The Actor's Foundry is by far the most consistent, thorough and dynamic acting institution I have…read moreever been part of. Matthew Harrison is unlike any coach in the industry. Prior to joining The Foundry, I was terrified to join class as I have had poor experiences with numerous teachers who stand on a pedestal berating and belittling you as encouragement to try and get where they stand while supplying you with no tools to do so, then defend their tactics with a shield labeled "in the name of art". It's challenging finding someone who can identify exactly where your block is from achieving your truest potential; Matthew Harrison is an expert. He not only commits his fullest attention and dedication to EACH student EVERY class, but he does so in a way that reminds you of what you're capable of even when you struggle to see it yourself. Matthew has the ability to see what is beautiful in everyone he meets which creates a safe environment to explore and grow as an actor and human-being. He is truthful on what to expect if you pursue this industry professionally and provides an insightful and methodical approach to acting that has been proven to be successful. Matthew teaches you that art replicates real life and real life can be messy, but we must understand it to grow and do our jobs as actors to teach the audience about themselves. In order to do so, we must first learn about ourselves. He is respectful of boundaries, kind-hearted and ALWAYS has the best intensions for his students improvement and potential. If you're looking to be a technical actor with the necessary emotional understanding to do justice for the characters you play and aren't afraid to challenge yourself in the comfort of someone who knows what he's doing, I STRONGLY recommend reaching out to The Actor's Foundry.

Kicks ass, literally. Very organized and strategic way to…read moretackle problems for a working actor who needs to consistently show up and perform. A comment you will hear a lot from people who come into his class is "they had no idea what they were doing before". In time I've seen others become an actor/actress with an abundance of knowledge and experience to keep their engines going and it's so encouraging to see. Matthew is a highly intellectual instructor with interesting and truthful perspective and philosophy of the world. Strongly recommended as a fundamental and foundational class for all serious actors/actresses. It's not a walk in the park, real art never is.

What a finale to this year's opera season!!…read more We attended Vancouver Opera's production of Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver on 08 May. In one word, it was 'fantastic'!! And such a great finale to this year's season! The performances by all concerned were strong, and well-rewarded by the audience ... which was so "hushed" when they should be - you would likely hear a pin drop in the theatre during the many solos and duos!! - and so loud with their applause and cheers of appreciation after each. And that includes the orchestra's handling of Verdi's wonderful score. It was a large one in the pit for this production, and they did Verdi proud!! We were treated well, and still really have not "come down" from the total experience!! Our kudos to Vancouver Opera for another fine production.

The building is centrally located. Parking can be tough if you don't have the pass to park under…read morethe theater. Surprisingly there is not much to eat around here. The building is starting to show its age in some areas as the exterior and lobby area is in need of an overhaul. The theater itself has great acoustics and is a beautiful performance space. The surtitles can be harder to read if you are in the front rows. One can pre-order the drinks for the intermissions which is a great time saver. Other than if you are into performance arts I would highly recommend watching a performance here.

Attended a presence / viewpoint workshop taught by June Laporte here …read more Really love the space and the staff here . Rowan the co-owner was especially professional and warm . I love the accessibility of this place for those who are interested in taking acting classes or recording a demo ....this is the place . They really try to make it affordable which is awesome. Please come check them out !! They offer various acting classes and workshops taught by top industry experts and instructors year-round and they also offer flexible payment plans !!

Do NOT do business with this group! My husband and I attempted to purchase a multi-show pack of…read moretickets. The Fringe Festival's software malfunctioned, which they admitted in an email, and we were charged without my husband getting his tickets. Then they refused to refund our money. Definitely a shady outfit.

