For Kesseke dance is like a medicine.   He started dancing at seven years old and at eleven he went to the Ivory Coast National Ballet and was there for several years dancing locally and touring around Africa and Europe. He also danced for Yelemba d’Abidjan and Ballet Djolem d’Abidjan, la Companie de Wouafou d’Abidjan.In 2001 he moved to Vancouver and currently dances for his own group WEST meets WEST, a multicultural drum and dance group playing the traditional Ivory Coast rhythms from West Africa. Kesseke teaches West African drums and dance in various studios around Vancouver.   To learn more about Kesseke, please visit www.kissofafrica.ca Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball Kesseke is also a clothing designer and tailor! An Interview with Kesseke By Max Potter Although perhaps not particularly well known outside of sub-Saharan Africa, West African dance is a cherished tradition carried on by its performers as well as having carved a niche with some unlikely new disciples. Whether it’s for voyeurism, entertainment or simply a cardio workout, several curious citizens flock to studios to be taught by veterans of the art like Kesseke Yeo. Originally from the Ivory Coast, Kesseke began dancing at age five and was noticed by his seventh year. By the age of fifteen he was recruited by the Ivory Coast ballet and began touring worldwide, performing throughout Africa and Europe, from Yamoussoukro to Paris and everything in-between. The dances that I was able to witness were raw and heavily rhythm based. Nothing short of a gymnast, Kesseke incorporates various athletic feats such as spontaneous backflips to break up the heavy beats and singing as his voice and bare feet act as instruments of their own. The dances are laced with a mythology that comes through even for those oblivious to the meaning of the various chants uttered between...

Interview-in-progress: Katja De Bock (reporter), Sayaka Toyoshima & Ivan Gayton By Katja De Bock Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball & Ivan Gayton When a Japanese midwife and a B.C. tree planter met at a compound of Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders or MSF) in rural Pakistan, after-work entertainment options were scarce. One thing led to another, and a few years and many projects later, Sayaka Toyoshima and Ivan Gayton are awaiting the birth of their first child in Summerland, B.C. Before heading to the Okanagan, the couple stopped by Kerrisdale Playbook headquarters and spoke with editor-in-chief Keiko Honda, photographer Noriko Nasu-Tidball and reporter Katja De Bock about what makes their work in emergency regions so irresistible. Most striking about the two is the passion for their work. Half a year ago, Toyoshima had to abandon her work as a field researcher in a convalescence nutrition study in northern Nigeria, because of increasing kidnappings in the area, due to the conflict in nearby Mali. “We believed that our area is very safe,” says Toyoshima. “Everybody knows what we are doing, we’re foreigners working in the hospital, saving many children’s lives. Many village people trusted us. The most stressful thing was to leave our field, other than the security issue.” But husband Gayton, the head of mission, made the decision to leave. “It’s my job to be the bad guy and say ‘I’m sorry, you can’t work here anymore’,” says Gayton. Toyoshima is still sad having had to leave her patients behind, most of them rural families who participated in the six-months study about the vicious cycle of child malnourishment, illness and poverty. Toyoshima’s task was to collect data in the field, which is contributing to a study that will eventually be published by MSF Holland.  MSF was founded in...

“He Got a Real Solution!” An Interview with Jerry Ewen by Brandy Beak Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball A huge chunk of living in the 21st century means to be swarmed up in competition your entire life and be always subjected to a ranking system. Jerry, a president of Playfair Canada and the founder of U-Win Institute, acknowledges this reality, but is proactive in changing this current social trend. Being grown up in a large family with abundant love and support is what motivated Jerry to work towards the goal of building a cooperative society. 37 years ago when Playfair first got started in Berkeley California, Jerry’s friend persuaded him to be involved in Playfair. The name “Playfair” comes from the notion of playing “fair”, a term arguing against finding the faults of others. The intention of first opening Playfair was to bring back the joy that is innately in all human beings, which gradually disappears after childhood.  Although he believes that it is never too late to re-experience childhood, he states that joy becomes a privilege only reserved for children, because it is expected for adults to “suppress it because you want to have business and be serious and get on with life.” He explains that like an adult protecting a child, adults define safety as trusting nobody. As a result of this, individuals are disconnected with each other. This phenomenon is what Playfair aims to scrape off. Playfair’s clientele are 1st year university students. The reason why the clientele is so specific is because new students are not yet affected by the culture of post-secondary schools. Thus, the 1st year students are easiest to change. At the same time, Jerry expects these students who participate in programs offered by Playfair to later create a...

