Vancouver Adventures: Our Picks for February 1 to 7

Dance it out, get the best seat in the house for Superbowl Sunday, celebrate the arts + more

Dance it out, get the best seat in the house for Superbowl Sunday, celebrate the arts + more

 

1. Black History Month Celebration — Saturday, February 1

Celebrate the opening of Black History Month with an afternoon of dance, performance, music and art. This Black History Month Project highlights the contributions of people of African descent to Canada with forums, book displays, discussions, film screenings and murals, as well as special piano and voice performances by Rashaan Rori Allwood and Nadine Anyan.
Vancouver Central Library, 350 West Georgia, Vancouver; 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Free; Details online

2. La Poutine Week — Saturday, February 1 to Friday, February 7

Restaurants in Vancouver (and across the country) are taking part in the annual “La Poutine Week” by featuring signature creations including Canadian curds, fries and gravy. Pourhouse is offering a Philly Cheesesteak version for $17, including braised beer, sautéed peppers, frizzled onions, Kennebec fries, roasted chicken gravy and cheese curds, while Bells and Whistles is touching down with a Pigskin Poutine for $16 that features slow-roasted pork atop curly fries and curds with peppered cabbage, pork crackling and housemade gravy. 
Various locations; Details online

3. Lost Crafts Workshop — Sunday, February 2

Immerse yourself in the experience of learning old and renewed skills in this pine needle basketry course at Strathcona Community Centre Association. Learn the skills needed to make beautiful bowls, plates and baskets made from pine needles, and discover the best ways to harvest pine needles and find the right sewing supplies.
Strathcona Community Centre, 601 Keefer Street, Vancouver; 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; $25; Details online

4. Tailgate Extravaganza — Sunday, February 2

Bells and Whistles is saving grid iron fans a red-zone spot for the biggest sports spectacle of the year when it hosts its second annual Tailgate Extravaganza for Super Bowl LIV on February 2nd. Starting with all of the pre-game prognostications, interviews and features that lead up to the 3:30 p.m. showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Miami, the Bells and Whistles big screens will showcase the full Super Bowl experience with live audio broadcast throughout the restaurant.
Bells and Whistles, 3296 Fraser Street, Vancouver; Details online

5. Romance Week — Wednesday, February 5 to Saturday, February 15

In honour of Valentine’s Day, Vancouver TheatreSports is celebrating the “fun, funny and spicy” of all things love and romance with Romance Week, which includes an improvised true romance… featuring a real couple,  X-rated Frisky Fridays, Tinder-inspired comedy and other romantic surprises, 
The Improv Centre, 1502 Duranleau Street, Vancouver; Tickets from $10.75; Details online

6. Crunked Up Cardio — Thursday, February 6

Join Brooklyn-born dance duo Ty and Shay for Crunked Up Cardio, a weekly class (running until March 26th) that features an international hip hop playlist including Afrobeats, baile funk, Reggaeton and dancehall.
B.C. Dance, 877 Hamilton Street, Vancouver; 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Drop-in $12 cash; Details online

7. Straight White Men — Thursday, February 6 to February 15

Hot off its 2018 Broadway premiere, Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee makes its Canadian debut at Gateway. Garnering attention for being the first play produced by a female Asian-American playwright, and for its subversive take on white male privilege, this one-of-a-kind theatre piece’s edgy social commentary focuses on Ed and his three adult sons have come together to celebrate Christmas. 
Gateway Theatre, 6500 Gilbert Road, Richmond; Tickets from $29; Details online

8. Free WTF Improv Class — Friday, February 7

Blind Tiger Comedy will be hosting two free improv classes for WTF (Women Trans Femme) folks hosted and taught by Amy Shostak and Allie Entwistle. WTF Night aims to provide a safe, supportive environment to dig into improv and comedy, exclusively for those who identify as female, transgender, femme, genderqueer, trans-masculine, trans-feminine or feel that their socialization or treatment as a woman, transperson or femme has impeded their participation in improv.
Little Mountain Gallery, 195 East 26th Avenue, Vancouver; 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Free; Details online

9. CAG Thursday Lunch Time Tours — Thursday, February 6

Join assistant curator Julia Lamare for a lunch time tour of the current exhibitions at Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery, including The Artist’s Studio is Her Bedroom. This exhibit features the work of 10 artists and “begins from the premise that the patriarchal conditions we inherited from modernism have profoundly shaped assumptions about where and by what means ‘serious’ artwork gets produced.” 
Contemporary Art Gallery, 555 Nelson Street, Vancouver; 2:30 p.m.; Free; Details online

10. Decolonizing Voices: A Celebration of Canadian Black HERstory — Thursday, February 6

MOA pays tribute to the contributions of Black Womxn Canadians with an evening of readings and artist talks from award-winning spoken word artist, Adelene da Soul Poet (Bertha Clark), artist, poet and award-winning educator Chantal Gibson and founder and director of BlackArt Gastown, Nya Lewis. Separate tickets ($15) are also available for a special performance in the Haida House, with multidisciplinary artist, musician and arts facilitator Tonye Aganaba, who will explore the shared experience and expression of Afro and Indigenous peoples.
Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Free with museum admission; Details online