Prismatic Arts Festival 2020 Program

P R I S M AT I C 2 0 2 0 I H A L I F A X

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

PRISMATIC IS OUR TOMORROW We are in the midst of a pandemic. A truly historic event.

One that has impacted people around the world. So what happens when our plans and our dreams are upended?

Will we meet again in theatres and concert halls? How will artists and audiences engage, intersect, and illuminate one another in these times? Lives – of artists, designers, technicians, directors, producers, marketers, and more – have suddenly been thrown into disarray.

How do we react, knowing that the most vulnerable members of our communities face the most risk? How can we use these days and disruptions to build upon and improve our communities? In the midst of these challenging times, we need to support each other, listen to one another, and soothe the soul with the thing it craves most – art.

This year, Prismatic’s programming was constantly in flux. It morphed into various forms, shaping into innovative thoughts, plans, and conversations. Despite the shifts and changes, two guiding principles have remained steadfast: sustaining live performance and supporting the artists. Prismatic is Art for Everyone.

Through the challenges, Prismatic has been uplifted by the care and support we have received from the artistic community and from the wide Prismatic family of artists, volunteers, and audiences.

Prismatic would particularly like to recognize the amazing work of our new Artistic Director, Raeesa Lalani. Taking on a new role during these difficult times, she has shown determination, vision, and commitment to Prismatic’s mandate and has guided us through this year of obstacles.

Prismatic is a festival that is needed. It holds valuable space for the voices, art forms, experiences, and stories of Canada’s leading Indigenous and culturally diverse artists.

For Prismatic 2020, we are presenting an all-Atlantic roster to showcase the talent that lives and thrives on Canada’s East Coast. Prismatic is honoured to have an opportunity to create and to support artists, to bring them back to rehearsal rooms and to the audiences they know and love.

For Prismatic 2020, we are presenting an all-Atlantic roster to showcase the talent that lives and thrives on Canada’s East Coast. Prismatic is honoured to have an opportunity to create, to support artists, and to bring them back to rehearsal rooms and audiences they know and love.

Prismatic is today, and it will be tomorrow.

Shahin Sayadi Executive Director Raeesa Lalani Artistic Director

Maggie Stewart Managing Director

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CONTENTS Artistic Statement 1 Venue Map 2 Prismatic Staff 3 Jah’Mila 4 Owen O’Sound Lee 5 Boca Del Lupo with Shauntay Grant 6 Shifting Verse 7 Shifting Verse Credits 8 Dinuk Wijeratne 9 Clyde A. Wray 10 Liliona Quarmyne 11 Jenelle Duval 12 Eastern Owl 13 The TALK 14 Masterclasses 15 Open Spaces Program 16

VENUES

A

THE CARLETON 1685 Argyle St, Halifax

B

GRAND PARADE - CITY HALL 1770 Barrington St, Halifax (Entrances on both Argyle St and Barrington St.)

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STAFF Executive Director Shahin Sayadi Managing Director Maggie Stewart Artistic Director Raeesa Lalani Technical Director Mike Mader Production Manager Allana Chatterton Assistant Producer Kelly Li Communications & Design Assistant Alix Wilson Prismatic Board of Directors: Rhia Perkins Miya Turnbull Kate Hamilton Jeff Ward Agustina Perez Neal Morgan Erin McDonald

Facebook @prismaticfestival Instagram @prismaticarts Twitter @prismaticarts www.prismaticfestival.com

#Prismatic2020 #ArtForEveryone

Greetings From the Mayor 4 Born with a melody in her heart and a fire in her soul, Jah’Mila is a beacon for Jamaican music and culture.

Interlacing the deep reggae roots of her family tree with notes of jazz, R&B, and soul, she brings us music that is lyrically intelligent, masterfully delivered, tastefully arranged, and undeniably inspiring.

the Umoja Festival in Oakland, California; the Afro-Pfingsten Festival in Winterthur, Switzerland; and KulturPunkt! in Flawil, Switzerland. In Jamaica, she has played at the Jazz and Blues Festival and the Children of Icons concert, hosted by the country’s Ministry of Culture and Entertainment.

For over a decade, Jah’Mila has traveled the world on the wings of her voice, sharing stages with the likes of The Wailers, Groundation, Grammy Award-winning reggae band Black Uhuru, and the legendary Sly and Robbie. She has graced international stages including

Since moving to the East Coast less than four years ago, she has collaborated with many local Maritime talents, from original work with Dub Kartel and PINEO & LOEB to the Black is Beautiful series with Symphony Nova Scotia.

