Funded by Downtown Van’s Public Space Vibrancy Grant and curated by Laura Baron, PlayDates is a series of free artful happenings hosted throughout the summer at Robson Square.
PlayDates allows people of all ages to explore their own creative expression through fun, engaging, interactive workshops in a variety of artistic mediums including breakdance, bucket drumming, sketching, poetry, natural fibre weaving, singing, and improv comedy.
SCHEDULE
FRI. JULY 7, 5-7 PM – Street Dance Workshop with Taiyo Seo
Get ready to unleash your creativity and groove to the rhythm in this dynamic breaking class. Designed for beginners and enthusiasts alike, this high-energy session combines elements of hip-hop, acrobatics, and street dance to create a unique and exhilarating experience. Under the guidance of a skilled instructor, you’ll learn the fundamentals of breaking, including power moves, freezes, footwork, and intricate body control. Whether you’re a complete novice or have some dance experience, this breakdance class will help you build strength, agility, and confidence while fostering a vibrant and supportive community of dancers. Join in and discover the joy of breaking while mastering impressive moves and developing your own signature style.
FRI. JULY 14, 12-2 PM – Andean Weaving with Juliana Bedoya and Maria Angélica Guerrero
Ñawi, or eye motif, is the characteristic rhombus of the fabrics and offerings produced around Andean world in various originary communities across the American continent for millennia. Join community-engaged environmental artist Juliana Bedoya and weaver/doula/educator Maria Anglélica Guerrero to explore these woven sacred geometries that were part of an elaborate system of interregional interactions. The artists will invite people to use locally harvested plant materials and colourful threads to weave small concentric rhomboid designs. Participants will explore their own symbolic meaning inspired by the different ritual uses throughout the Andean lands, as a way to reflect about their own interwoven territories converging in the so-called city of Vacouver.
FRI. JULY 21, 12-2 PM – Pop Music Singalong with Sing with Jill
Let’s sing together! Bring the whole family down for some super-duper singing fun! Jill Samycia will be singing contemporary songs and the lyrics will be provided. All ages and singing levels are welcome to join in – even if you’ve never sung a note in your life – so don’t be shy. Let’s come together, share our voices with one another, have fun and make beautiful music!
FRI. JULY 28, 12-2 PM – Bucket Drumming with Chris Couto
This workshop will consist of 10 buckets, as well as some shakers and bells to create a big Sound, jamming to tunes off a playlist of genres including Afro house, Pop and Afrobeats. The vision is to have multiple players play along to the beat. Chris will be leading and showing simple but effective rhythms that will engage the participants to learn how to keep time and jam with one another. Depending on how many participants, Chris will give simple demonstrations on what to do and how to have fun using little to no communication and let the expression of freedom come through in the playing. All ages welcome.
FRI. AUG 4, 12- 2 PM – Sketching with Nishant Jain
Nishant will draw passersby in his stall and invite them to join him in a 60-second challenge. Participants will be guided through the drawing process and offered instructions to make it a fun exercise. In case of multiple participants, they will be invited to draw each other. Participants can afterward take their finished drawings with them. This activity will encourage participants to pause and observe their world as well as the people they live around.
FRI. AUG 11, 12-2 PM – Poetry and Zine Writing with Anjalica Solomon
Join Poet Anjalica Solomon in creating a place-based poetry zine that regards the places we feel at home. What smells, sights and textures remind us of the places we have felt belonging and what kind of a home we want to create for our communities and future generations? In this 2-hour workshop in the heart of so-called Downtown Vancouver situated on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, we will gather, humbly and begin by acknowledging whose home this land has been since time immemorial. Participants will be offered writing and drawing prompts, and offered materials to create a small booklet that looks to the past and the future of the places we call home and the role we play in shaping tomorrow.
FRI. AUG 18, 12-2 PM – Improv Comedy with Kat Single-Dain
Easy Come Easy Go Improv – This workshop is going to make improvising easier than you’ve ever known. Focusing on fun exercises to free the mind from the burdens of forethought, this workshop will leave you wanting to think less and play more! Complete beginners are encouraged. This is a great place to try something new! Because every improv experience is by its very nature completely fresh, professional improvisers are encouraged. *Light physical theatre exercises will be incorporated so come ready to move comfortably.
