Creatives

Babette is a Multidisciplinary Artist/Facilitator and Cultural Programmer passionate about the experiences of education, arts and culture. She is dedicated to empowering and engaging diverse communities locally in Vancouver and globally for 18 years.

2017 Expressive Arts Therapist in Langara College's EXAT Expressive Arts Therapy program and Professional Artist training for schools Artstarts: Artstarts Integration Lab.

Since 2003, Babette has been the Artistic Director/Choreographer/Founder of Kathara Indigenous Pilipino Arts Collective Society an artist specializing in Pilipino indigenous dance, music and martial arts movement.

She advocates for peace and justice through Indigenous arts in festivals,conferences, fundraisers with partnerships with organizations and schools in the Unceded Coast Salish Territory.

Performance history includes Indigenous Roots of International Expressive Arts Conference 2017 in Winnipeg, Surrey Fusion Festival, Southeast Asian Cultural Arts festival, JCNH Moon Festival, Bagobo the New People -Community Theatre production at Roundhouse, Typhoon Haiyan fundraisers In the House Festival, Pinoy Fiesta, BCUnion conferences drumming with Drum Cafe for the Vancouver Whitecaps, Fifa World Cup promos.

it was a dream come true to reunite with Kathara Philippines and be adopted by the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe 10 years later in spring 2013.

In 2013-2015Multicultural Helping House Society's (MHHS), Babette was Program Coordinator, launched program "Youth Rise for the Future"which empowers new immigrant youth to be leaders within the community, inter-generational and inter-cultural socialization,personal development and mentorship.

In 2014, she created dance film titled "Agimat"on her honeymoon in the Grand Canyon with husband Rodrigo Caballero.

Intercultural Flashmob 2014

Achievements

2014 Maharlika Award Arts and Culture recipient

2013 Distinguished Dancer Award

2013 Kathara Dance-Distinguished Dance Group Award

2011 Georgia Strait awarded Babette Santos in : The Best of Vancouver: Bright Lights

Corrine is a dancer who grew up studying various dance forms including jazz, tap and ballet. As an adult, she rediscovered her love and passion through African dance. Since then she has also explored Flamenco and Dancehall among many other styles. Over the past 10 years, she has performed in various group numbers as well as worked with others in the dance community to choreograph and perform trio and duo acts.

Corrine is also an elementary school teacher. In her classroom, she tries to share her passion for dance, music, drama and the arts with her students by always encouraging them to explore their own creativity. Corrine joined Kathara in 2015, after returning from a visit to the Philippines and feeling drawn towards learning more about Indigenous Filipino history and culture. Since then, she has been growing her knowledge as an artist through music and dance.

Brithmark tatttoos

Mayo stands among his peers as a world-class tattoo artist. With more than a decade of experience, Mayo’s original designs and beautifully rendered interpretations have graced the bodies of artists, celebrities, sports figures, teachers and other celebrated tattoo artists locally and throughout the world. His reputation as a fine artist has grown to include membership in the elite and internationally renowned Dimasalang III group while his charisma as a performer has garnered praise as an upcoming musician.

Situated in a private fully licensed studio on Main street, Birthmark Tattoos is what most people refer to as: “Vancouver’s BEST Kept Secret” and is the final destination for some of Vancouver’s top name clients. It is a place where stories unfold and become an inspiration for new art, new tattoos, new memories.

Sacha is a Vancouver based percussionist who has studied African drumming in West Africa as well as London England, and has also studied latin percussion. Sacha is in demand as a gigging and recording musician, works with some of Vancouver’s top players, and has toured and performed at festivals and concerts throughout Canada and the U.S. She also works in Vancouver as a dance accompanist for SFU, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Arts Umbrella and at many different schools throughout Vancouver. Sacha continues to pursue her path as a percussionist – reaching out to all communities, constantly exploring the positive energy and healing power of rhythm, and establishing a meaningful link between rhythm and movement.

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Joshua Ongcol is a Dubai born Filipinx Dance artist that currently resides in Vancouver. He

began his dance journey as a member of his High School dance team. During this time Joshua was introduced to hip hop culture and trained in various street dance forms such as: Hip hop and Breaking. His drive to grow and expand his knowledge of street dance forms and culture lead him to join Souldiers street dance company. Through the mentorship of notable street dancers such as: Kim Sato, Dianna David, Koffi Noumedor, Jerry Chien, Jesse Kim, Cristina Bucci and Jkay Mendezona, he was introduced to other street dance forms such as: Popping, locking, house, as well as expanding his knowledge of hip hop culture and breaking. He later was a student of the Modus Operandi Contemporary Training Program. During his time at Modus Operandi, he studied under: David Raymond, Tiffany Tagathen, Deanna Peters, Justine Chambers, Rob Kitsos, Vanessa Goodman, Josh Hite, Karissa Barry, Josh Martin, Lisa Gelley, Delia Brett, and Su feh Le. Josh has been featured in performances by: Project Soul, Kim Sato, Modus Operandi, MACHiNENOISY, Kimmortal music, heartmindbody, JB the First Lady, Miel Enage, Nomadic Massive, technicrew, and House of la douche. Last November he premiered his first solo work in progress at Crux in DIY@DIV. Josh is an emerging artist that continues to explore and expand his knowledge of dance and art. This year he has continued to perform with Immigrant Lessons alongside many musicians such as: the Juno award winning A Tribe Called Red, Kimmortal, Miss Erica D, and with different organizations; Junofest, Push Youth Assembly, The Shooting Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancity street, Public Disco at Art smash. Josh is the co-curator of CRUX as well as Josh’s current goals is to perform internationally with various collaborators. Joshua strives to return back to his Filipinx roots and explore the indigenous and street art cultures of the philippines with the purpose of implementing this into his own practice.

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Tin was born and raised in one of the ancestral lands of the Austronesian people, now commonly known as Manila, Philippines. She is now based in the ancestral land of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, also known as Vancouver, Canada. Gamboa is a professional emerging artist who completed her undergraduate education in Simon Fraser University, in the fields of Dance and Psychology. Her interests lie in art, human connection, and culture. These culminate in her learning that our Filipino blood can speak through our dancing feet. She believes that learning about traditional dance can allow her to further delve into the spirit of the Filipino people. She is happy to continue on her journey of connecting to ancestry in order to further engage in a common humanity. Tin met Kathara Indigenous Arts Collective in 2018 and is humbled and happy to be learning alongside the Kathara family.

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Valerie is a performer and social media promoter for Kathara. A half Filipino, half French Canadian settler born in Ottawa, Ontario that settled again in Vancouver of 2015.

Valerie performed a lot when she was younger. She stopped for years until finding Kathara, and fell back inlove with performing. She is a student, and also an aspiring actress.

She hopes to be more in touch, and learn more about her Filipino side with Kathara, while on her path of decolonization, and awakening.