Jah’Mila | Vocals Paul Keddy | Drums Alec Frith | Bass Guitar Richard McNeil | Keyboard Kristine Kovačević | Backing Vocals

Her first LP release, set to be released in fall 2020, will be a spirited and affecting collection of reggae soul tracks with messages of love reverberating through every note.

Join Prismatic at the Carleton to experience Jah’Mila’s electrifying tunes!

Jah’Mila

Thursday, September 17th The Carleton | 7PM

Staff List/Table Content/Social Media Owen O’Soundof Lee

Owen O’Sound Lee Thursday, September 17th The Carleton | 7PM

Owen ‘O’Sound’ Lee is an artist, musician, songwriter, vocal arranger, and producer from Toronto, Ontario. He fell in love with music as a child, but began pursuing music as a full-time career after studying Vocal Performance Jazz at York University.

To date, he has shared the stage with and lent his talents to numerous critically acclaimed artists such as Mariah Carey, Kim Burrell, Drake, Choclair, Jully Black, Maestro Fresh Wes, Classified, and Jordin Sparks, to name a few.

In 2014, Owen extended his musical reach to the East Coast of Canada when he relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the former Musical Director of the Nova Scotia Mass Choir (2014-2019), the current Minister of Music at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Upper Hammonds Plains, and the Program Coordinator of the African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA).

Most recently, he was nominated for Music Nova Scotia’s 2019 Industry Professional of the Year Award, and the East Coast Music Association’s 2019 Bucky Adams Memorial Award. He was also the recipient of the African Nova Scotian Music Association’s Rising Star Award in 2017.

In February 2020, he released his latest single “LISTEN,” which was presented to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly by MLA Lisa Roberts as a plea for change against racial discrimination.

Owen O’Sound Lee will be bringing his talents to the Carleton on Thursday evening – this is a show you do not want to miss!

Owen O’Sound Lee | Vocals & Keyboard Chris Iannetti | Guitar Shawn Downey | Bass & Drums

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BOCA DEL LUPO WITH SHAUNTAY GRANT Boca del Lupo’s mission is to create unique points of access for a broad range of audiences into the world of contemporary performance and theatre. They accomplish this in many ways, but most often it includes an unconventional place in which the audience is asked to experience the work.

Part theatre show and part social intervention, Red Phone is an audience-to-audience performance that utilizes the intimacy of a phone call and the technology of a teleprompter to introduce strangers to each other.

For the audience, Red Phone is not only a unique look inside the minds of some of Canada’s most interesting playwrights, but also a participatory opportunity to engage with the writing as an actor. With the security of the teleprompter and the anonymity of a phone booth, even the shyest participants are able to engage with and embody the material in an honest and authentic way.

This year, Prismatic and Boca Del Lupo commissioned local playwright and former poet laureate Shauntay Grant to write Red Phone’s first Nova Scotian script.

Audiences will be able to experience Red Phone and Shauntay’s words at a future Prismatic Arts Festival.

Shauntay Grant is a writer who lives and works in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Her stage play The Bridge premiered on Neptune Theatre’s mainstage in 2019 – a co-production between 2b theatre and Neptune Theatre in association with Obsidian Theatre. The Bridge received 11 Robert Merritt Award nominations and won four, including the award for Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian. Also an award-winning author of children’s literature, Shauntay’s most recent picture book Africville, with illustrator

Eva Campbell, won the 2019 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards, and the Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award.

Shauntay is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, and she teaches creative writing at Dalhousie University.

Sherry J. Yoon | Original Concept & Co-Creator Jay Dodge | Design & Co-Creator Carey Dodge | Technology Shauntay Grant | Halifax Playwright

AdShifting Page Ver- Graphic/Blurb

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a Prismatic Arts Festival Production Presented by

National Arts Centre English Theatre’s Grand Acts of Theatre Marking this Moment

As the performing arts sector continues to face unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Arts Centre has responded with Grand Acts of Theatre, an initiative to bring Canadian artists and audiences together. Eleven of Canada’s most innovative theatre companies have been engaged to create and perform large-scale, new works in response to these times, which will be performed outdoors in front of live audiences in various Canadian locations, filmed, and later shared online. For more information on Grand Acts of Theatre and the companies involved please visit NAC’s website.

