UNews - dancer

Friesen eyes pageant as opportunity

trevor.kenney — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:00:37 +0000

Becky Friesen isn't afraid to try new things – or look for interesting opportunities to stretch her personal and work experiences.

Whether she works with rats, shovels wild animal manure or starts modelling just for the sake of fun, she usually winds up doing something interesting – such as entering the Miss World Canada (MWC) pageant.

The 20-year-old biological sciences student and enthusiastic Lethbridge booster freely acknowledges that parading around in an evening gown, on a runway, is about as far as you could possibly get from her work experiences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience or her recent Co-operative Education placement at a wildlife conservation facility in Langley B.C., but anyone who knows her shouldn't be surprised.

"I have always believed in the value of being multifaceted, instead of only focusing in one or two fields. I find it's a lot more fulfilling for me to always be surprising and challenging myself," says Friesen.

Biological sciences student Becky Friesen is excited about the community service aspect of the MWC pageant.

She was made aware of the pageant opportunity through the family members she stayed with in Langley who knew the reigning Miss World Canada, and who also had worked with the MWC organization in the past. In addition to being a stable business and having a good track record, Friesen says there is a significant charity component to the group, which really appeals to her.

"As contestants and through other MWC activities either in BC or in our home communities, we support Variety, the Children's Charity and its efforts to support the families of children with disabilities, and my goal is to raise its profile here in southern Alberta," she says.

"As well, I have to also gain some corporate and personal sponsorship to help me out with some expenses as a competitor, so I have plans to approach local organizations and businesses for assistance."

Friesen jumped at the chance to do some modelling for charity fashion shows while in Langley and was subsequently asked by the MWC director to apply for the more intense pageant process, which entails public speaking, community service work and demonstrating a talent. She says competing in Miss World Canada has given her a great opportunity to meet some of the people who make Lethbridge so wonderful and in turn, tell others about the community.

"For me, this is a great chance to really stand up and say 'Hey … I'm from Lethbridge! Pay attention to us! We're awesome!' Getting involved in the community, as well as competing in the actual pageant, will give me a lot of practice in my communication skills which will be a valuable asset for the rest of my life."

A Winston Churchill High School graduate and former competitive hip-hop dancer, Friesen says that post-secondary research hadn't entered her mind until she jot a job through the Heritage Youth Research Student (HYRS) program while in grade 11, and wound up working for Dr. Gerlinde Metz at the CCBN for two co-op placements. She never dreamed that taking a job at an endangered wildlife facility would lead her to the equally wild world of fashion and pageants.

If she is successful as a winner or runner-up at MWC she has to fulfill a year-long commitment to the organization which could include a trip to compete at the Miss World competition in Indonesia, as well as a number of public engagements which would work around her school schedule.

Anyone interested in learning more about Becky's pageant process – or supporting her as a sponsor – can connect with her at becky.friesen@missworldcanada.com.

This story first appeared in the January 2013 edition of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Talent field finalized for Mar. 26 performance

trevor.kenney — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:43:49 +0000

The student organizers of the Lethbridge Has Talent Kids Help Phone fundraiser have chosen the final lineup of performers for their event, which takes place Saturday, Mar. 26 at the 1st Choice Savings Centre gymnasium.

The performers represent a varied selection of talented people from across southern Alberta. More than 90 people auditioned for 20 available spots in early March. The finalists are vying for cash prizes of $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $100 for third place.

A project of the 2011 Integrated Management Experience class at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Lethbridge Has Talent aims to showcase the best of local talent for a good cause – Kids Help Phone.

In alphabetical order (based on last name, group name, or last name of first person in group), the performers are:

FeiFei Du -- Play Classical Guitar
Angelica Doucette -- Play Guitar and sing
Olivia Earl -- Sing
Tyrel Hawke -- Play Piano & Sing
Rio Ingrao -- Violin Solo
Elisha Landayan – Sing
Shalisa Liesch -- Play Guitar & Sing
Kassidy Marchuk -- Sing
Jill MacDougall -- Sing
Jared Megee -- Classical Cello
Yumeka Ogita -- Play Classical Piano
Jordan Ostrom -- Play Guitar and Sing
Amy Qian -- Play Classical Piano
Shocked Standards – Rock Band
Tristan Skretting -- Play Guitar and Sing Original Song
Mariya Soetaert -- Play Guitar and Sing Original Song
Rudy Stoesz, Ryan Parks, Alan Iwaasa, Max Chambers Dumont -- Quartet Singing
Kiana Unger -- Dancer
Haley Van Rijn -- Dancer
Kurt Young & Jamie Medicine Crane -- Traditional Native Dancing & Singing

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for Saturday's final performance, and the program begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students/seniors/children over 6. A Family Pass (three or more) is priced at $20. Tickets are available all week in the Markin Hall Atrium, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall Atrium and also at the door on the day of the show.

