I recently hired "the Tattooed Lady" for an event. She works out of the Farmer's Market as well as…read moredoing private events including kids parties. She has a range of kid friendly services like face painting and glitter tattoos. I was really impressed by the quality of work done on each child...she instantly had such a great rapport with the kids regardless of age. She can do just about any design, from full face paint to little pictures on a child's cheek. She is fast too which is important when there is a line of little ones waiting. Cute, scary, silly, seasonal...she has designs for all tastes. I especially liked how she could help kids choose a design that they thought was cool, while keeping the parents happy by making it age appropriate. Her rates are very reasonable and her professionalism is top notch. Check her out at the market or think about her for your next kids related event!

Since my original Talent Agency has closed its doors, I am on the lookout for a new Talent Manager…read more Today I met Kelsea Forzani of Details Talent, at her father's office. Kelsea actually works out of her home and for the respect of her privacy; I have excluded her home address here. Kelsea took over Details Talent 3 years ago and in those 3 short years she has gained a very respectful reputation here in Calgary with casting directors and production companies. She oversees a roster of around 50 clients, and she also represents a dozen or so young children. She is moving her roster from modelling clients to more of acting clients and she has had a lot of her talent get huge commercial work and in TV and Film. What I like about her the most is she is young and she has a fresh and youthful energy. She is driven and she is honest. Her main essential in her relationship with you is communication, and sometimes an actor can get overlooked in a larger agency, but because her roster is smaller she can give more personable service. If yelpers are interested in acting career here in the city, the season is quite slow right now because of the recession but major movies have been filmed here. Like "Brokeback Mountain" and the "X Men". Simply because we have options of beautiful prairies and mountain ranges, we have a desert and Drumheller; we can even look like New York or Europe. I think Kelsea is pretty top notch and although I haven't made a decision yet she is one of the more serious talent agencies in town. Please contact her via email if you are serious about an acting career. Her email addy can be acquired from her website.

Kelsea is dedicated keeps intouch with you and is a great advocate on your childrens behalf…read moreJoined around 3rd March 2012 and my Son has his first modeling job on the 8th May 2012 so pleased I stumbled across Details Talent

I feel lucky to have the CPO around and they are a brilliant group of musicians that attract a lot…read moreof talented guests and special programs. If you are under 29 you're super lucky and have the opportunity to see many of the amazing shows for $15 for you AND a another $15 gets you a guest of any age and often you're getting some pretty nice seats out of the deal (unlike many other youth or student programs). You just have to register for cpossibilities on their website and you'll get a monthly e-mail about the shows you can get cheap tickets for. It takes a bit more planning ahead but it's worth it as probably 80% of the concerts open up for cposs. This is a program I liked (when I was young enough *sniff*) because I needed to get out of school before I could justify even that $15 for a night out but it allowed me to get involved and fall in love with music without the largish investment. Since music was not a large part of my childhood, that connection was something CPO did for me from scratch in my mid to late 20s. There are plenty of youth targeted shows .... superheros, star wars, star trek, bugs bunny, Nightmare Before Christmas, fantasia, ET, circus acts... these type of shows were gateway concerts for me into some more of the classics but it was nice to start with music I knew well from the movies. I think the only caution would be you may realize you are like me and have 11 CPO concerts in a season (after you're no longer getting cheap tickets but have development a taste for the good seats) and you only have 2 saddledome concerts in that same time frame. It makes me feel like I'm suppose to be a grown up or something now.

