incisive questions:

Who are you listening to on your Walkman?
Walkman! What century are you in?  Kirtan, Bollywood, electronic/dance.

Last live show attended?
Robert Lepage’s The Far Side of The Moon.

Favourite genre of performance art
Site specific theatre and movies that have a spiritual message

Your idol growing up?
Lord Ganesha / Amitabh Bachchan (Bollywood actor)

Your idol now?
Lord Krishna / James Cameron (Film Director)

Your least discernable characteristic?
I speak four languages and understand one more

You are known for ?
Bollywood dancing / Producing / my accent

Trait you most admire in others?
Honesty

Happiest holiday moments?
Safari ride in Africa with my family; volunteering at an off-the grid festival, Towards Eden-a truly sustainable music festival; and bike riding through southern India including the off the grid community Auroville in Tamil Nadu.

Most overrated cultural phenomenon?
Star Wars (Yes I said it!)

The show you most anticipated seeing?
The Lion King

Half full or half empty?
Full

If you weren’t in your current profession (arts administrator) what would you be doing?
Directing films (still do in my spare time) or Bollywood dancing (getting back in to it)

You believe that urban ink audience members crave…
an Inter-cultural performance that will blow their minds away!

Your perfect last meal?
Dosas (South Indian Crepe)

When you are trying to impress someone you are likely to
Get really excited and bubbling with energy!

Comedy or Drama?
Dramedy is the term these days!

What languages do you think are essential for everyone to speak?
English, Chinese (Because they are the next super power), Hindi (I have my biases), Spanish/ French (Because they sound so cool and sexy!)

Team sport or individual player?
Team

Words you live by ?
Hare Krishna!

For more biographical information on Rohit Chokhani click here

David is an independent graphic design professional based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. As a freelancing professional, David wears many hats, and is involved in numerous roles such as: design management, brand consulting, marketing, and idea creation. He is, ultimately, a creative problem solver, who carefully combines design aesthetics and marketing ideas, resulting in well formulated design solutions. In the past, David has worked with clients abroad, including clients from Japan, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, France, United States, and Canada. Visit David’s website here.

Stay tuned to see the finished product and the announcement of our cast!

Sal Capone: The Lamentable Tragedy of

Written by Omari Newton
Directed by Diane Roberts

A national co-production by urban ink productions in Vancouver &  Black Theatre Workshop in Montreal

“Chase”

We are seeking a beat-boxer/actor or breakdancer/actor to play the role of Chase. The Italian-Canadian manager of the ‘rising star’ hip hop crew called Sal Capone.  Chase is 18 years old. He is an accomplished beat boxer who stopped performing in order to manage his highschool hip hop group. Chase is a troubled hustler with strained familial ties. He desperately needs to succeed as a manager.

Workshop Dates:

July 2013 (3 day workshop to be confirmed)

Rehearsal & Production Dates:

September 30^th-November 10^th, 2013 in Montreal

May 5^th-31^st, 2014 in Vancouver

Auditions will take place Thursday April 11th in Vancouver

Please email your picture and resume (and/or any you-tube links) to Diane Roberts ad@urbanink.ca by Friday April 5th.  Only those considered for auditions will be contacted.

More About Sal Capone

A huge shout out and thanks to our Resident Artist Dima Alansari for organizing this unforgettable event and to the artists that performed that night!

MC’s: Omari Newton and Ostwelve

Featured Artists: Emotionz and JB First Lady

DJ’s: Self Evident, Will Eede, and Don Chow

Slam Poets:
Jessica Mason Paul
Jillian Christmas
Meharoona Ghani
Sasha Wiley
Sonya Little John

Thank-you so much for all your hard work! Everyone at the event had a blast!

It was a ridiculously awesome night, we had so much fun, the vibe was great and we want to thank all the really dope people that came out that night. We love you all and look forward to next year’s slam! WHAT?!

Also, a special thanks to our in-kind sponsors:

Calixxa
Everything Wine
Lakewood Lye Handmade Soap
Talking Stick Festival
Tamam: Fine Palestinian Cusine