More than $5,000 in Silent Auction items are also available for bidding. Kids Help Phone is Canada's only bilingual, 24-hour, toll-free, confidential and anonymous phone and online counselling, referral and information service for children and youth.

In a typical year, more than 10,000 trained volunteers across the country help kids in need from almost 3,000 communities more than two million times.

Judges for the event include Brent Books, a morning radio host on Country 95.5 FM; Allison Hawkins, a musician, singer and news reporter at Global TV Lethbridge; Dory Rossiter, a CTV Lethbridge weather and community activity reporter. Quinn Ohler, a reporter and news anchor for Global TV Lethbridge, will serve as the event's host.

Campus Kudos

trevor.kenney — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:08:34 +0000

Dr. Ed Jurkowski (Music) and Dr. Deanna Oye (Music) co-presented a paper in July entitled, Interpreting the Music of György Kurtág, at the annual meeting of the International Musicological Society in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Dr. David Townsend (Education) and Dr. Pamela Adams (Education) released their book, The Essential Equation, A Handbook for School Improvement. Through case studies, research and best-practice information, the book is designed to help educators learn more about school improvement and the challenges facing educators today.

David Barrus has been accepted as the first MFA Dramatic Arts student and is specializing in scenic design for theatre, which also makes him the first recipient of the John Farwell Memorial Award.

Don Gill (Art) and dancer Sarah Williams (formerly of La La La Human Steps) are featured in a collaborative video-installation exhibition, The New Flâneurs: Contemporary Urban Practice and the Picturesque, running Sept. 5 through Dec. 13 in the RBC New Works Gallery in the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton.

Soprano Audrina Poepping-Steciw (BMus '09) placed first in the Provincial National Voice Class in the Kiwanis Music Festival in Edmonton this spring and represented Alberta in the National Class at the competition in Saskatoon in August.

Dr. Arlan Schultz (Music) returned from a summer residency at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts at UC San Diego in La Jolla, California. Schultz was engaged in research at CRCA's large-speaker array audio spatialization lab.

James Graham's (New Media) installation, Unforgivable, used many commonly available commercial products – and specifically those of the French cosmetic giant L'Oreal – to draw connections back to their French fascist and anti-Semitic origins. Displayed in the SAAG storefront gallery during August, the exhibition examined the troubled history of Vichy, France.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will receive a 2009 Allied Arts Council Award for Excellence (AACE) at the Mayor's Luncheon for Business and the Arts on Sept. 10.

Michael Campbell's (Art) exhibition, Field Recordings of Icebergs Melting, toured over the summer to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ont. and then to the Esplanade Gallery in Medicine Hat. A version of this exhibition appeared at the Nanaimo Art Gallery in June.

Dana Inkster (New Media) has received generous support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for her new production, Ladies of the Saturday Night, a short documentary about lives lived in the sex trade in Alberta boomtowns. The production is slated for completion by fall 2010.

The Contemporary Works Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. David Renter (Music) and including ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and community musicians performed at the first incarnation of the Medicine Hat Jazz Festival in Lethbridge in June. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ musicians included student Brad Brouwer, Ryan Heseltine (BMus/Ed '04), Don Robb (former U of L Jazz Ensemble conductor), Nick Sullivan (Music) and Ed Wasiak (Music Education)

Bobbi-Lee Copeland (BA '05), who has been working as an adult literacy instructor for the Lillooet Area Library Association, has been accepted to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Indigenous Education Master's Program.

Dr. David Renter (Music) has been invited to participate in the 2009 Chiayi City International Band Festival in Chiayi City, Taiwan in December 2009. Renter will perform with an Afro-Cuban Jazz group from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Andrew Staniland (BMus '00, Great Distinction) who completed his PhD in composition at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto in 2008, went on to win the grand prize in CBC's National Evolution Composers Competition in March 2009. Staniland has accepted a tenure-track appointment in composition at Memorial ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Newfoundland, starting in January 2010.

UNews - dancer

Friesen eyes pageant as opportunity

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Talent field finalized for Mar. 26 performance

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