Written by Hazel Choy – Resident Gardener   Relax under a shady sumac tree on our handmade bench – 5 June 13 Lady Bug @work in a patch of wild strawberries – 5 June 13 Roberta talking to locals admiring the summer flowers – 5 June 13 Water Garden expert Roberta Skye enjoying her creation – 5 June 13 Who knows what was originally on the site where the Kerrisdale Community Garden now sits, but some speculate it could have been a creek bed. A diverse and dedicated group of community members came together in 2011, under the leadership of Kerrisdale resident, Monica Tang, to transform the site at Angus Drive and West 60th Avenue into what is now the Kerrisdale Community Garden.We gathered at our first work party in March 2011, a mixture of children, young adults, adults and seniors, to dig up weeds, move rocks and build raised garden beds.  Wheelbarrows full of soil provided by the city were dumped into plots and debris was sifted out. With pure excitement and joy, children dug up and collected worms. By the end of a long day, we had built the foundation for what would become our community garden. Through sheer determination and hard work, by the end of our first season, we had constructed the plots, fence, pathways and a shed to house our tools.One challenge in our first year was the poor soil conditions, so to amend the soil, we planted buckwheat and other nitrogen fixing plants.  Over the past 3 years, we have had a passionate group who designed the communal spaces to include a harmonious arrangement of plants, a water garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, squash and flowers.  We had previously used black city composters, with little success due...

By Raffi Wineburg Dr. V Setty Pendakur takes his first sip of tea, momentarily mulls its taste, and then launches into discussion without prompt from a question. We had met a block from his Yaletown home on the silver-tabled patio of Sciue Italian Bakery. I arrived early to scope him out. But somehow he materialized from nowhere, introducing himself with a firm hand-shake. Dr. Pendakur, Professor Emeritus at UBC, is a highly distinguished academic, urban planner, and international planning consultant. His numerous online biographies—without much for personal detail—tell the story of a busy man. He’s advised governments (Canada, China and Singapore to name a few), been a visiting professor at over 20 institutions across the world, and cycled through service on all the important sounding nouns for distinguished groups of people (boards, councils, commissions, foundations, associations…) He’s bald on top with patches of wispy-white curly hair that stick out from the sides. Born in India, his accent remains thick, sometimes audibly rolling his r’s for a half-second at a time. The accent only adds to his already forceful style of speech. A former politician (Vancouver City Council), it shows in conversation—not in the negative knee-jerk manner we react to ‘politician’ but by virtue of his unfaltering eloquence. Whole paragraphs come out a time as if he had prepared each word before-hand. He’s a politician without the nonsense, answering questions directly, honestly. At times, Dr. Pendakur makes a bold statement, or asks a question which I hope is rhetorical, reclines in his chair from his forward angled position to take a quick rest—perhaps waiting for my response that never comes—then leans back towards me, finishing his thoughts with a renewed purpose. By the end of our interview he was interviewing me, and most of my...

The Nectarines and Plums in Glass Bowl (Photo courtesy of Winsor Gallery) By Katja De Bock Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball For a few moments, Ann Goldberg forgets about her fancy, but uncomfortable high heels as she stands on a podium, presenting her paintings to an audience of over 80 art pundits. Quite an accomplishment for a woman who considers herself a hermit. Goldberg, a photo-realist painter, held a preview for her upcoming exhibition “Eden” at her Vancouver home on April 24. The artist spoke with Kerrisdale Playbook Editor-in-Chief Keiko Honda and journalistKatja De Bock about the show, which can be seen from June 13 till July 12 at Winsor Gallery on East 1st Ave. “Personally, I don’t need a lot of attention. When I have a show, I find it a bit overwhelming,” Goldberg says. “I am happiest when I am in my studio, working. In the flow, I am the happiest person in the world.” The flow is something that Goldberg can’t easily explain. It seems to be a matter of getting into a mind space of being able to focus on one activity, excluding what is going on outside, while combining the scientific and artistic parts of her brain in the act of creation. Artistic inspiration in Edmonton Goldberg was raised in Edmonton. Her father was a pharmacist, her mother a sewer. She was inspired by her grandmother, a weaver who dyed and spun her own wool, and by her mother, who would enroll her in art classes and take her to the Edmonton Art Gallery. Because her older siblings and parents frequently spent evenings away from home, Goldberg found herself often alone, with her German shepherd, listening to music and drawing a world of monsters. “I was a bit of a hermit,” she says, adding that after a degree in...

