He has been featured on So You Think You Can Dance and been named Canada’s Freshest Dancer and now Red Deer street performer SpandyAndy is on his way home.
The dancer who grew up in Red Deer will be one of the buskers showcased during the eighth annual CentreFest Street Performer Festival this weekend in Red Deer’s downtown.
Looking like a court jester in neon spandex, SpandyAndy skips around doing a mix of breakdance moves, yoga headstands and Cossack military-style kicks.
At one moment, he’ll be doing “the robot” and the next he’ll switch to something reminiscent of Michael Jackson, circa 1984. He often mimes the way others move as he performs on the street, trying to encourage them to join him in dancing.
For SpandyAndy, “Tight and Bright” isn’t just a fashion choice, it’s a philosophy.
“I realized life is really simple. Everybody just needs to smile. You just need to be happy and have food and some friends,” said SpandyAndy, a graduate of Red Deer College’s Microsoft certified systems administrator program.
“Just remember to always smile. There is no reason to stress out over little things. Just enjoy life and everything will work out.”
SpandyAndy — better known to his friends and family in Red Deer as Andy Rimer — has been dancing since he was in high school at Hunting Hills. His talents were showcased on So You Think You Can Dance last August when he had a wardrobe malfunction, which included a tear in his spandex hot pants. He was named Canada’s Freshest Dancer last September after winning Colgate’s Get Fresh and Dance Competition in Toronto. That competition involved him putting two tubes of toothpaste on holsters on his belt and incorporating them into his dancing.
The 23-year-old now lives in Vancouver, where he works part-time at a restaurant, spending the rest of the time working as a street performer.
Rimer first learned about busking in Red Deer from Flyin’ Bob, who helped him take part in the first CentreFest as an amateur eight years ago. Rimer returns this year as one of the headliners and hopes he may inspire people to follow their passions as well.
He said he is trying to show that everybody has that positive energy inside and he tries to break down the walls that people put up around themselves. “Everybody can do it, you just have to believe in yourself,” he said.
Rimer particularly likes the reactions he gets from the crowd. While dancing recently, he had one woman in a bikini join in and dance with him and another man start flapping his wings wildly like a bird. “That is why I love it. You never know what is going to happen,” Rimer said.
CentreFest draws performers from as far away as New Zealand this year to display their dance moves, magic tricks, acrobatics and comedy. Basketball Jones of New Zealand will show off his basketball dribbling prowess and Herbie Treehead of London will put on a comedic clown act. Calgary-based Gustavo the Impossiblist will perform the “flaming stilt escape of very real danger” and the Street Circus Show of Winnipeg will offer daredevil stunts, stunning acrobatics and contortionist moves.
It’s free to enjoy CentreFest on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., with people encouraged to bring money to donate to performers. Festival Director Randy Butler said they hope to have 20,000 people visit the festival this year to see the buskers, do a little shopping and enjoy the food offerings downtown. The festival is supported by the Red Deer Downtown Business Association.
Anyone hoping for a sneak peak of the entertainers can drop by City Hall Park at noon on Friday for the ATCO Gas kickoff barbecue. A burger, pop and chips will cost $5, with money going towards CentreFest.
More information on the festival is available at www.centrefest.ca
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com