With three years and more than 50 performances behind them, this month, the B:C:Clettes (pronounced like the French biciclettes) are cycling 250 km in nine days on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
They will be performing in Roberts Creek on Sunday, July 5 at 11:30 a.m. at the Mandala.
Building on the 2008 Wheely Fun Bike Tour, which covered southern Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island, this year the B:C:Clettes are taking their friends, props, costumes, custom-built boom-box trailer and camping gear and setting out on the Wheely Wheely 2 Fun Bike Tour 2009.
"We are doing this tour because we want to share our unique bike inspired performance with new communities. We are not doing this because we are crazy, nor because we are getting paid. We are actually riding our bikes because it's Wheely Wheely Fun," said dancer and Vancouver based artist 'Red Sara' Ross.
The B:C:Clettes perform salsa, hip-hop, modern, and cow-girl inspired numbers about issues that come up when you adopt a cycling lifestyle, such as bike theft, helmet safety, aggressive drivers and being strong and healthy. Their performances incorporate bike parts, props, theatre, spoken word, and comedy; but the bulk of the spectacle is dance moves set to funky music, inventive choreography, snappy outfits (all red and black), and a great attitude.
The B:C:Clettes have performed at a diversity of events, including Portland's Multnomah County Fair, a show for Biennale LIVE in Vancouver, halftime at the Terminal City Roller Girls' derby, Illuminares lantern festival, the opening of the Museum of Vancouver's Velocity exhibition, and at various farmer's markets and bike-culture celebrations. They also run workshops and give advice to new cyclists.?
The all-female members of the B:C:Clettes range in age from 20 to 45 and come from a variety of backgrounds and occupations, including architecture, chemical and electrical engineering, community planning, visual arts, communications and journalism, bicycle maintenance and repair, education and outreach, accounting, performance arts, environmental science, and graphic design.
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