THEVOICE | 4 Weather poor for cherry blossoms An especially cold winter and rainy spring has delayed the budding of trees m™ By SASHA LAKIC I t may literally rain on the parade of cherry blossom lovers this year, thanks to Vancouver's wet spring. It has rained for 49 out of the new year’s 89 days in Vancouver, and this weekend’s forecast does not look much better with low temperatures and per- sistent cloud cover, according to website weatherstats.ca. The late spring in 2017 is holding back the the majority of Van- couver’s plant life flowering, including cherry blossoms. At least until the sun breaks through again. James Warkentin, the garden su- perintendent at VanDusen Botanical Gardens, said the delay is unusual when compared to earlier springs in recent years. He said the usual blooming date is around the third week of March and cherry blossom lovers should expect for “I think they are going to have to hold their breath for April.” JAMES WARKENTIN, GARDEN SUPERINTENDENT AT VANDUSEN GARDENS the whole horticultural gamut to burst out as soon as it gets sunny in April. “I think they are going to have to hold their breath for April,” Warkentin said. “It’s the month when everything is going to happen all at once.” On April 2, Trout Lake Community Centre will still host its second annual Hanami fest, a Japanese cherry blos- som festival featuring cultural perfor- mances and fare, despite the absence of any blossoming guests of honour at the centre’s north end. The community centre’s recreation programmer, Eva Srobotnjak, said they are still waiting on spring to come. “Nothing’s blossomed. That won't happen,” Srobotnjak said. “Everything will be inside. It’s like winter here, it’s freezing.” Satoshi Funabashi is from Japan and studying English as a second language at Langara College. He didn’t celebrate the cherry blossom festival when he lived in Japan, but the festival brings him hope. "It makes me happy because I love cherry blossoms," Funabashi _ said. However, the thought of the blossoms coming late was troubling for him. "It's sad." 4 La a] Blossoms are closed and dripping in Vancouver. SASHA LAKIC PHOTO THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 Ariel Helevitca shows off peacock-style plumage in a promotional shoot. She has been dancing burlesque since 2011and spent five years abroad performing in shows. susMiTTED PHOTO International fest for burlesque starts on weekend Local and international dancers participate = By DUNCAN ANDERSON he Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, featur- ing legends in the world of burlesque and new headlin- ers, returns to The Vancouver Playhouse this weekend. Performers from across North “Having these and said every year is a different experi- ence. “This year we have changed venues, added a couple evening events and ev- ery year we have different performers,” Helvetica said. Legends in the burlesque world are a fixture of the fes- tival and pave the way for younger America will join * burlesque per- local burlesque legends in our formers like Hel- enthusiasts and festival makes it vetica. “Our bur- performers at the lesque legend this festival, which that much more year is Camille runs from March 2000. Having 31 and == April 1. Poison Ivory from New York, crowned Miss Exotic World in 2016, and Bazuka Joe from the Midwest are this year’s head- liners. TIT Talks, a burlesque speaker series, will kick off the festival. Ariel Helvetica has been a burlesque dancer for the past six years. She got involved with the festival in its infancy hd an” special. — ARIEL HELVETICA, BURLESQUE DANCER these legends in our festival makes it that much more special,” Helvetica said. Prior to the weekend’s festival, VIBF will bring back the popular speaker se- ries TIT Talks. On Thursday, TTT, short for teach, inspire, transcent, will feature well-known figures in the world of bur- lesque. FACTS ABOUT BURLESQUE A VARIED AND EXCITING PAST “Speakers [touch] on topics ranging from things that are integral to strip tease,” Vancouver burlesque dancer and performer at VIBF April O’Peel said. “For example, being a mom and show- girl at the same time.” Becki Ross, professor of sociology at UBC whose research areas include burlesque, strip tease, sex work and the history of sexuality, is another speaker at TIT Talks. Ross will speak about her recent book Burlesque West: Showgirls, Sex, and Sin in Postwar Vancouver. A fixture in the Vancouver entertain- ment scene, burlesque is a performance art that attracts people from a range of backgrounds. Faye Havoc, member of the board of directors for VIBF, got involved via her work as a seamstress. “It’s kind of a funny story. I used to work as a seamstress and somebody in burlesque needed help making a cos- tume. Once I was approached I said sure sounds great,” Havoc said. “I did take a bit of an unusual route into bur- lesque, but here I am." SOURCE: WWW.BURLEXE.COM Linguistic history The word burlesque derives from Italian "burlesco" and burla, mean- ing a joke or mockery. Where it started The dance became popular in the 1930s in London where it parodied well-known performances. "The Girl in Blue" The first largely popular burlesque dancer of the 20th century practised "cooch" dancing. Rapping positivity for social change A Langara student raps his way through school with a message of being good = By LAURA BROUGHAM ocial work and rapping don't al- S ways go together, but it’s the per- fect mix for a Langara College rapper, who wants to spread a positive message with his music. Tobias Ramage is a second-year so- cial work student by day, and rapper by night. He calls himself NamedTobias. and is currently looking to release his next EP by the end of summer, consist- ing of three songs. “The theme is, I wanna say strength,” said Ramage. “The title is the Blood Work. So I believe that like the blood of Jesus — in terms of him dying for our sins — can cover us, make us pure, and we can shoot for the stars.” Although God is an inspiration for his songs, Ramage also tries to make his music mostly positive, rather than just religious. “I try my best not to make my music preachy,” Ramage said. “All my music is more so positive motivating type mu- sic. Eyren Uggenti, a rapper by the name of Somethin Like That, performed with Ramage on Sunday at a local bar called Guilt & Company during an open mic night, and they have collaborated be- fore that. He said Ramage brings a lot to the team. “To date, he’s my favourite collabora- tion that I’ve experienced as an artist,” Uggenti said. “His focus and his eye and ear for music and the pursuit of music has been really really constructive, on the part of us progressing through both the Vancouver hip hop scene, and the even broader scene outside of the city.” Sarah-Audrey Mome, a freelance stylist, is a fan of Ramage, and said Ra- mage has a different way of approach- ing hip hop, which is one of the things that draws her to his music. “T like Tobias’ music because he takes a fresh take on what it means to be hip hop and what it means to rap about struggles,” Mome said. “He just tries to sound like himself, and I really appreci- ate that about him.” Tobias Ramage raps at Guilt & Com- pany on Sunday, March 26. LAURA BROUGHAM PHOTO