This festival of absurd and wonderful theatre is so much fun - even if you end up at a sucky show…read moreor two. But when you find a great one - trust me, lines from it can stay with you for years. One show I saw eight years ago (8!) called "Labrador" still sticks with me. The performer, TJ Dawe, is still performing, directing, and writing new shows at the Fringe, and he's a pretty reliable Fringe pick (go see Totem Figures, playing at Havana Restaurant.) Otherwise, it's fun just to go down to Granville Island during the Fringe with no particular ideas, and just see whatever is playing or whatever looks good. If you make a night of it, you can probably cram in about three shows, two with a dinner/drinks break. Shorter shows are about 20-30 minutes, longer shows run up to an hour or an hour and 15 minutes. If you really, really want to see something, advance tickets are a good idea, but every venue holds back some tickets at the venue, and the box office for each show open 50 minutes before the performance. I made the mistake of waiting til after dinner to purchase tickets for one show, and by the time I got there, they were sold out. Who knew a play about socks in the dryer (yes, socks) would be so popular? PS Experimental theatre may not be suitable for kids. It can be raw stuff. But you'll probably laugh, perhaps even if it's not a comedy...

Renovated and smells like a sauna, without the heat…read more You know the smell. Wood. Lots of it. That's what it smells like. I've come here in the past to see other performances but this was before the renos. I came here for a cello master class on Friday evening This is what a master class is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_class I've seen lots of master classes on youtube, but this is the first time I've seen one live, and for a cello. I typically enjoy piano, but I do also like cello sometimes. The second thing I notice about this hall is that the acoustics are very nice. Very, very nice. The cello sound travels very well inside this hall. It is small, 255 seats. There are huge organ pipes on the wall behind the stage. I looked at the program of pieces to be performed and I was a bit worried. From the look of the composers, I was concerned that the pieces would be in a Minor key. The keys weren't listed but my suspicions were verified, for 3 out of the 4. I'm not the biggest fan of minor keys, especially when they are towards the "modern period" or "Post Romantic" periods. Depending on the piece, they can put me to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzz......... I had to Google all of them to confirm. The first performer did Elgar's Cello concerto Op. 85. fourth movement Allegro, ma non troppo. I Google and sure enough, E minor. It was OK, a little boring for me. I thought the student played it OK. I'm no cello expert, but it didn't sound like she had a lot of emotion to the piece. The critique from the teacher, sort of confirmed my thoughts. He mainly gave her pointers on hand and arm position and bow stroke technique. He did not go over much of the piece she played and how she could have interpreted differently. She is what you would call an "immature" player. The second student played a piece by Ernest Bloch. 2 movements, the Prelude and Allegro. I have no idea who this composer is. This was the piece that does not have a listed key when I Googled. I ended up liking this one quite a bit. Likely the most out of all of them. This student was good. He had quite a bit of emotion in the piece. The critique of his playing from the teacher was quite a bit of praise. He offered him some suggestions on how certain passages could be inproved and interpreted differently. He had very good technique according to the teacher. The third student played Lalo's Prelude:Lento - Allegro maestoso, D minor. This one was a bit of a yawner to me, and the student played it with moderate emotion and bow stroke density. The teacher spent quite a bit of time with him. His critique was that he didn't have much emotion and it looked like he was only going through the motions. The student didn't have any "anger" in the piece. He talked about the student's fingering technique and offered him suggestions on how to improve and play differently. He also talked to him about his bow technique namely the bow stroke and bow change, and bow position relative to the bridge. The last student performed Dvorak's Op 104 Allegro movement, B minor. This was also a nice piece and more towards the Romantic style of composition that I prefer. I also liked this piece as well as this student performer. She played it quite well and the teacher liked how she interpreted certain passages. Again, he offered her suggestions on bow technique, fingering and alternate interpretations of certain passages. This was an overall enjoyable evening. Not often that I get to go to master classes since they are usually during my work hours and I can't make it out. There is one more master class that I will be attending in March of 2013. It is a piano master class. It will be in this building, but from the scheduling, it looks like it will be in a classroom. Grrrrrrrrr....

