Discover Your Authentic Self on the Dance Floor with Beth McKean
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Beth McKean will help you to find freedom and joy by encouraging and coaching your dancer self to shine, manifest and be li
berated. It’s not just in some of us – it’s in all of us. Discover your authentic self on the dance floor through the love, compassion, care and passion that Beth brings to the experience. Your playful free spirit is waiting to be expressed and go on a journey of the heart. Beth is a gifted guide who will lead you through a creative exploration of the body, mind, heart and soul.
Click here for more details about Beth McKean at Mariposa 2013.
Following studies in Chinese hammered dulcimer (Yang Qin) under the tutelage of a renowned master, Li Wang took first place at the North China Yang Qin Competition in 1978. She went on to win numerous other awards in national competitions. Li earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Shanxi, and became a Yang Qin teacher before immigrating to Canada where she continued her Yang Qin teaching career. She has performed in various ensembles across Canada, at festivals and galas, and has been broadcast live on CBC. Li revels in bridging cultures and thrilling audiences with her Yang Qin musical mastery.
This exciting quartet has bridged the space between electric jazz and French Canadian folk with brilliant results. They describe themselves as a bold assertion of Quebec’s traditional identity with a modern edge but, to their audience, they’re pure spirit-moving, fun-loving, aural magic. Their debut album, Telescope (2011), garnered a Juno nomination for Instrumental Album of the Year plus three nominations at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. In their dynamic live performances, the band pulls off a daring balance between fervour and trance, and acoustic and electric, on tenor banjo, violin, electric guitar, mandolin, keyboards, bass and podorythmie (footwork like step dancing or flat footing while sitting in a chair).
You might call it Cajun, but Kelly Thibodeaux likes to call it swamp rock. His driving, red hot, shuffling fiddling, mixed with kickin’ southern licks, makes bodies boogie, hearts thump and feet stomp. Described as some sort of musical voodoo priest, Thibodeaux can keep you on the dance floor until you’re transcendent with blissful exhaustion. On top of being a performer extraordinaire, he’s a great teacher, and can have you sawing out a pretty decent Cajun tune in practically no time. After 35 years of touring, playing and teaching, Kelly knows every little trick to keep faces smiling and souls singing.
This dynamic folk act bridges the gap from big city rock to country bluegrass with entwining, rambling banjos, soaring vocal harmonies, plucking electric guitars, and a fast, heel stompin’ beat. Their rough and rowdy dynamic, strong stage presence, and great tunes make them a real crowd pleaser at clubs and festivals. You have to see these five guys live, with their truckload of stirring folk rock, to understand how really very good they are. Their two well-received albums, Bandits & Bridges (2013) and One and Two (2012), also drive that point home. This is one band you don’t want to miss.
A singer-songwriter and story teller described as having a marmalade voice, Jory Nash is the quintessential folk minstrel. His music weaves together elements of folk, jazz, blues, pop & soul. With thoughtful lyrics and intricate melodies, he draws the audience close. With easy humour, engaging banter and colourful stories, he wins them over. A man of many hats, Jory has served on the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Board, as Artistic Director of the Shelter Valley Folk Festival, and produced the Gordon Lightfoot tribute show, The Way We Feel. Among many other musical credits are six albums, many tours, numerous awards and lots of airplay.
Graydon James & the Young Novelists play everything from roots-rock barnstormers to heartbreaking folk ballads. Over the duration of three fast-paced years, they have won a Galaxie Rising Star award, toured several times, played innumerable festivals, clubs, house concerts and cafés, and released three recordings. Their most recent recording, In The Year You Were Born (2012), showcases impressive, road-tested musicianship. That musical prowess, combined with excellent song writing – whether about love or loss, the tragedies of high school, the joys of parenthood, small town dreams, or big city truths – makes for a wholehearted, unreserved, rousing connection to their audience. It’s what really good music is all about.