Images of Shayna Jones by Louis Bockner
EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE & STORYTELLING:
A Black & Rural Community Retreat at Adinkra Farm
Shayna Jones, dance Immersion & b current Performing Arts are collaborating to offer Ontario-based African Diasporic artists a communal learning experience that includes embodied storytelling workshops, informal performances, collective drumming, and a home-cooked African-Caribbean meal!
The day-long retreat includes:
- Embodied Storytelling Workshop Sessions with:
- Award-winning actor, playwright, folklorist, and multi-disciplinary spoken word artist, Shayna Jones
- Renowned theatre professional – actor, playwright, voice and dialect coach – Peter N. Bailey
- Performance artist, choreographer, movement director, dancer, singer/musician, creative mentor, and group facilitator, Jaz ‘Fairy J’ Simone.
- An Open Floor Story-Sharing Session for All Participants
- Communal Drum Session
- African-Caribbean Meal and Snacks
Date/Time/Location:
Saturday, November 23, 2024 from 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM, including travel to and from Adinkra Farm in New Lowell, Ontario
Adinkra Farm is an Africentric Farm located in New Lowell Ontario.
For those participating in the event from the Greater Toronto Area, a bus will be organized to transport us from a meet-up location to and from Adinkra Farm.
Access:
There are 25 spots available for artists identifying as Black or of the African Diaspora. Registration in advance required. This is a pay-what-you-wish event, beginning at $10.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
SCHEDULE
FACILITATOR BIOGRAPHIES
Shayna Jones: Shayna Jones (she/her) is an award-winning actor, a playwright, a folklorist, and a multi-disciplinary spoken word artist. As a professionally trained performer, vocalist, and fine mover, Shayna has crafted performances for countless audiences across Canada featuring Afro-centric Folk History, Folklore and Contemporary Experience. She combines her passion for live, theatrical performance with the study of traditional African and Afro-Diasporic folklore and contemporary Black experience to create dynamically soulful, nuanced, and visceral performances. She has had the privilege of spending the last decade performing her work for theatre companies, festivals and schools across Canada. Learn more about Shayna and her work at: www.wearestoryfolk.com
Peter N. Bailey: Peter graduated from the Humber College Theatre Performance Program in 2003. Peter’s theatre
credits include: A World Without Shadows, The Wilberforce Hotel, Jumbo, The Real McCoy (The Blyth Festival), Other Side of the Game (Cahoots Theatre Co. and Obsidian Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird, An Ideal Husband, Richard III, All’s Well That Ends Well (Stratford Festival), Fences (Grand Theatre), Here Are the Fragments (The Theatre Centre), Romeo and Juliet, Sweat, Fairview (Canadian Stage Company), A Few Good Men (Drayton Entertainment).
Peter’s voice coaching credits include: Serving Elizabeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Death and the King’s Horseman, Wedding Band (The Stratford Festival), The National Theatre School of Canada, Canadian Film Centre, and Sheridan College. Peter is also a playwright, and his first play Tyson’s Song was produced in of May 2024 by Pleiades Theatre in Toronto.
Jaz ‘Fairy J’ Simone: Jaz ‘Fairy J’ Simone is a Barbadian-Canadian multi-hyphenate artist based in Toronto and London, UK. She is a performance artist, choreographer, movement director, dancer, singer/musician, outside eye/creative mentor, group facilitator, and more recently, handmade skincare small business owner. ‘Fairy J’ has created over 30 original dance works, presented in Toronto, Montreal, North Bay, Brooklyn NY, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Berlin, Birmingham UK and Sinop, Turkey. Her choreography has been commissioned by Toronto Dance Theatre, Art Gallery of Ontario, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Cawthra Park Secondary School, dance Immersion, Yensa Festival, Etobicoke School of the Arts, and the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival. She made her debut as a movement director and choreographer for theatre in 2011, working under the direction of Philip Akin and Obsidian Theatre. She has since served as a movement director and/or choreographer with Soulpepper Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Canadian Stage, Necessary Angel Theatre, Stratford Festival, and Shaw Festival.
