Classes in Vancouver

The Intro to Photography class is produced by Monte Zucker Photographic Education (MZPE), which provides quality professional photographic instruction. More than 30,000 enthusiastic students of all levels have attended their photographic tours on three continents over the past seven years to learn how to combine the power of technical expertise and artistic vision to create beautiful photos and films. In addition to offering the tours, MZPE produces instructional books and DVDs, as well as teaching in-depth photo-master classes around the world. The 2002 United Nations Photographer of the Year, celebrated photographer and mentor Monte Zucker once stated, "I don’t photograph the world as it is. I photograph the world as I would like it to be." Continuing on in his memory, current instructor Bob Ray teaches with an entertaining, passionate presentation that focuses on learning immediately in class. The experience provides an aspiring photographer a comprehensive set of tools to reach his or her artistic potential.

Since its inception, Steve Nash Fitness World & Sports Club has developed a fitness vision?one where a place could promote a healthy and balanced lifestyle for all. Within its 18 locations across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, the gym strives to fulfill that vision by maximizing each member's experience in a fun and friendly environment, while offering a well-rounded approach to health and fitness. Featuring a variety of amenities for all those wanting to achieve their fitness goals, each facility boasts state-of-the-art training equipment for clients' cardio and weight-lifting needs. For those who work better in packs, a wide range of fun group fitness classes are offered, including Zumba, yoga, pound, and LaBlast. Experienced certified personal trainers impart their wealth of fitness knowledge and effective exercise programs, but also inform on the latest in health and fitness, in-club events, and several other exciting member services.

Tantra Fitness's owner Tammy Morris, a professional pole dancer, helms a staff comprised of circus aerialists, choreographers, and fitness specialists to help women tone their bodies through alternative fitness regimens. Coaches lead an array of sensual fitness classes designed around their fun factor, value as body-weight-resistance exercises, and usefulness in mocking inflexible scarecrows. Topics include pole dancing, chair-based workouts, and dance routines ranging from ballet to hip hop as well as acro-stretch classes that challenge muscles to bend through exercises inspired by Chinese circus performers. Parties and private lessons bring small groups of students together to learn pole or lap-dance routines, or hone their professional jewel-theft techniques in a flexibility-enhancing exercise of their choice.

Founded with the objective of simplifying the often overcomplicated art of digital photography, fotoscool employs a team of seasoned instructors—each a longtime professional with a celebrated career—to guide photography students through seminars and workshops held across the country. Keeping their overarching objective of simple-yet-entertaining instruction in mind, savvy teachers design each session to get participants on their feet with hands-on activities such as interactive exercises, on-location shoots in scenic locales, and bonding human-camera trust falls. In an effort to branch out of the classroom, fotoscool also periodically hosts tours that ferry photo enthusiasts to scenic far-flung locales for extended shooting lectures and on-site experience.

When doctors told Joey and Darryl Simon that their son Jet?s premature birth could result in learning disabilities, the couple immersed him in the world of art as a means of helping him overcome any educational obstacles. Their tutelage and care paid off, resulting in an impressive array of paintings from their child at a very young age. Jet?s talent and creativity inspired his parents to establish 4Cats Arts Studio in hopes of unleashing the inner artists of other children as well as adults. The Simons accomplish this mission through hands-on sessions in mixed media, painting, and Artist Focus classes, which concentrate on the histories and styles of certain artists, such as Picasso?s cubism and Andy Warhol?s self-portraits of soup cans.

The same course that hosted some of Vancouver’s first horse-racing events in the 1890s today boasts such luxury amenities as a casino, lounge, and upscale dining options for attendees who file into the tiered grandstand. Hastings Racecourse fuels racing festivities with a slew of concession stands and five different dining spots, including Silks restaurant—known for its buffets and 9-inch table monitors. Lady Luck strolls through the gaming-floor area, passing by more than 600 slot machines before arriving in the lounge. Hastings Racecourse is also the home of Mario Gutiérrez, the winner of last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.