Four local performers will participate in the Madskillz Festival this weekend in Vancouver.
This is the second annual festival, hosted by the Madskillz Collective, all about celebrating movement arts.
The festival will showcase three days of workshops, two cabaret shows, games and non-stop playful skill sharing. Participants will be coming from all over B.C. and around the world to join in the fun.
Local hoop instructor Tracey Mantha of Island Hula Hoopla will be a guest workshop facilitator, sharing two workshops: "All Around Hooping" and "Hoopdance." Mantha is also a founding member of the local entertainment troupe NOVA Firespun Performance Arts. "I'm excited to share what I've developed through teaching hoop classes here in the Comox Valley for the past six years, but I'm most excited to learn from and collaborate with others during the three days at Circus West," she said. "Also, summer 2011 marks my 10-year 'hoopiversary,' and this festival is a great way to celebrate that."
Other locals performing in the cabaret shows are The Spinjinny (Blue Lotus Dancers, NOVA), Sean Brossard (Flying Fox Circus) and Lyndsay Spencer (Island Hula Hoopla, NOVA).
The MadSkillz Collective features some of Vancouver's most dedicated flow artists and ground-level circus misfits, who have come together to develop, showcase and share their skillz.
In addition to juggling, hooping and fire spinning, Madskillz represents a community of manipulation artists of every kind, from unicyclers to acrobats to clowns. Its mission is to provide a forum for collaboration and cross-pollination, creating a new style of circus and performance art ... not to mention juggling, spinning, flowing fun.
Tickets for the Madskillz Festival are just $50 for adults or $25 for children for the weekend, which includes admission to the two cabaret shows and all workshops. Tickets and more information can be found online at www.madskillzvancouver.com.
— Island Hula Hoopla