Welcome back to Filipino Fridays! It's been a minute fam and we're so excited to have Arthur Tiojanco on this episode. In honor of the Vancouver Street Dance Festival's 10-Year Anniversary, we have the honor of speaking with our special guest on seeing the community event grow into one of Canada's largest outdoor street dance festivals! Arthur shares how the love of hip-hop and breakdancing led to work as a community organizer. We speak about the joy of seeing our Filipino brothers and sisters thrive in the art of street dance culture and finding spaces within dance where we belong. With breakdance set to debut at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, there's exciting times ahead for street dance.
ABOUT ARTHUR TIOJANCO
Arthur Tiojanco began his breaking career in 2003 and has worked his way to be recognized as a leading individual in the Vancouver breaking scene. He is a member of Surrey’s oldest, active breaking crew “Floor Storm”, and has competed locally and internationally. In 2007, Arthur organized and hosted his first breaking competition with PraiseTEAM Studio. Since then, he has organized dozens of battles in the Lower Mainland. He is the current Vice Chair of the Vancouver Street Dance Association, which puts on the Vancouver Street Dance Festival at Robson Square, the largest annual outdoor Street Dance Festival in Canada! Outside of street dance, Arthur works as a program Facilitator for after school programs in the Surrey School District. He is also currently completing his Master Degree in Clinical Counseling.
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