The National Arts Centre Foundation wishes to thank RBC Foundation as Presenting Partner of Grand Acts of Theatre.

Grand Acts of Theatre is also made possible thanks to the support from The Jenepher Hooper Fund for Theatre at the National Arts Centre Foundation, established as a result of a generous gift from the estate of Jenepher Margaret Hooper.

Prismatic Arts Festival will be making the city of Halifax its stage – filling the air with music and poetry while dancers grace the cobblestones with their movement. Join us for a special moment as we bring together artists from across Atlantic Canada to weave together a profound tapestry of art, in unity and response to the present time – Shifting Verse.

Shifting Verse is produced by Raeesa Lalani, the Artistic Director of the Prismatic Arts Festival.

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SHIFTING VERSE CREDITS Producer Raeesa Lalani Performance Producer Garry Williams Technical Director Michael Mader Assistant Producer (in-training) Kelly Li Composer & Musician Dinuk Wijeratne Script & Poetry Reading Clyde A. Wray Choreographer & Dancer Liliona Quarmyne Music by Dinuk Wijeratne Skratch Bastid, The Afiara Quartet Dancers Liliona Quarmyne, Susanne Chui, Brandon Skeete, Jayla James, Abady Alzahrani, Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis Production Designers Michael Mader, Raeesa Lalani Video Projections RPM Productions, Oakar Myint Colourist Anna Shepard Audio Design Gary Tulk Lighting Director Terry Rice Video Production Mirror Image Media Graphic Design Alix Wilson

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Dinuk Wijeratne WITH SKRATCH BASTID & THE AFIARA QUARTET Song: Through The Invisible Sri Lankan-born Dinuk Wijeratne is a JUNO, SOCAN, ECMA, and Masterworks award-winning composer, conductor, and pianist.

He has been described by The New York Times as “exuberantly creative” and by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future.”

Dinuk’s boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonic and the North Sea Jazz Festival. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Opera Bastille (Paris), Lincoln Center (New York), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Sri Lanka, Japan, and across the Middle East.

Dinuk has served as both the Composer-in-Residence and the Conductor-in-Residence of Symphony Nova Scotia. His countless composition and performance collaborations include those with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, Suzie LeBlanc, Kinan Azmeh, Zakir Hussain, Sandeep Das, Joseph Petric, David Jalbert, Bev Johnston, Tim Garland, Ed Thigpen, Ramesh Misra, James Ehnes, Eric Vloeimans, Buck 65, the Gryphon Trio, TorQ Percussion; the Afiara, Danel, and Cecilia string quartets; and the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Fresno, Buffalo, Illinois, Windsor, Victoria, Asheville, Thunder Bay, and KwaZulu Natal (South Africa).

Saturday, September 19th Grand Parade | 7:30PM

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Clyde A. Wray Saturday, September 19th Grand Parade | 7:30PM

Clyde A. Wray was born in New York City and moved to the Maritimes from Los Angeles, California. He has made Saint John, New Brunswick his home for the past 14 years.

He is the author of six books of poetry, and is also a producer, director, playwright, and performer. Clyde’s work has been performed in many notable cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Denmark, Halifax, and Saint John.

A graduate of St. Emma’s Military Academy, he served in the United States Army, volunteering for Vietnam and serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade from 1967 to 1969. Clyde attended Texas Southmost College, Marist College, and American University and is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. While in the U.S., Clyde was one of the co-founders of the Memorial Day Writers’ Project.

Over his lifetime, Clyde has appeared in and initiated countless projects in poetry, music, theatre, dance, and spoken word. In addition to writing, performing, and acting, he is also active in mentoring and supporting young writers.

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Liliona Quarmyne Liliona Quarmyne has an eclectic background and a diverse set of trainings and experiences! As a result, she wears many hats – choreographer, dancer, actor, singer, community organizer, and facilitator.

Liliona’s work stems from the idea of the body as story – an ever-shifting, layered meeting place of moments and memory that is in constant conversation with time, space, land, and other bodies. Liliona sees her body as a link to past and future generations.

