High school reunion planning and event coordination

I organized my 10-year and 20-year high school reunions as combined events for graduates from both Campbell River high schools. Each event brought together roughly 140 people and was designed to feel inclusive, safe, and welcoming rather than like a loosely organized night out.

The work started with communication. I had to track down former students, reach people across different social circles, recruit volunteers, answer questions, and keep the event clear enough that people felt comfortable showing up. Combining both schools made the event more inclusive, but it also meant the planning had to account for a broader group of people and expectations.

The logistics were practical and detailed. I managed budgeting, ticket sales, food and drinks, supplies, venue setup, and the overall event flow. I also coordinated safety-related pieces, including security, liquor-licence requirements, and a safe-ride-home shuttle so people had a better option at the end of the night.

I wanted the events to feel considered, not generic. That meant booking a photographer and DJ, building a slideshow, and adding activities such as a minute-to-win-it challenge to help people reconnect without the event relying only on small talk. Those details mattered because the goal was not simply to gather people in a room; it was to create a shared experience that felt relaxed, safe, and welcoming.

This project is personal, but it reflects the same kind of coordination I bring to professional work: define what needs to happen, organize the people and details, communicate clearly, reduce friction, and make the experience work for the people using it.

Music Made Visible: Partner Dance in Victoria

I help support a small Brazilian Zouk-rooted partner dance community in Victoria by creating spaces where people can practise, ask questions, make mistakes, and keep coming back.

This is not a formal dance business, and I do not present myself as the authority on Brazilian Zouk in Victoria. I am one person helping a community grow by organizing practice opportunities, sharing what I have learned, and helping people feel more connected to the music, their movement, and each other.

A practice space people actually want to return to

The work is practical as much as it is personal. I help organize practice sessions, support community events, share music, explain movement concepts, and help newer dancers feel less intimidated.

A small dance community only works if people feel welcome enough to participate. That means the tone of the space matters. People need room to experiment, get things wrong, laugh, try again, and gradually build confidence.

Translating movement into language

My role is often informal teaching and facilitation. I help break down movement ideas, explain what I am feeling in a lead or follow, and translate embodied concepts into language that people can use.

Partner dance can be technically complex, but the goal is not to overwhelm people with terminology. The goal is to give people enough understanding that the movement starts to make sense in their own body.

Why I call it Zouk-rooted

I describe this as Zouk-rooted partner dance because Brazilian Zouk shaped my foundation, while the music and movement I connect with often reach beyond one strict traditional container.

I try to be careful with that distinction. I am not claiming to represent Brazilian culture or formalize the dance for everyone else. I am sharing the parts I have learned, the music I connect with, and the kind of practice space I think helps people grow.

Music made visible

For me, partner dance is a conversation between the music, my body, and another person. At first, it can look like one person leading and the other following. The more I learned, the more I understood it as both people following the music together. One person may suggest the movement more often, but both people are listening, interpreting, adapting, and expressing in their own way.

That is where the phrase “music made visible” comes from. A good dance is not just a sequence of steps. It expresses through timing, tone, space, weight, softness, contrast, and response. It turns something heard into something seen and felt.

A multi-step process

This project is personal, but it says something real about how I communicate and build community. I like dancing with my wife. I like sharing something meaningful with other people. I like seeing a group become friends as well as dancers.

It also shows a useful capability: taking something complex, embodied, and hard to explain, then making it accessible enough that more people can join in. It is another form of facilitation, translation, and sensemaking.