Friday June 27 (7:00PM);
Saturday June 28 (7:00PM);
Sunday June 29, 2008 (12:00PM)

Culture Shock Canada and Maestro Productions are proud to present CULTURE SHOCK CANADA SHOWCASE WEEKEND 2008, hosted at the Carleton Alumni Theatre, Southam Hall, 1125 Colonel By Drive. As result of previous success over the past few years, Showcase 2008 will be our biggest show yet!

This exciting weekend of hip hop dance will welcome dancers and instructors from Kingston, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Diego and of course our hometown Ottawa. Join us on Friday June 27th for the Youth Showcase and Saturday June 28th for the Culture Shock Canada Showcase.

Produced and directed by Culture Shock Canada's National Executive Director Marc-André Clément, this showcase weekend will also reward Community Hip Hop Program Leadership Awards to several selected youth who have shown outstanding contribution, commitment, positive attitude, cooperation, respect, support and dedication. Also, a Future Shock Dancer will be rewarded by their peers and one instructor will be awarded the Youth Outreach Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to Culture Shock Canada youth outreach programs.

The CULTURE SHOCK CANADA SHOWCASE WEEKEND 2008 will cap off Sunday June 29th with a full day of Hip Hop Master Classes at La Cité collégiale, 810 Aviation Parkway. These classes will feature a variety of instructors including Rana Khoury (Culture Shock Ottawa), Steve Bolton (8 Count - Montreal), Joseph Nontanovan (Culture Shock Washington D.C.), Dennis Caindec (Culture Shock Los Angeles) and Jasmine Jenkins (Culture Shock San Diego).

For further details please email Marc-André Clement at (613) 868-1263.

LOCATION
Goodlife Manulife Centre is located within the Manulife Building at the central location of Bay and Bloor. Very accessible by subway!
The Goodlife Fitness Club is on the second level, near the Varsity movie theatres (but on the left side of the escalator). The Fitness Studio is at the back of Goodlife.

Parking is available at Manulife Centre.

See you soon!

Download Culture Shock Toronto's new promotional video here!!!

PROMO VIDEO - choreography - Windows Media format
(DOWNLOAD HERE)

Created and edited by Culture Shock Toronto dancer GYPSY!!! She has danced with the troupe for years and not only created this hot video but provided choreography for the new piece while still attending school.

CS YOUTH PROGRAMS IN UNIVERSITY STUDY

A University of Ottawa Ph.D. student has studied the benefits of a Culture Shock Canada hip-hop dance program on the well-being of adolescents in South-East Ottawa

Physical activity plays a huge role in positive development and well-being for youth. An evaluation and research project looked at the benefits of a community-based hip-hop dance program at promoting well-being for adolescents in a multicultural, underprivileged South-East Ottawa neighborhood. Hip-hop is a form of dance that does not require exceptional abilities, strength, endurance, or special equipment, but rather, emphasizes social interaction and freedom of individual expression. This project represented a collaborative effort between South-East Ottawa Centre for a Healthy Community, Culture Shock Canada, Heron Road Community Centre, and the University of Ottawa. This project is used a pretest-posttest non-experimental design to study whether participation in a culturally-relevant, non-competitive, and fun hip-hop program lead to improved psychological, social, and physical well-being for adolescents. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used.

For more information regarding the evaluation and research project, contact Julie Beaulac (jbeau080@uottawa.ca).

With a new class schedule and a fleet of new Youth Outreach Programs, Culture Shock Canada's visibility and popularity has far from slowed. They're spreading their talent and reaching the urban youth once again! Since 2000, Culture Shock Canada has been sponsoring urban youth involved in their programs. Coordinators select kids from each program who have shown leadership through outstanding commitment, attendance, positive attitude, dedication, cooperation, respect and peer support. These youth are chosen from programs including Bellevue, Overbrook-Forbes and Hintonberg. The sponsorship will allow those chosen, access to all Culture Shock and/or Future Shock Canada company classes free of charge for one full year.

This project was a vision that was sparked by Marc-André Clément Culture Shock Canada's National Director of Youth Outreach Development. "I know that our involvement in these programs is tremendously important to the communities and their program coordinators. I also believe that the kids involved can benefit from our programs to build self-esteem, positive lifestyle changes and even gain access to employment opportunities! The youth who are chosen have proven to their directors and coordinators as well as to all their peers that they have the dedication, talent and positive attitude it will takes to take hip hop culture to another level."

Congratulations to our 2007 Youth Outreach Leadership Award recipients Sheyna Ludiyne (Overbrook-Forbes), Dian Yu (Bellevue), Amanda Monette (STACHS) and Xiomara Alfaro (South East Ottawa) as well as our Future Shock Dance Troupe Phira Muth Award recipient Tania Chalhoub. These awards were handed out at the 2007 Culture Shock Canada Youth Outreach Showcase. Also, congratulations to all other nominees Dorothy Kanku (Bellevue), Jelena Ivanovic (Bellevue), Sheyna Ludiyne (Overbrook-Forbes), Maggie Colledge (STACHS), Melissa Descarie (STACHS), Layal Hassan (South East Ottawa), Phillip Nguyen (South East Ottawa), Alina Riabko (South East Ottawa).

A special congratulations also goes out to our Youth Outreach Award recipient, Jordan Daniow. Thank you for your incredible work and support throughout the year