Clockwise from left: Langara College desi

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ign formation student Christianna Contos sits by her creation at Oakridge Centre. The details of Contos’ dress include

2,000 bubbles made of glue. A train of shredded coffee filters completes the look. DUNCAN ANDERSON PHOTOS

Not your average fashion

Oakridge Centre exhibit shows off students’ paper frocks

By DUNCAN ANDERSON

angara College design forma-
tion students were challenged
to design and make a couture
dress out of paper, the results
of which are now a stark contrast to the
high-end fashion at Oakridge Centre.
The South Vancouver mall is hosting
a two-week exhibit in its main con-
course of paper gowns made by Lan-
gara design formation students. This is
the fourth year the mall has hosted the
exhibition, and Langara instructor and
assistant department chair of design
formation Kevin Smith said Oakridge’s
corporate office has already expressed
interest in booking the dress exhibition
for 2018.
For most of the students, this is the
first time their work has been displayed
in public.

“Tt is a little bit surreal to see my work
out in the open,” design formation stu-
dent Christianna Contos said. “I want
to become a fashion designer or a cre-
ative director.”

Given Contos’ goals, Langara’s pro-
gram might be a good fit, according to
Smith.

“It’s about the methodology, applying
skills, exploring materials,” Smith said.

Textile artist Catherine Jay, who vis-
ited the exhibit, is intrigued by the con-
trast of the paper dresses next to cou-
ture in the mall.

“There are very expensive shops in
here and this is a contrast. I love it. I
just love it,” Jay said.

Smith said he wanted to give stu-
dents the flexibility to think for them-
selves and experience the challenge of a
learning curve.

“I throw them into the deep end of

the pool where they make it to the other
side or they sink,” Smith said. "I show
them examples, I have a PowerPoint
presentation I do and I show them the
materials, and that's about it."

Contos spent a total of 80 hours on
her dress, which is a replica of a dress
from designer Nicolas Jebran’s spring/
summer 2012 collection.

“T had to make around 2,000 bubbles
of glue, put them on individually, then
the train took seven or eight hours
alone to make because I needed to cut
coffee filters,” Contos said.

Looking forward, the reviews from
Oakridge Centre are positive. Smith
said it only took the mall two weeks to
decide they wanted a Langara exhibi-
tion when they first visited the college
four years ago.

“It has been an amazing partnership
with them,” Smith said.

SOURCE: KEVIN SMITH, ASSISTANT DEPARTMENT
CHAIR OF DESIGN FORMATION AT LANGARA

Top Magee musicians head for tropics

Students to per-
form in Havana,
absorb culture

By SHOJI WHITTIER

S tudents in Magee Secondary
School’s music program will get a
chance to perform at both profes-
sional venues and schools across Cuba
during their spring break visit to Ha-
vana.

Magee’s wind ensemble and senior
jazz bands are spending a week in
Havana, where they will play at profe-
sisonal venues and learn about Cuban
culture. They have five performances
planned around Havana, including an
outdoor community concert as well as
a visit to a high school to perform with
Cuban students.

Both the wind ensemble and the jazz
band will perform a mixture of songs

Students in Magee Secondary School's senior jazz band rehearse for their
Cuban performances. sHoJ) wHiTTIER PHOTO

from Canadian, Japanese and Cuban
composers.

Christopher Haas, who directs both
the band and the ensemble, said his
main motivation for the trip was to ex-

pose his students to Cuba’s culture.
“[Cuba] has a rich cultural history.

[It has] great music programs, art and

dance that has been around forever,”

Haas said.

Vakshan Varatharajah plays bass clar-
inet and considers the trip to Cuba a
nice change from previous destinations.

“Usually, we go to places like Europe,
but since the cultures are so similar to

[North] American culture, we're try-

ing to go into more diverse countries,”

Varatharajah said.

Ernest Liu, who plays the French
horn, said he thinks the band has
worked hard, and the students are ready
to enjoy themselves in Cuba.

“We're [going] there to have fun,
make new friends and of course per-
form for the Cubans,” Liu said.

Haas said that while the students are
going to Cuba to learn, the value of the
trip comes from the music they'll play
with the Cuban students.

“The thing that students remember
the most, the thing that I remember the
most, are when students get together
and play music together,” Haas said.
“They might be able to say a few words
of Spanish here or there, but when
they're playing music together, that’s a
really special shared experience.”

Studio 58
grad off to
busy start

Actor's future full of
both theatre and film

By CASSANDRA OSBORNE

recent Studio 58 graduate al-
A ready has a full work schedule,

beginning with her first role
out of school exploring children’s the-
atre in a Dr. Seuss classic.

Amanda Testini graduated from
Langara College’s theatre program in
December. Currently, she is playing the
role of “Thing 2” in Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in
the Hat at Carousel Theatre for Young
People.

To Testini, theatre is a medium for
empathy which allows strangers to con-
nect and feel compassion for others.

“(Theatre is important] especially in

“T feel like a lot of
people live their
lives in fear.”

— AMANDA TESTINI, STUDIO 58 GRAD

a society where we're so glued to this,”
Testini said, tapping on the screen of
her iPhone. “To screens, to not smiling
to people on the street based off fear. I
feel like a lot of people live their lives
in fear.”

Raylene Harewood, Testini's current
roommate and fellow Studio 58 gradu-
ate, described her as a compassionate
and tenacious person.

"She would take on whatever was
asked of her and she said yes to every-
thing,” Harewood
said. "She was al-
ways very positive."

Testini is a multi-
faceted artist. She is
a graduate of Cap-
ilano University’s
musical theatre

program and has .
credits as a dancer, Amanda Testini
STUDIO 58 GRAD

singer and chore-
ographer on her re-
sume. She attended Studio 58 to flesh
out her education as an actor.

This summer, Testini will work as an
associate film producer, something she’s
never done. She is excited to try new
things in her career, but has no inten-
tion of moving away from theatre.

“This [film] opportunity came to me
and it definitely excites me,” Testini
said. “But ... I don’t feel as strong of an
actor on film as in theatre.”

Kathryn Shaw, artistic director of
theatre arts at Studio 58, thinks Testini
has a bright future.

“She was a fantastic student,” Shaw
said. “Very motivated and dedicated
and clear about what she wanted to get
out of her training.”

Testini’s current show, Dr. Seuss’ The

Cat in the Hat, plays until March 26.

r
Mike Stack in Dr. Seuss' The Cat in
the Hat. COURTESY OF CAROUSEL THEATRE