She choreographs and dances across Canada and internationally, creates and performs original works as an independent artist, facilitates community programming, and is the Artistic Director of Kinetic Studio. Her scope of work is broad but is particularly focused on the relationship between art and social justice, on the body’s ability to carry ancestral memory, and on the role the performing arts can play in creating change.

Saturday, September 19th Grand Parade | 7:30PM

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Jenelle Duval Saturday, September 19th Grand Parade | 7:30 PM

Jenelle Duval is a singer and songwriter from St. George’s, Ktaqmkuk (the island of Newfoundland).

Her work is centred in contemporary narratives pertaining to her relationship with the land, Mi’kmaq identity, language, and reclamation of cultural practices.

Best known for her years of work with award-winning ensemble Eastern Owl, Jenelle is currently working on her debut solo album, set to be released in the winter of 2021.

Eastern Owl

Eastern Owl Eastern Owl is an Indigenous-led, all nations group of women who blend the styles of First Nations drum music and contemporary folk to create their own innovative sound. Based primarily out of St. John’s, Newfoundland, the women of Eastern Owl hail from all across Ktaqamkuk (Newfoundland). A powerful ensemble of eight vocalists, they have been captivating audiences across Canada since 2011.

Natasha Blackwood | Vocals & Hand Drum Jenelle Duval | Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, & Hand Drum Rebecca Sharr | Vocals & Hand Drum Jaime O’Leary | Vocals & Hand Drum

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With strong roots in community, Eastern Owl has committed to deepening their connection with their traditional practices while helping to educate Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences through song.

They are the recipients of the 2016 ArtsNL CBC Emerging Artist award, the 2019 Music NL Indigenous Artist of the Year Award, and were most recently named the 2020 ECMA Indigenous Artist of the Year. Eastern Owl has taken the national stage during Canadian Music Week (ON), Coastal First Nations Dance Festival (BC), and Petapan (NB). In their hometown of St. John’s, they have played at festivals such as Identify, Out of Earshot, Spirit Song, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival.

These women have been making waves following the release of their debut album Not Quite Like You in 2016, and are currently celebrating the release of their 2019 sophomore album Qama’si.

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co-presented with

Voices We Need to Hear: Indigenous Artists and Artists of Colour As we all try to restructure our thoughts and plans in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still voices that we need to hear from and that need to be a part of the conversation: the artists, particularly Indigenous artists and artists of colour.

It is important to make sure that all voices are represented in conversations as we work together to make plans towards re-opening live performance within the arts sector.

Part 1 - How are you coping with the pandemic? What are your successes and challenges, and what do you need in order to move forward?

Part 2 - What do the artists need? How do they feel?

The conversation has started, but it is far from over.

Part 3 - Let’s talk about how we are surviving, what we

see for ourselves and our sector in the future, and how we can shape the new era of performing arts in Canada.

Part 4 - Let’s come together to share experiences, challenges, and radical plans.

Part 5 - This has been a trying time for our sector as a

whole, but challenges create opportunities for ingenuity, creativity, and hard work. We want to hear success stories and provide a platform for people to share what they are doing in response to global movements, conversations, and the pandemic.

You can listen to our Voices We Need to Hear series at: www.prismaticfestival.com

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co-presented with

Prismatic Arts Festival and The Fountain School of Performing Arts are proud to partner once again to continue bringing unique learning opportunities to students through workshops and masterclasses with some of Canada’s leading Indigenous artists and artists of colour.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s masterclasses will be taking place online throughout the rest of 2020. The public is invited to attend any of these classes. For more information, please head over to: www.prismaticfestival.com

co-presented with

Neptune Theatre and Prismatic Arts Festival are proud to present the expansion of Neptune’s Open Spaces Program.

The Open Spaces program will provide a rehearsal space to any artists from Nova Scotia in the fall of 2020, particularly Indigenous artists and artists of colour who are looking for free rehearsal space to create their work.

The Open Spaces Program provides a rehearsal room only, and the space is given for free. However, those using the space will be responsible for any costs related to damage or staffing (eg., additional cleaning, attendance out of normal office hours).

All applicants will be considered for the use of the space and decisions will be made pending date availability.

For more information or to apply for the program, please head over to: www.prismaticfestival.com

Celebrating local in all we do.

Food, drinks, and music.

DAILY DROP-IN CLASSES IN DOWNTOWN HALIFAX. TRY 2 WEEKS OF UNLIMITED DANCE CLASSES FOR JUST $50!