I really wish I could get out to hear these guys more often. I suppose that means that the times I…read moredo attend a concert are just extra special these days. This review is based on my CPO concert-going experience spanning 16 years, with some specifics on the last two concerts I attended. The CPO is truly one of the top orchestras in the country. The group has come a long way since its inception in 1955. Like all world-class orchestras, they offer the staples of concert series: Baroque (the Serenade Series), Classical and Pops. In more recent history, they have added a new music festival, a Tchaikovsky Festival and crowd-pleasing specials like Jeans & Classics, Video Games Live, Bugs Bunny on Broadway and Star Trek. Their Saturday Morning at the Symphony Series is also quite popular. I attended the Video Games Live 2.0 concert and one of the New Works performances in May. Their website provides a lot of information to help you make your purchase. The Box Office is extremely friendly, efficient and helpful when you need to contact them with a question or group ticket purchase. The VGL 2.0 concert experience was a blast! They had gaming stations in the lobby, a costume contest, CD's, t-shirts, giveaways, and the Nintendo people were there. Even the Blindfolded Pianist of Youtube fame made an appearance. It was a huge celebration of gaming. Members of the audience came up to play Space Invaders and Guitar Hero. The orchestra played the music to match the players' progress (or lack thereof). In contrast, the New Works concert was a celebration of our Canadian composers. This was held at the Rozsa Centre. The group looked crowded on stage, but it somehow worked. I loved how the newest cellist waded his way to the front of the stage to make some opening remarks. There are a lot of new, fresh faces in the orchestra and they are giving the CPO a cool, hip vibe. That's a good thing. Yes, the orchestra needs to sound good, but to attract younger audiences, they also need to exude a bit of that "coolness factor", whether they're playing Bach, Brahms, Alan Gordon Bell or Bugs Bunny. The artists came out to talk after each performance as well. Those Hagen-Daaz bars are a great treat too. Venues are top notch. The Jack Singer Concert Hall has wonderful acoustics. If you're going for sound, there isn't a bad seat in the house. If you want a good view, some seats are better than others. There is a good range of tickets, from dirt cheap to top of the line to meet any budget. Seating is really good at the Rozsa Centre. It's a smaller facility but everything sounds and looks good in there. It's got a more intimate feel to it as well. As for the "front of house" environment, they've recently made some updates in the lobby that make traffic flow smoother, but that's the EPCOR Centre's domain so I won't go more into that. It's really cool that they have orchestra members interacting more with the public with things like SMATS, opening addresses and the Ask a Musician section on their website. Berthold Auerbach once said that "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Does the CPO deliver on this? Yes they do. They are a dedicated bunch and they play "con molto espressione". [EDIT: To be absolutely honest, I worked @ CPO a very long time ago. It's been over 12 years ago and I don't know anyone there anymore so I trust that it's safe to review without any conflicts.]

I've only been to the Esker Foundation Contemporary Art Gallery twice but it's one of my favourite…read moreart galleries/exhibition spaces in the city! It's a beautiful place that easily accommodates both large & small scale artwork. It also regularly features pieces of various mediums including sculpture, painting, photography, interactive exhibits, film & any combination of the above. I've yet to see a live performance piece there, though they do seem to have the capacity for it. The Esker also features talks by artists, family art events & kid focused hands on art lessons! You'll have to register via their site but they are entirely free! It's also FREE for regular visits! As an extra bonus, they have nice longer hours, especially on Thursdays & Fridays, when they're open till 8pm. The place is clean & modern. There's some beautiful architectural elements to the interior without imposing on the features works. There's also a nice sitting area with a fantastic view of downtown if you just want a nice break. The only negative about the space is that the main revolving door is a little too seamless! Meaning: the actual openings to come in and out look way too similar to the glass panels! If you're not touching the glass walls or you're not paying attention (eg: you're talking to a friend or your phone just rang, etc) you can actually miss the opening & have to do the turn again! It's embarrassing, believe me! :( Other than the main door this is one amazing space! I love this place very much, please check it out sometime, or catch one of their talks. Those can get a bit crowded even with registration, so go early! Have fun & fill up on some amazing works of art!

It was great to be able to visit the Art Gallery because they have a late night once a month - on…read moreThursdays, they stay open past business hours so that those of us who have to work during the day can visit. Excellent and thank you. But that said, I have to admit that I wasn't super impressed. Maybe it's because I had a high expectation or maybe it's because there just isn't that much art here. Only a couple of exhibits and while they were interesting, they weren't all that.

