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Kinetic Philosopher's Blog

  • La Douche

    Current mood:accomplished

    Top Young Vancouver Choreographers Team up for La Douche
     Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 10:59pm

    Friday’s Pride Ball at Celebrities Nightclub in Vancouver opened with the work of six of Vancouver’s most innovative young dance choreographers and their powerful demonstration of the Vogueing / Waacking dance style made popular in the 80s byMadonna. La Douche, with their electric wardrobe, eccentric and impressively synchronized movement, took the stage and audience by surprise, commanding attention of more than 800 party-goers from front to back. Equipped with glitter, spandex and glam reminiscent of the disco era, this crew brings their fresh technique to this revived dance trend.Its history rooting back to Ball Culture, an underground scene characterized by drag shows and dance competitions, Vogueing and Waacking were created in the gay clubs of New York City by Shabadoo and the House of Ninjas in the 1970s. Madonna introduced the dance style to pop culture upon the release of Vogue, in the 1980s. Vogueing and waacking are recognized by model-esque poses, and the rigid and fluid geometric body movement that merge with other disciplines including breakdancing (popping and locking), martial arts and gymnastics. Influences of ballet and modern jazz are also identifiable.Jojo Zolina, known locally and internationally for his contribution to dance culture, introduced vogueing and waacking to Vancouver after working with the pioneers in New York City. Together with original creators Melena Rounis, Taylor James and Jen Oleksiuk, La Douche was formed as nothing more than an accidental creation among friends that shared a common interest in vogueing and waacking. Variations of the group have performed in Paris, Vegas and at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, and now it is on the radar of Chris Brown and Madonna’s choreographer.Here is a clip from the original group at “For the Luv of it” in February 2008What makes this latest performance of La Douche so interesting is the members of the crew, who are among Vancouver’s most inspiring to this city’s dance community. The original creation of La Douche involved these dancers, each of whom come from an impressive background and celebrated achievements. Jojo Zolina film and television credits including Catwoman, Reefer Madness, L-Word, Caprica, Eureka, Dr. Doolittle 3 to name a few. Jojo Zolina is the creator of several other dance crews including hip hop group Over the Influence (with Stewart Iguidez and Yoshi Hisenaga) and Bucky Top, and continues to tour worldwide and train with the most prolific in the industry. He is currently teaching workshops across the country with OTI and is in collaboration with House of DangerKat. Jojo is also one of the creators of BreakNorth, a hip hop conference educating youth on the hip hop elements and the roots of its influence in Vancouver.
    2:24 AM

  • Jolina teamed up w/Nova Dando @ London Fashion Week

    Current mood:accomplished





    LFW - GOZER THE GOZERIAN    Nova Dando’s Rainbow Collection is described by her as: “Clothes for performance”. She says her main inspiration for it came from travelling across America with La Roux and picking up fabrics from small-town America. Those fabrics have been carefully patched into jackets, each panel gilded with detail and care.
    Nova’s fashion week show began with a performance by the Canadian voguing troop House of Danger Kat, who were lead by a woman who looked like Gozer the Gozerian from Ghostbusters. There was no catwalk, instead the clothes were shown off in a film by Saam Farahmand, soundtracked by Jo Apps, and a performance from La Roux.After the show, La Roux told me, “It’s really nice to be at something of Nova’s, she does so much for me and it’s nice for it to be the other way around. This show is the end product of a whole scene of people who do stuff together all the time. Whether that sounds wanky or not, it’s true.”
    2:21 AM

