The Month Culture Rained Down
Most complain about the lack of diversity in the city but in many ways complaints of a lack lustre art scene stems from a little laziness when it comes to actually embracing the vibrant art community and culture that can be found in Calgary.
Over the first week of September, the city was home to over 900 competitors who simultaneously worked in 45 skilled categories over four days of challenging comepetition at Stampede Park. The WorldSkills Competition has been labeled as the "pinnacle of global skills, trades and technologies competition. Individuals were competing to win awards in areas such as dry walling, jewelry design, welding, typesetting, landscape gardening, fashion design and many more. Officials from around the world were present to judge the intense competition.
High school students, college students and the general public were given free access to the event, giving Calgary a chance to see that skills and talents are taken very seriously around the world and now, more than ever is the time for the people of Calgary to stand by their dreams, talents and goals.
More and more happens every day to show that there is a big future here for anybody involved in the arts community. Life in Calgary is not just about Stampede and wealthy oil corporations.
In the underground dance community, big moves were made as Calgary prepared to bid the dancers of House of Dangerkat adieu as they set their sites on the runways of London Fashion Week, ( 18 September - 23 September 2009).
To raise funds for the house of independent dancers, several fundraising attempts were made with great success to enable members of the group a chance to dance at London Fashion Week.
House of Dangerkat are a dynamic fast paced dance group based in Calgary who have gained several accomplishments under their belt such as dancing and performing at Colette, the high end fashion store known to many as "the famously chic Parisian style hub" for the Barbie 50th Anniversary last season. Guests in attendance were leading pioneers such as head designer of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld. The group have also opened for Thunderheist and have even performed personally for the outlandish, outspoken fashion savvy Kanye West. The group are rumored to be opening for the hot on the scene pop group La Roux sometime next week in London.
Over the last 2 weeks, the dance house was also supported by the Theatre Grand and Hifi Club at the first ever block party to truly make waves on the city in conjunction with their launch of the 2009/2010 season. The atmosphere was fresh, the people were elated and the music had dance battles happening on all corners of the block.
Further performances were scheduled at the Back to Skool special at the Gallery Life and Styles which brought dancers from all walks of life to give the house their support as well as their best 'Back to Skool' get ups and walk.
As the first Alberta Fashion Week quickly approaches, the fashion culture of the city is also beginning to take a stand for itself as Park Show, the University of Calgary initiative to present art, fashion and culture as a wholesome block launched their second fundraising attempt at the Arrata Opera Centre.
For the second time this summer, Park Show brought together the community of young up and coming artists, designers, performers and aspiring fashion industry professionals such as make-up artists, hair stylists and models. The evening began with a silent auction and sample sales from independent artists and fashion groups such as House of Nonie, Light and Soul Apparel and Paradime Clothing. The night also featured spoken word poetry by Emcee E, the spoken word poet who was a finalist in the CBC Poetry Faceoff and competed with the Calgary team in the last National Spoken Word festival last November.
The fashion show was one of the best to date in Calgary, giving the Calgary Downtown Association who have been responsible for previous fashion weeks and fashion events in the city a serious run for their money.
There are over 150 events alone this week in Calgary related to art and culture and as the last of the summer days roll by, the Calgary Arts Development group have created a website Calgary Culture "to provide a one-stop source for information on Calgary's thriving arts, cultural and creative industries scene."
It's worth the quick glance for all those who say Calgary lack the culture and diversity of bigger cities.
Photo Credits: Oscar Lopez