Community is like performance on stage “It is my passion, it is my life.” – Angel Drummond By Joyce Tam Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball What is better than doing something that you are passionate, as well as giving happiness to others? What are you passionate about? Do you enjoy watching comedy shows and theatre performances? From Angel Drummond’s story, her life experiences could give us a very positive encouragement. Already a successful theatre producer, she started her own show business after high school, and her goal to use comedy shows to relieve the audiences from their stressful lives. “We don’t laugh enough, we don’t laugh loud and long enough,” Angel said. From planning to the actual performance, Angel focuses on writing plays and choosing characters for acting. Her plays will show on stage twice a year in the seniors center, where over a 100 seniors would go to the Kerrisdale Community Center that becomes extremely popular. Although actors are mainly seniors and guests are targeted for seniors, they would bring their sons and daughters, grandkids and all their friends to join that enlarge the group of attendance. These family-oriented comedy are not only showing within the Kerrisdale community, but rather it is also branching out to more Vancouverites including nearby secondary schools, retirement homes like Crofton Manor and West Vancouver’s neighborhood house. Since it is now a great hit of these comedy shows, Angel would like to try something big and to take those shows as far as Calgary and Vancouver Island. “One of the person said it is the best entertainment she has ever seen,” Angel said. There are two main qualities that lead her to being a successful theatre producer. Firstly, Angel elaborated where a successful show has to be responsive and...

An interview with Melody Ma, chair of artsScene Vancouver   Canvas painting at the artsScene relaunch party, Photo courtesy of Edith Hung By Lauren MacFarland In the city of Vancouver, there is never a shortage of things to do. From our beautiful mountains to the shops on Robson Street, Vancouver offers a myriad of activities for all types to choose from. What can sometimes be overlooked though, is Vancouver’s thriving arts scene, showcasing talent from every type of media, all catering to the various tastes of the city’s diverse population. Sadly, these Arts programs aren’t often recognized by the young professionals of the city who may not know the wealth of options available to them, and that’s where ‘artsScene Vancouver’ comes in, an organization designed to bridge the gap between the business world and the art world, giving the young professionals of the business world a chance to help foster the growth of arts in the city though patronage and volunteerism. Melody Ma is the Chair of artsScene, channeling her business skills and love of classical art to raise the level of awareness of some of the world class options Vancouverites have to experience art in their city.   Melody has been ingrained the classical art world from the age of four, when she started Chinese dancing, along with piano lessons. Growing up close to the Downtown core in Strathcona, she counts herself lucky to have had so many opportunities to cultivate her knowledge of art while in school. “I had unbelievable access to the arts because I was just so close to it, meaning we always went to art galleries, (more times than I would like to say!), we would go to the symphony all the time, the opera, the ballet would come to us…all...

In the merry month of May…… Photo: Noriko Nasu-Tidball @ Frisch Farms @ Frisch Farms @ Frisch Farms @ Cypress Community Garden @ Cypress Community Garden @ Cypress Community Garden @ Cypress Community Garden @ Cypress Community Garden @ Cypress Community...

  An Interview with The Land of Deborah        By Lauren MacFarland Photo: Noriko Nasu-Tidball Described as sounding like “Sarah McLaclan and Jewel playing scrabble”, Vancouver-based singer-songwriter act ‘The Land of Deborah’ puts every inch of her infectious persona into her music. Her songs are introspective and upbeat, each written from the heart and telling a story. “Calling herself ‘The Land of Deborah’ was a unique way for Deborah to put a name on her creative brand, which doesn’t just include personal songwriting and performing, but also composing scores for television and film and video blogs. “Years and years ago I thought ‘Deborah’ was just so boring, so one night I decided to be called ‘The Land of Deborah’ and it just stuck,” she explained. “The way that I see it, the music comes from me and my mind is the ‘land’, so therefore ‘The Land of Deborah’ is songs from my mind! It’s not just the songs, it’s who I am, I also love art, and public art…and that’s what the ‘Land’ turned out to be. I get called ‘Land of Deborah’, or ‘Land’ or just ‘LOD’ and that’s kind of what it’s become.” Her various creative outlets have grown and expanded over the years as Deborah explored the different opportunities that came her way. “At the beginning it was just songs, but I’ve always wanted to do something with film and through a chance meeting I ended up writing a song for someone’s film. It’s not something I actively pursue, but if I meet someone and they need a score for a film I’m all over that.” Working for somebody else almost requires a separate muse, when someone asks for a specific type of song it allows her to exercise...

