It takes a lot to keep a dream alive. Kaiti "Dangerkat" Pasqualotto knows this. They say this all the time about people but really and truly, Miss Pasqualotto is a woman of many visions, dedication and perseverance.
It’s an interesting period for Pasqualotto as she spends most of her time planning for her next big adventure in New York and Europe as well as working on perfecting her “Scamper” pants.
"Scamper pants" are what people would call the drop crotch pant that has been popping up all over the runways for the Spring/Summer 09 as well as Fall/Winter 09 season. They have been seen everywhere from Milan to London, New York and Paris.
What the world really doesn’t know is that Miss Pasqualotto has been spreading her innovative drop crotch “Scamper pant” which has been labeled a hot item in the world of fashion and has been selling her idea to audiences around the world for 3 years.
The irony of fashion is the timing of it all.
“I started making Scamper pants in 2006, so I was making them and I was really interested in Grace Jones and neon and all that stuff like the lightening bolts," said Pasqualotto.
Dangerkat first presented her Scamper pants to the Calgarian public at the Calgary Fashion Week of 2007. For a product that is so hot on the radar right now, it’s amazing to hear that people couldn’t take the Scamper pant seriously.
“Three years ago when I first made the Scamper pants I went and did my first trade show in Toronto and all I had was 50 pairs of Scamper Pants and maybe 20 pieces of one off jewelry pieces. I sold a few pair of the jewelery pieces, a few of the pants and people even laughed at me ...and I was in Toronto!" she says with her mouth wide open!
"I was thinking they would be forward thinking and I’m thinking I’m not progressive because 2 years later it is all over the place but I was frustrated 2 years ago. I had to spend so much to do the trade show, that was a good experience to know about all that but I spent a crap load of money.”
This all really doesn’t faze the determined dance queen. Sure they may have laughed but she stuck by her dream and realized that the Scamper pant isn’t just for anybody. “I’m not interested in selling things by the masses, I get super excited by selling one offs,”she says. Pasqualotto has a closet full of vintage pieces from all over the world. Her love for uniqueness is clear the minute you step into her room/office.
Each Scamper pant is of a different material, with a different design; there are no two Scamper pants that are the same in the recent collection from Dangerkat.
“I’m having a hard time not keeping them to myself, they are one pair and I can’t make myself another one and you want to make sure the best person has them right?!" she says adamantly!
Attitude is something you must carry when wearing your Scamper pant! You must have confidence says Pasqualotto.
“I want you to rock them down the street! I like to be able to just dance and be stylish while dancing so I don’t have to change, which was the basis to why they are stretchy. They have continued to be that way and I keep refining from the first version, ” she says as she looks over the new collection.
Pasqualotto is not just a designer but is also responsible for the House of Dangerkat, a dance house dedicated to high performance dance specifically in the department of “Voguing” and “Wacking.” It is a collective of arts professionals that synthesize fashion and styling with music and dance which is further enhanced by video and photography. The House is also active in dance education program worldwide and place dancers of the house in both student and instructor positions.
For Kaiti “Dangerkat” Pasqualotto, “it (House of Dangerkat) all started when I was at ACAD. I went to ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) after I did my degree; I went to U of C and graduated with Visual Art and a minor in Dance…Contemporary dance and then I wanted to get more into textiles and fiber work because U of C didn’t have that.”
She would move to Australia for an exchange program, which led to more experimenting with textiles. “I did my exchange down there and they gave me free range in their textiles department so I just wanted to make clothing, more wearable art. As a painting piece I would present a whole outfit as my painting and in Australia they were so down with that, they were very open there."
Pasqualotto would stay on at ACAD for a year focusing on wearable art and learning new techniques on how to manipulate fabric with the aid of Wearable Arts extraordinaire Dee Fontans. "I came home and I went to ACAD I saw that I could take anything, even with my degree, so when you don’t have to do anything for marks and you only do it out of interest it’s like the best way to do school!”
The idea of incorporating dance into the presentation of Pasqualotto's wearable art came with the need to always be different.
“I was like how can I be totally different from anyone else here and if I’m a dancer and we have this runway to tackle that’s like freaking a football field at ACAD! So that’s when I really started Voguing and Wacking. I started doing my own research just whatever I could online and learning about the culture and the dance and the art form and teaching whatever I knew to people, dancers in Calgary I thought would be able to pull it off even if it’s more or less just like I thought they would have a good character or they have that presence as a dancer.”
This was the humble beginnings of what has now become one of Calgary's most talked about Dance houses. The group have gone on to Paris to compete in major competitions and danced for big name acts such as Diplo and Collette.
The House features talented dancers from all over the city such as Ashley "Colours" Perez and Reggie Tenchavez who have been at Pasqualotto's side for over a year now and have traveled with the House of Dangerkat leader.
"I think this is the year for Calgary and not only for the House but for Calgary. If other artists can see that we can go and be successful and then come back home that is pretty big. It means we don't really have to move. She's (Pasqualotto) so driven, it's crazy, I ask her how are you so driven? I sometimes don't even have the motivation and to keep the motivation that is an evolution," says Colours as she is fondly referred to by the dance house.
Perez and Tenchavez see Pasqualotto as a visionary for not just the dance world of Calgary but the world as a whole.
"She is a vision and you aren't going to understand it but that is the image of the visionary. It's so new it's out of the box that you will never get it unless it is in it's physical form. You just have to flow with it," says Colours on the impact Pasqualotto has had on the dance community.
This newly planned trip will have Dangerkat performing in different locations here is a schedule of her Euro tour. Unfortunately Pasqualotto cannot take her entire House so these trips serve as networking and advanced booking dates for future shows that can include members of the house at a later date.
EURO TOUR!
Paris Workshop
March 3-6
@ Deepside Centre
Info:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=54838922326&ref=mfBerlin Workshop
March 21
@ Flying Steps Dance Academy
Info:
http://flying-steps.de/pages/dance-academy.phpStockholm Workshop
March 28-29
@ Danscenter
Info:
http://www.danscenter.se/workshops/kaiti-pasqualotto-waack-vogue-house-workshop-28-293.htmlHelsinki Workshop
April 17-19
@ Finnish Street Dance Federation
Info: www.nordicmoves.com
Pasqualotto will also be having a going away party this weekend:
DANGERKAT DEPARTURE DANCE PARTY!
Come to say goodbye and dance with me :P
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55823011820&ref=ts
If you would like to get your very own pair of Scamper pants you will be able to purchase them at the 4th Market Collective show in Kensington this weekend.
For more on Market Collective ---->
Facebook Event PageTo understand how extensive Pasqualotto and the House of Dangerkat are you will have to visit their website and Facebook group! The coverage and work put into this house is extensive to say the least.
Links
House of DangerkatHouse of Dangerkat FacebookPhoto credits: Daniel Curtis and Sarah Piantadosi
Photos provided by: Kaiti "Dangerkat" Pasqualatto
Vidoe provided by Ted Stenson
