Mayworks Kjipuktuk-Halifax

Untitled (Applying Joint Compound)
2017-05-02 19:00 - 19:15 (America/Halifax) | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Video installation / performance by Michael Di Risio
Untitled (Applying Joint Compound) (2016) is a video-installation and performance that attempts to make visible the labour involved in maintaining public spaces. Though often unseen and undervalued, maintenance work is a fundamental component of the production of social space, in turn supporting other forms of collective work and cultural production. Through a reflection on the nuances of this work, the viewer is invited to consider what is involved in the production of the spaces that they typically inhabit.
NOTE: While the performance will take place on May 2nd at 7pm, the video installation will remain in the Bus Stop Theatre lobby from May 2nd to May 4th.
Michael Di Risio
An artist and writer currently based in Kingston, ON. His writing has appeared in Art Papers, Afterimage, Fuse Magazine, C Magazine and PUBLIC Journal, among others, where he reflects on art as a social force. He has participated in recent exhibitions at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, Artcite and Museum London, with forthcoming exhibitions at the Thames Art Gallery and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. He holds an MFA from the University of Windsor and is currently the Artistic Director of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre.

Presented in partnership with the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op

The View From Her(e)
2017-05-02 19:30 - 20:30, 2017-05-03 19:30 - 20:30, 2017-05-09 19:30 - 20:00, 2017-05-10 19:30 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
A New Dance Piece by Liliona Quarmyne
Choreographed by Liliona Quarmyne
Featuring Liliona Quarmyne, Jacinte Armstrong & Sarah Rozee
Is it possible to maintain the abstraction of contemporary art and still share a clear message? Or does one have to be compromised for the other? Choreographer Liliona Quarmyne is deeply curious about pushing the boundaries between art and activism, and about the give and take between the two. In The View from Her(e), the audience will join her and dancers Jacinte Armstrong and Sarah Rozee to explore how art and activism can talk to each other.
2 Part Presentation
Phase 1 (participatory presentations) – May 2 & 3
Phase 2 (final performances) – May 9 & 10
This interactive, multi-disciplinary dance piece takes place in two phases, and audience members are invited to attend one or both.
Phase 1 performances are multi-disciplinary and interactive, and audience members are invited to directly become a part of the creative process.
Phase 2 performances are the end result of the process where the dancers share reworked material based on the discoveries of Phase 1.
ADMISSION PRICES
Phase 1 = $10
Phase 2 = $15
Both = $20
Buy Tickets Online

Presented in partnership with the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union

New Waterford Boy – A Ceilidh
2017-05-04 19:00 - 21:00, 2017-05-05 19:00 - 21:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
A New Play by Richie Wilcox
Featuring Richie Wilcox, Aaron Collier, Lynn MacIntyre, Sarah Richardson and Brian Talbot
This is a tribute to the Cape Breton man I never was and never will be. This is a tribute to Cape Bretoners who have the songs of miners and fisherman embedded into their hearts and souls whether they have set foot in a mine, or cast a net, or not. This is a night of storytelling to pay respect to the Cape Breton of my childhood, with hope for the future. This is a tribute to the Cape Breton man I am and all the different types of Cape Breton man there can be. This is my Cape Breton … where I can be Rita MacNeil’s nephew for a week, I can be a superhero and conquer a junior high dance and I can belt the tunes of Allister MacGillivray, the Rankin Family and more songs we all know, all night long.
Richie Wilcox
A multi-talented director/singer/actor whose work has been seen across Canada and toured internationally. He is an Artistic Associate for Theatre Outre where he’s directed UNSEX’d, Castrati: An Electro Drag Opera, Late Company and more. Highlights include directing Daniel MacIvor’s I, Animal for Kazan Co-op and Gillian Clark’s Understudy. Wilcox is a Artistic Co-Producer of HEIST (formerly Angels & Heroes) where he most recently directed Girls! Girls! Girls!, the award-winning The Princess Show, Nation and How Do I Love Thee?
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Presented in partnership with the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union and the Province of Nova Scotia

I Was There
2017-05-05 - 2017-05-10 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
An Audiovisual installation by Katie Toth and Mary-Dan Johnston
It goes like this: the bank closes, along with the grocery, then the laundromat, the club, the pub, the corner store where we bought popsicles and cartons of milk. The schools crumbled and were consolidated. Now, standing on the same spot where I bought my first vodka cran, underage, there is thick gravel where years ago I felt linoleum, softer, sticking to the sole of my shoe.
The geography remains the same, but the landscape changes
I was there is an attempt to illuminate the psychogeography of a city that is often accused of being stuck in the past. This mixed-media installation combines photography, oral history testimony and cartography to shed a light on what is lost in the process of gentrification.

