This year Jacquie Hope is hosting the 20th Annual Women’s Pride Dance at the Vancouver Rowing Club.

This classic event features wide wrap-around decks with a fabulous view of Vancouver dressed in all its pride lights (and lots of ventilation), pop dance music and large dance floor, fancy lounge and bar, and the company of 100s of women (typically aged 35 and over), The 2022 DJ JAKKI DANCE will be held on FRIDAY, doors open at 6:30, music starts at 8:00 pm. Accessibility information is available on her event page here.

MEET JACQUIE HOPE

Jacquie Hope of Dueling DJ's Women's Events has been hosting dances for the lesbian and queer women's communities in greater Vancouver since 1982 when she dj'd dances for the Gazebo Connection. 

Jacquie became a DJ through her work as a drummer in country and rock bands in the 70s and 80s. She had speakers and was often the MC at events where her band performed. After her last band folded, one of their event clients, a curling club, invited her to DJ and MC instead.

Dueling DJ's

In 2009, Jacquie connected with her friend Susan Yeager, who also DJ'd in the women's communities. Susan was an active member of the Mabel League and hosted the yearly Pride Women's Dance at the Vancouver Rowing Club. Susan and Jacquie combined forces to form the 'Dueling DJs' dances, a name Susan coined because of the fake sword battles the two had on the DJ platform. Through working together at the dances, the two became dear friends. That next year, Susan was diagnosed with cancer and died three years later in 2013. One of Susan's last requests was that Jacquie continue the Dueling DJ's dance name.

Changes Afoot – Live Music

There are changes afoot. For her February women's dance, Jacquie is hosting a live band as an opener before the dance – Bushy Park, Vancouver's own dyke country band. Bushy Park's performance will be followed by a wedding DJ style mix of music for dancing till midnight. Bushy Park's quirky gender-flipped country is a good fit for Hope's retro and modern dance music mix which appeals to a range of ages and styles. As you would expect, these women's dances welcome all women and are trans inclusive.

A New Name

Another big change is that it is time to let go of the Dueling DJ's name. Seven years after Susan's passing, Jacquie has been unable to replace Susan as co-DJ. In consultation with Susan's widow, Diane, she will be changing the name of her business, retiring the Dueling DJ's name. The new name will be Dj Jakki’s Dance Events.

Jacquie will host a tribute to Susan's legacy just before the 2020 Women's Pride Dance, held Sunday August 2nd. The tribute will be from 6:30-7:30 with coffee and cake, followed by the dance itself from 8 pm onward. The Vancouver Rowing Club is the venue for this annual event which is a staple on the Vancouver Pride calendar. The venue is gorgeous, with a broad outdoor seating area overlooking the water and plenty of indoor dance space.

Supporting Women's Dances

Jacquie has hosted many famous women’s events over the years. One was the Cancer Buster Dance, a very successful fundraising dance for the fight against cancers primarily affecting women and in honour of Susan. Held in May in Burnaby this dance used to be huge. Other memorable dances were Jacquie’s Hallowe’en costume dances complete with prizes, and her New Year’s Eve Dances.

This year Jacquie will be hosting the Valentine’s Dance on Commercial, a Spring Dance in Aldergrove, the Pride Dance in Vancouver, and a Fall Dance in Aldergrove. She’s also been invited to DJ a dance in Vernon for the Rainbow Women’s Events group. If the gig works out, she may be returning there in the fall.

North America has lost a lot of women's dances and institutions in the past decades. Once lost, these are difficult to re-form. Supporting women's events and institutions is a way in which many queer women value and maintain our culture and community connections. In Vancouver, these include the women's softball league and dances like the ones Dj Jakki hosts.

See you at the next DJ Jakki Dance Event!

To see an events listing and to purchase tickets visit Jacquie’s website click here ->

Written by Sophia Kelly

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