Mr. B

Join mr.b in a dance, a dance through time that connects our present moment with those who danced before. A healing journey that weaves individual catharsis with collective awakening. In this workshop, participants are invited to connect with their personal histories, their cultural identities, and their unique role as future ancestors to those who follow in the next chapter of our human story. In alignment with the 25th anniversary of Shambhala, mr.b (Brent Boychuk) offers his expertise gained from over two decades of immersion in dance music culture as participant, DJ and historian. While completing his BA in history at the University of Victoria he explored the cultural histories of the communities and social movements that gave rise to the underground house and techno nightclubs of 1970/80s New York, Chicago and Detroit—their exportation to the UK that transformed and mutated American sounds into European trance, garage, jungle/dnb, and hardcore and came back to the U.S. as Rave throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. At the center of this cultural transformation were ideals, values and morals rooted in African-American and LGBTQ liberation movements and traditions. At a time where our social fabric seems to be unraveling with the rise of right-wing nationalism and unfettered capitalism, now is the time to re-center the progressive liberatory power of dance and to connect our multi-national identities that allow us to build sustainable, peaceful, and cooperative communities for the future. Let’s connect our individual stories of unconscious therapy, of collective survival, of resistance to oppressive systems, stories of liberation and freedom negotiated in the liminal space of the dancefloor that have given hope to people all over the planet and allow us to gather together in peace, love, unity and respect for generations to come.