Location and Hours
This piece is presented in the lobby of The Bus Stop Theatre Co-op and can be experienced ahead or after any event presented at this location. I can also be experience between 10am and 4pm daily from May 8th to 10th.
Biographies
Katie Toth is an emerging audio artist and digital/audio journalist who has been published in VICE, the Village Voice, and NPR. Her first art piece, which celebrated New York City’s public transit system, was produced in collaboration with photographer Lara Atallah, and displayed at The New York City Transit Museum’s community artist event Platform.
Mary-Dan Johnston is a writer, researcher, educator working at the intersections of the public and the private. Trained as an oral historian and qualitative researcher, she is particularly interested in how the political economy of the Maritimes has shaped the embodied experiences of working people. Her writing has recently appeared in GUTS Canadian Feminist Magazine. Her art practice uses street photography to capture moments of tension and collaboration between individuals and the built environment.

Presented in partnership with the Bus Stop Theatre Cooperative and the StART Festival.

The Decelebration of Canada 150
2017-05-05 17:30 - 18:30 | NS
Performance by Raven Davis
Saturday, April 29, 10:00AM-11:00AM | Cornwallis Park
Friday, May 5, 5:30 PM-6:30PM | Citadel Hill – Clock Tower

The Decelebration of Canada 150 is a body of work and a performance piece created to critique and expose the myth of the confederation of Canada and the discourse and erasure of: Indigenous people, Indigenous sovereignty and Indigenous history in Halifax and Canada.
NOTE: Performances are ongoing and can be joined or left at any time.
NOTE: Performances are outdoors. Please dress accordingly.
Raven Davis
An Indigenous, mixed race, 2-Spirit multidisciplinary artist and activist from the Anishnawbe (Ojibwa) Nation, Treaty 4 in Manitoba. They were born and raised in Toronto and currently works in Halifax. A parent of 3 sons, Raven’s work spans from painting, performance, traditional song/dance, design, poetry and short film. Raven cleverly blends narratives of colonization, race and gender justice, 2-Spirit identity and the Anishinaabemowin language and culture into traditional and contemporary art forms.

Presented in partnership with the Union of Food and Commercial Workers – Eastern Provinces Council and the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group

Mug
2017-05-06 19:00 - 20:00, 2017-05-07 14:00 - 15:00, 2017-05-07 19:00 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
A New Play by In My Own Voice (iMOVe) Arts Association

Mug revolves around the Mug Shots of three formerly incarcerated people – photographs that span collectively almost 30 years of being in conflict with oneself and the Justice System. When a photograph is captured we often refer to it as ‘taking’ the photograph. This process of taking is encapsulated by the taking of the mug shot. However, when a person is convicted of committing an offence, the process of taking involves much more. When a person is incarcerated, the liberty of free movement is taken. The person’s clothes are taken. The ability to make many of their own decisions is taken. Through Mug, three persons relive their past by offering their stories and invite us all to take the challenge of giving.
Featuring performances by JRDN

Cast & Crew:
Cast: Craig Kelly, Lance Perry, Darren Tynes and JRDN

Directed by Sobaz Benjamin
With assistance from: Liam Petite, Jacob Sampson, Michael Tennyson and Jordan Metro