About every 5 years we have the urge to go to the opera. Went to Turandot this weekend and were…read morenot disappointed. Vancouver Opera does an amazing job - it is a completely professional performance. I am sure if you saw the identical performance at Sidney Opera House you would be raving about it for days. It was fantastic. And reiterated that we need to make this at least an annual event. We would highly recommend.

If you're thinking about bringing Ten Souljers in as your party band--do it! Marty and his talented…read moregroup of musicians went above and beyond to curate the perfect set list for our wedding celebration; Marty was easy, efficient, and fun to work with--a strong communicator from the first time we connected. We decided on the 7-piece band, and each musician demonstrated such talent, energy, and professionalism; we couldn't have been happier with the performance. If Ten Souljers was on stage, our dance floor was packed, and our guests are still raving about the band. Ten Souljers was truly a cornerstone of our incredible celebration, and I'm excited for the future weddings / parties that make the right decision to bring in Marty and his team! Thank you, Ten Souljers!

What are you talking about is the 10 soldiers how many soldiers does it take why can't they get a…read moregun with nine soldiers or even eight soldiers why does it take and soldiers but I guess it does take time so just in soldiers dressed and soldiers uniforms that are soldiering on into the future they are soldiers of life spirit soul majesty and Revolan's they are incredible soldiers I love the soldiers 10 soldiers is a wonderful place go to 10 soldiers but you will be pleased

Caulfield School of Dance is a wonderful school filled with passionate, professional and qualified…read moreteachers. I would highly recommend anyone looking for an established studio that provides high-quality dance education to join. I became a student at CSD when I was a teenager and the previous studio I danced at closed down. Cori and her teachers were phenomenal at integrating my sister and I into the school (to the point where CSD became our second home). I improved as a dancer because of CSD's intelligent programming and caring faculty. The opportunities I had at CSD created beautiful memories for my family and I to look back on, I also made life-long friendships with my dance peers who I share many of those memories with.

The main issue with Caulfield School of Dance is the fact that the Director and her staff are not…read moreconcerned about the improvement of the dancers. This is the paramount issue as their "Professional Training Division" is nothing similar to other youth companies in the tri-cities, as everyone makes it in to the PTD if their parents go in and threaten to leave. If you're looking for reliable training from qualified teachers, and choreography to push your child, I would not recommend investing in Caulfield's hefty prices. Now, on a more positive note, if you're looking for a studio to send your child once a week, with little commitment...Caulfield is an okay place. However, the recreational teachers are not very committed to teaching dance; most have recently graduated and deal with the recreational kids as a 'first time' learning experience. I'm not exactly sure of the dollar figure that Caulfield charges as it has been some time since I have been affiliated with their fees but I believe it is somewhere in the range of $1000-$2000 a year for a recreational dancer. With the half baked instruction from lacklustre teachers, the money simply isn't worth it. I really do try to find some positive because reading yelp reviews can be very dark sometimes. Caulfield is a great place to learn to perform, as they offer many performance opportunities with their 5 year end shows. A weekend of fun for the most part. However, in preparation for the year-end shows, there is numerous extra-rehearsals, the ludicrous "Photo-Day" and numerous extra expenses that come at you from no where, with little to no explanation as to why you must pay these expenses. Again, a common theme of hefty prices with little to no substance prevails. I would also like to say "Sommer T" who gave Caulfield School of Dance a 5 star rating on this exact site is an ex-teacher at Caulfield who to my understanding has maintained a very good relationship with the owner Cori. I have trouble removing bias from that whole review as it is written by a friend of Cori's. I don't mean to be cruel, but in conclusion I would never recommend sending a child to this dance school. It's beyond disorganized, very expensive, and overall the teaching is just 'meh.' There are many other studios in the tri-city area that will provide your child with both a better administration, and a better faculty. **For reference, other tri-city dance schools are Pulse Dance Centre, Tri-City Dance Centre, Simply Ballet, Port Moody School of Dance, Vela Academy of Movement, Dance Force, Coastal Edge Dance Center, Encore Dance Poco, K & S Dance