Fifty-six companies are involved in the making of my standard, late Tuesday night dinner: a can of chicken noodle soup. This almost laughably high figure is indicative of an increasing estrangement of human beings from their food. Much of what we eat is processed, treated, and injected with preservatives in some distant laboratory. It is shipped, often from thousands of miles away to the local supermarket where we, foragers of an urban landscape graze through linoleum pastures and fluorescent aisles; navigating a prepackaged terrain of endless food choices and rarely pausing in the process to wonder: where did this all come from?

Lauren, Keiko (Editor-in-Chief), Joyce                                                                      Photo: Noriko Nasu-Tidball “I am always inspired and in awe at their dedication, determination, and creativity. They are like my children!” – Editor-in-Chief Lauren MacFarland After spending the last few months interviewing and writing about some amazing people, it feels strange to talk about myself! I’m a third-year undergraduate student at UBC, currently majoring in History (which is a lot more interesting than most people think it is!), a staff writer for the Kerrisdale Playbook and occasionally I knit. I love studying the past and how it connects with the future, looking at how we went from sitting around in fires in caves to sitting around laptops in coffee shops. Knowing where you come from is so important to figure out where you’re going to go, and knowing the history of a place is the only way to understand the world around you. I’ve lived in India, Dubai, Panama, and now Vancouver, a city with such a rich story to tell, but still so young, and it’s incredible to think that I’m a part of that. Kerrisdale is a beautiful neighborhood, but before this year, I’d never really stopped to pay attention to it. The bus from Richmond to UBC (which I spend more time on than I do in any actual class) passes right through the heart of Kerrisdale and gives a prime view of the little boutiques, the signs announcing little league matches and sidewalk sales, bursts of color outside the florists and a display of macaroons in a café window that are ridiculously delicious. Unfortunately, during...

An Interview with Renee Mynott“People first, building community first.” – Renee MynottBy Joyce Tam   In this prosperous urban city, do you ever have a thought of how your desirable home would be? Do you ever want your own personal space? Do you want to live with a group of people that share the same ideas as you do? Would you like to put your thoughts into actions and make this desirable home come true? Cohousing could possibly be one of the ways to help you achieve this dream. A desirable dream home of yours could be where you tell them how you want it to be, and they will do it for you. Cohousing is definitely an authentic project where residents will share the processes of planning, managing and owning their own desirable private homes, which is partly supported by a “community hall”.  This concept began in Denmark, then came to North American cities such as Vancouver in British Columbia. Renee Mynott is a community facilitator in the cohousing community, with a specific focus on seniors cohousing. She is currently working in senior cohousing in Langley that was the first place accepting cohousing in B.C.  Renee comes from a family of eleven siblings and everyone lived closely together. She knows the benefits and the love from growing within a community. She understands how important it is to live with a community, to build up closer bonds with others, to listen to each other and solve problems together. “I always have lots of people to talk to about things, or if I need help on something, we always have resources to share. I feel so blessed and I want everyone to have that experience,” Renee said. Coincidentally, Renee’s grandmother is also from Langley and...

A conversation with Monica McGarry   A watercolour portrait by Monica   Interviewed by Joyce Tam   Why does art matter? There is always a romantic view of artists sitting by themselves and being eccentric. This is false. Nowadays these passive images of artists and art do not exist anymore. In today’s art world, art becomes an active agent that bridges with other neighbors within communities.   Monica McGarry is our special guest who speaks about how arts could promote a strong sense of community through connection, experimentation and interaction. She was graduated from University of British Columbia with an education degree, and is now an artist specializing in painting and drawing. She is also a photographer and an educator in art. Through educating young audiences from age two to eighteen, she is passionate towards educating people about art. In this process, she uses her own knowledge and gives it back to the community in Vancouver. Being an artist, she also takes this knowledge that she gains, assimilating and expressing these ideas back into her artwork. Art is no longer a one-way communication, it is an interaction between the public and the art world. To achieve this goal, Monica has been involved in various events and workshops. Using her life story as a role model, I hope this article would encourage readers in all age groups to recognize the importance of art and community involvements. “Art is something that brings communities together,” Monica said. She has participated in the Vancouver Draw Down project held in May 2012. This event included people from all age groups to make art collectively on the street, and thus to openly create art and connect with other people that share the same goal. Some venues were community centers, galleries with different drawing activities or in other schools. “It is free and that was a very good channel to engage with public,” Monica said. From this activity, participants could enjoy the pleasure of making art in any...

Neighbourhood cafés are special. Not only because they are usually owned and managed by a local, but also because they are warm, welcoming, and friendly. In the heart of Kerrisdale, there is a place that has been refilling everyone’s cup of coffee for the last 20 years: Bean Brothers Café Bistro.