Biographies

Sobaz Benjamin, Founder and Executive Director of In My Own Voice (iMOVe) Arts Association, is an accomplished and recognized film-director, as well as a community advocate, youth mentor, program facilitator and educator. In 2009, he started working with the Nova Scotia Justice Department to deliver his Life Story course at the Nova Scotia Youth Facility, and was honoured in 2014 by the Provincial Justice Department with a Minister’s Award for Individual Leadership in Crime Prevention. He has taught and presented at a number of public schools and post-secondary institutions, as well as facilitated community-based projects around and beyond the HRM. Sobaz has also received a Humans Rights Award for his work with youth and directing awards from the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television.
Jordan Croucher (aka JRDN) is a Canadian R&B/Hip Hop recording artist raised in Halifax and Toronto. After playing on the St-FX basketball team and a year of professional basketball in France, he began a career in music which has lead him to national and international recognition.
Craig Kelly is currently remanded at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside. He is a 23 year old Caucasian male and has been in conflict with the justice system since he was thirteen – the age when his first mug shot was taken. Craig is awaiting sentencing.
Lance Perry is a 33 year old African Nova Scotian. He was born and raised in Uniacke Square and has been in conflict with the justice system since he was thirteen. He is currently under house arrest awaiting trial. He is the father of three children: a 12 month old boy and two daughters aged 6 and 10. He is determined to turn his life around, and as he puts it, “to be of some good use to his children.”
Liam Petite is a Filmmaker/Editor and Photographer at Misfits&Masterminds Productions, a Halifax-based film production company producing a mix of music videos, promotional videos, short and feature films. Liam worked with iMOVe to produce the video elements of Mug.
Jacob Sampson is a Writer and Performer. Jacob Sampson is an actor from the Annapolis Valley and a graduate of Acadia University’s acting program. Jacob has performed at Shakespeare By the Sea for four seasons and is the playwright and star of Chasing Champions, an award winning biographical play about Sam Langford. Jacob was acting coach and assisted Sobaz Benjamin in the staging of the play.
Michael Tennyson is a Filmmaker/Editor at Tennyson Studios. Michael offers film and editing services for mainstream and social media and worked with iMOVe to produce the video elements of Mug.
Darren Tynes is a 39 year old African Nova Scotian born and raised in Uniacke Square. He was released from the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in December of 2016. He has found part time work with a construction company and, like Lance, Craig and Jeff, he is determined to make it on the outside – this time.
Jordan Williams Joseph (aka Jordan Metro) is a Halifax Music Producer and Audio Engineer. Jordan is a 22 year old hip hop and R&B producer stationed in Halifax and has produced and recorded a number of albums for local and international artists. He is a graduate of the Nova Scotia Community College’s Recording Arts Program and Music Business Program. Jordan worked with iMOVe to produce the audio elements of Mug.
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Presented in partnership with the Service Employees International Union Local 2 – Nova Scotia and with assistance from the Nova Scotia department of Communities, Culture and Heritage

Reel Justice
2017-05-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS, B3J 1E9, Canada
A Curated Program of Short Films
Reel Justice returns for a 3rd year to present a selection of short films examining issues of social justice that affect our community. This year’s selection includes works by local filmmakers who celebrate home, roots and belonging in a way that challenges common narratives about Nova Scotia.
The screening will include films by KeKe Beatz & MAJE, Raghed Charabaty, Sylvia Hamilton, Guyleigh Johnson, Koumbie, Ariella Pahlke and Stephanie Young.
2017 Program

Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia
(29 min)
Sylvia Hamilton, 1992
In their predominantly white high school in Halifax, a group of black students face daily reminders of racism. They work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for building pride and self-esteem through educational and cultural programs. With help from mentors, they discover the richness of their heritage and learn some of the ways they can begin to effect change.

Outhome
(14 min)
KeKeBeatz & MAJE, 2016
Rap artist Michael Earle, also known as MAJE, and director KeKeBeatz reveal the pride and resilience that shine through stories of violence in East Preston.

Tipping Point
(7 min)
Stephanie Young, 2016
A painfully-shy barista must overcome their own self-doubt when they start crushing on a customer who turns out to be a not-so-shy burlesque performer.

#Deema
(12 min)
Raghed Charabaty, 2016
As her childhood friend immigrates to Canada and visits her with news from home in Syria, Deema is haunted by a pain from her past that she must face.

Mi’kwite’tmn (Do You Remember)
(14 min)
Ariella Pahlke, 2016
This short doc examines how artist Ursula Johnson deconstructs and manipulates the function and image of Mi’kmaw basketry in an effort to preserve, remember, and build upon the traditional art form.

Conversations with Coretta
(4.5 min)
Guyleigh Johnson, 2016

Johnson reads from her book “Expect the Unexpected.” Through her poem she speaks to Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and reflects on being a Black woman.

