May 16, 2022

A History of Motown with Krystle Dos Santos

Two-time Western Canadian Music Award winner Krystle Dos Santos is this month’s ArtStarts on Saturdays and ArtStarts at River Market performance. Her performance takes young audiences back in time to the peak of Motown music from the late 1950s to 1980s and features medleys by The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and more. The performance is filled with facts about these key artists and about the historical and significant impact that Motown music has had on contemporary soul music today.

[Image description: ArtStarts at River Market presents A History of Motown with Krystle Dos Santos. The poster features circular content blocks displaying the event details including a headshot of the artist. The background is of blurry lights at night.]

We interviewed Krystle Dos Santos to learn more about her art practice and what inspires her.

ArtStarts: Tell us about your arts practice.

Krystle Dos Santos: I am a singer, songwriter, performer, actor and creator. I like to perform many styles when I sing, ranging from soul, to jazz, to Motown, and many others. I am currently touring my cabaret musical Hey Viola! Across Canada,performing my own original music, and hosting a long running monthly Cabaret night in Vancouver’s Gastown.

ArtStarts: What inspires your approach of combining music to teach about Black histories?

Krystle Dos Santos: I have such a passion for creating these shows where I can combine music with learning about Black history, specifically Canadian Black history, because it’s some thing I didn’t get to see when I was young. It’s representation for people who look like me. Hopefully it's a spark for others to find representation in the areas and avenues that inspire them, no matter what their background. I also love combining music and education. I find that it is a very palatable way to disseminate information and allows for a powerful impact and absorption of the stories.

ArtStarts: How do you hope your work impacts young audiences? What do you hope young audiences take away from your performances?

Krystle Dos Santos: First, I hope everyone is fully entertained by the shows that I’m creating. I believe enjoying this material is the most important key to receiving the information in a joyful and lighthearted way.

Second, I hope that young audiences take away that they can do whatever they set their minds to. As I mentioned before, representation is huge for me as it’s something I didn’t get much access to growing up myself, so I hope that I can instill in them confidence and inspire passion for doing what they want to do no matter what background they might be coming from.

Finally, I want young audiences to see that learning about other peoples histories is just as important as learning about histories that they identify with. I think it’s incredibly important to share stories across cultures and see how similar we are across the globe and to celebrate one another.

Don’t miss out on Krystle Dos Santos’ performances at River Market on May 29. If you aren’t in the Lower Mainland, our digital programming is also available online. Krystle Dos Santos’ performance premieres on Saturday, May 28, at 11am on our Facebook page. For more information about our monthly programming, visit our website. You can learn more about the projects Krystle is working on at her website.

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