For an art gallery carrying the name of our city, I hardly ever go here…read more In fact, I've actually been to more wine and cheese style fundraisers here than I have to see art. Because they seem to do more promo for those than their exhibitions. I've seen a couple of stand-outs over the years, the most recent being Judy Chicago, but AGOC doesn't seem to do ANY marketing for what's coming through. The AGOC is agreat space and is right on Stephen Ave, but unless I check their website, I (and many more like me) don't have much of an idea as to what's being exhibited and in turn, no reason to go.

This is a nice, small gallery! Every moth they change the artist who's art they display. The owner…read moreknows a lot about art and especially the local artists, she manages to find the "hidden gems" and I think she offers great support for a lot of artists! If you are interested in buying art, go to her, I am sure she can help you!

The Arrata Opera centre is a 29,000 square foot facility set in the newly redesigned Wesley United…read moreChurch on 7th Street SW. Its prime function is to support the education and the development of new opera works in Canada. It also provides a very central and funky space for events, rehearsal, gatherings and productions. The rehearsal hall can occupy 175 people and the Nexen Gallery can accommodate 228. They also have a Studio and a greenroom for smaller groups. The Arrata also provides seating, lighting, and sound facilities and even has a costume and laundry shop for costume rentals. There are non profit rates that are very reasonable as well as corporate rates. Because of their relation and the beautiful architecture of the previous historic church incarnation, Arrata can provide a unique venue for your special events.

I've been working on rounding out some of my exposure to the arts. Opera is not something I "get"…read more Theatre? sure. Musicals? yes please! Classical music? yup. Subtitles on Foreign films? AOK. But Opera had been a scary frontier for some reason. Last year we saw a reasonable price for seasons tickets come out and we decided to give er a go. We were told it was a well rounded season to get an idea of the art. OK... if nothing it's an excuse to dress up and go to the Jube for a evening. I'm kind of glad I had a season to experience Opera without making a judgement. Opera Calgary is a very classy company that seems to attract some excellent talent. Definitely worth checking out if your interest draws you to Opera. I also discovered Opera Calgary has a program for professional under 35s that allows for cheaper tickets and special events - Club Allegro. I didn't do the cheaper tickets because I had my season tickets but I did get to check out one of the events and they did give a little talk to help us understand Opera for beginners (as opposed to just the pre talk which can be a little over my head) which was nice. Ohh.. and free Jube water I could take to my seat... amazeballs.. that's like a $3 value! I still find Opera challenging... maybe that's not all that uncommon. I still think I'd check out a play or symphony over an Opera but I'm not really scared of them and I'm growing to appreciate a very nice aria. I do still have a couple more years of Club Allegro to see if I can build on my understanding a bit more.

Hello, my name is Chris and I am a danceaholic. More specifically, am addicted to classes at…read moreDecidedly Jazz Danceworks. I signed up for an introduction to Bollywood class in the spring on a whim, and found myself looking forward to each session as the highlight of my week. I enjoyed it so much that this term I signed up for more classes and am dancing there four days a week. I feel terrific and energized, and I am having SO MUCH FUN. The teachers that I've had have been great- patient, good at explaning things, enthusiastic, and great dancers and choreographers. The classes I've taken have been low pressure and unintimidating, geared towards adult hobby dancers, rather than professionals. And even so, I've been learning a ton and the teachers are really experts. The school offers lots of different classes with an emphasis on jazz and jazz-inspired classes, including funk, hip hop, breaking, and house. But they also offer other classes like ballet, tap, and capoeira. The intro classes are truly intro classes for people with no experience in that style of dance, or with no dance experience at all. And the non-intro classes come in a range of skill levels for people who already know what they're doing. I find the classes to be very reasonably priced, the studios are large and in good condition, and all of the staff is great. I'll take off .00001 of a star because I think "Decidedly Jazz" has got to be one of the worst names for a dance school I've ever heard :) But it still rounds up to five stars because this place is tops!

A great atmosphere for all ages and backgrounds! We are very happy to be part of this studio.read more