  • Vancouver Pride: Dancer Jojo Zolina strikes a proud pos

    Current mood:accomplished

    Vancouver Pride: Dancer Jojo Zolina strikes a proud poseBy Shana Myara
    In his voguing and waacking
    choreography, Jojo Zolina
    of Vancouver’s House of La Douche is
    drawing inspiration from a 30-year-old
    underground movement.
    Jojo Zolina wants to make sure the glam-rock outfits are just right. “This era is the hardest one,” he says during our morning phone conversation. “It’s Bowie.”Zolina, the choreographer and dancer behind Vancouver’s House of La Douche, has been rehearsing all week for Pride in Fashion. Among other things, he and his dancers are planning a runway homage to the Thin White Duke. “We’ll bring up all his poses,” Zolina explains. But per La Douche style, the poses will evoke the original but become something new.Zolina, who lived in the Philippines until he was 12, has a big personality on-stage but is quietly effusive on the phone. He sees connections and possibilities everywhere, which may be why his dancing incorporates so many styles: the Filipino folk dancing he was trained in as a child, acrobatics, voguing, locking, bhangra, and more. He explains that an early influence was watching his uncles break-dance in the streets of Manila after seeing such moves performed on television.But it was only in 2003, when he was approached by choreographer Ryan Green at the Breaking Dances convention in L.A., that Zolina learned about voguing and waacking. “He was like, ‘You’re a voguer and a waacker, right?’ And I was like, ‘What is that?’ ”
    Vancouver Pride
    Gay bashing still unreported in VancouverQueer folks attracting more straight alliesMLA Spencer Herbert shakes up the status quoAll-female taiko drum troupe Jodaiko beats stereotypesGet your pride on with Pride Week screeningsPride and coming out: how it applies beyond LGBT communities
    When Zolina got back to Vancouver, he researched the styles. “I Googled it, actually,” he says with a laugh. He used the Internet and later the documentaries Paris Is Burning and Pump Up the Volume to study the movements, and came to discover an underground scene whose influence he had felt since his youth.“They’re actually very similar to the Filipino folk dancing, the elegant movements. Voguing is a series of sharp poses inspired by Vogue magazine. And then waacking is a series of rotating arm movements. Both styles are similar to Bollywood and Thai dancing—arm movements and stuff like that. So between the two, it came very naturally to me.”A trip to New York in 2006 led Zolina to underground clubs where dance styles are still developing and the dance communities are tight. “That’s what I want for Vancouver,” he explains. “It’s a free expression. A dance language.”Zolina explains that voguing was born in New York in the 1970s after disco was driven underground as the “devil music” associated with gay culture. “Those dancers responded to the music, they created a whole new language. More than a fad.”Zolina’s House of La Douche blends voguing with African, Thai, bhangra, and other influences that dancers Jennifer Oleksiuk, Taylor James, and Ross Wirtanen bring to the group.And if Zolina has his way, he won’t be one of Vancouver’s only voguers and waackers for long. It’s his mission to teach others the styles and help create a new underground. He teaches a number of classes at the Harbour Dance Centre and other venues. He says that this type of dancing just requires an open mind and lots of attitude. “It’s like Pride, where we celebrate everyone.”House of La Douche performs as part of Pride in Fashion tonight (July 30) at Celebrities Nightclub.
    Recommend 5 readers have recommended this
    2:17 AM

  • INJECTED!!!

    Current mood:blah

    Injected with 1LUV

    Angelica LeMinh, February-25 2006

    Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 was a proud night for live action Vancouver soul.

    Injected, an original dance and spoken word production marked the return of Ms. Kelly Konno, a hometown girl who has accomplished amazing dancing feats with the likes of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. She now splits her time between LA and Vancouver, and she dabbles in her newest passion of acting for the show. She does return to her dance roots though, opening the show solo to Saul Williams' piece "Talk To Strangers".

    Injected was a high paced and professional foray into the diverse styles of dance set to varying degrees of props and audio visual backgrounds. The aural element showcased some of the most prolific artists in spoken word from The Asian American Youth Ensemble and Canadian artists ranging from Mystic to K'naan and Leonard Cohen.

    There was a polished air of professionalism to the fast and furious 22 act set (in an hour and a half) and none of the hard work from the dancers, producers, choreographers and sound/lighting crew was missed.

    The diversity of the dancers and interpretations of the pieces was phenomenal, and hometown spoken word hero N'didi Cascade closed out the show. Also, it was awesome to see some of Harbour Centre's finest; Jojo Zolina, Celine Amurao, and Stewart Iguidez have a stage to strut their stuff on. In case you don't know the names, they are the flyest bboys and bgirls that you can shake a stick at in the clubs.

    The talent continued to flow around the corner at Ginger 62, which was beautifully set up for the 1LUV experience. The lounge provided a warm and intimate setting for the live soul collective of musicians and singers presented by Dr.J and Kutkorners, who both double as DJs to set the scene and wind it down.

    As followers and new initiates gathered, the crowd anticipation of hip swaying built, and we were not disappointed, as 1LUV rocked us hard from the beginning to end of the set. The musicians were on point, and the perfect compliment to the almost unbelievable soul of the singers, Deanna, Jzabela, and Amalia (yes, Townsend).

    There was an impeccable mix of house beats, clear classic vocals, and that Vancity fusion that can only be described as that feeling that you know everyone on stage is having as much fun as everyone in the crowd. Dr.J was the ringleader of this raucous group of a soul circus troupe that really didn't need to be contained. They played a nice mix of original hits as well as a heartbreaking cover of Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thang". Apt, as more of Vancouver's soul acts blow up beyond our city's borders, it is indeed a sweet thing that we can still catch them showing some love at home.

    2:30 AM
    • Post a comment...
      • AngeLIca, Dammit.

        cool, i'm glad you got this up on your page. crazy love for what y'all do. peace, and thanks for giving me something to write about! keep me posted.

        6 years ago

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