Hustle & Heart
(12 min)
Koumbie, 2016

A film about friendship, sexuality and longing that takes place on the football field.

Smile
(3 min)
KeKeBeatz & MAJE, 2016

“I know the system don’t love you, but keep love in your heart.” Music video for MAJE’s single Smile featuring Cunny Ross.

Presented in partnership with the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television & Radio Actors – Maritimes and Halifax Public Libraries

Canadian Labour International Film Festival
2017-11-07 19:00 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Mayworks Halifax presents CLIFF 2017
CLiFF is Canada’s national labour film festival which takes place in November in locations across Canada. Selected films celebrate workers from around the world and shed light on issues that affect us all.
Admission by donation – PWYC!
FREE Popcorn!
SCREENED TWICE OVER TWO NIGHTS
Monday, November 6th
NS Federation of Labour 2017 Convention
Marriott Harbourfront Hotel (1919 Upper Water St.)
Tuesday, November 7th
The Bus Stop Theare Co-op (2203 Gottingen St.)
TWO FILM PROGRAMS SCREENED ON EACH NIGHT
Program #1 screened at 7:00pm
Program #2 screened at 8:30pm

PROGRAM #1 – 7PM start | 80min run time
THE CHOP
17min United Kingdom | English
‘The Chop’ is a comedy about Yossi, a charismatic Kosher butcher who loses his job, cannot find work at other Kosher butchers, and therefore decides to pretend to be Muslim in order to get work at a Halal butchers.
https://vimeo.com/179445944
A passion of gold and fire
6min Belgium | French
A beekeeper shares his worries about the future of his apiary school. A passion of gold and fire which definitely helps our environment to keep on living.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7LeL88gDtc
Huicholes del Tabaco
10min Mexico | Spanish
Most of the tobacco production in Nayarit, Mexico goes to companies like British American Tobacco and Philip Morris international, that despite their billions of dollars in earnings they haven’t taken responsibility for these workers, that even when they work from 20 to 22 hours per day, very often don’t have enough money to buy food for the rest of the week.
https://vimeo.com/185578101
Touch
15min Canada | English
When a single mom, facing eviction, is offered a night’s work, she unsuccessfully seeks a babysitter for her two small children. Desperate, she reaches out to the last person she wants to ask for a favour.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/newfoundland-film-touch-wins-award-at-cannes-1.3599185
The Devil of Jobs
2min United Kingdom | English
A visit to the Jobcentre takes a dark turn when three job-hunters stumble upon the office of the mysterious Mr.Inferno. They soon discover that are no time differences in hell…
Necessity Has No Law
6min Egypt | Arabic
Day in the life of one of Egypt’s brick factories. Many begin their life in this profession as child workers and end this profession as old men.
https://www.berlinstudentfilmfestival.com/news/necessity-has-no-law-bsff-2017-official-selection
Nobody Dies Here
23.5min France | French
Perma gold mine, Benin. Some dream to find something, others realized there was nothing to be found. Some dig relentlessly hoping to become rich, others died in the process. And a few of them say that here, nobody dies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bcxg-hJFVg

PROGRAM #2 – 8:30PM start | 39.5min run time
Intro to Labour History: 5 Part Animated Series
39.5min Canada | English
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, with partners Jeff Allen Videos and Cut and Paste Design, introduces viewers to Canadian working-class history. The series explores the Canadian labour movement’s roots among immigrant populations and radical politics espoused by the Knights of Labour and the IWW. The series also explores the labour movment’s contributions toward struggles of gender, racial, and colonial justice – and the work still needed.

May Day Rally & March!
2018-05-01 17:00 - 18:00 | Grand Parade, Downtown, Halifax, NS, Canada
International Workers’ Day (May Day) on May 1st of each year is the global celebration of the working class. It is the day we join our sisters, brothers, and comrades the world over as we fight for a better world.
In Halifax, we will rally at 5:00pm at Halifax Grand Parade for speeches, and then we will march, arriving for a reception at the Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen St) hosted by the Mayworks Halifax Festival of Working People & the Arts.
Bring your union banners, flags, and best comrades!
Additional details about speakers TBA!

The Halifax May Day rally is coordinated by the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council

Under the Surface
2018-05-01 18:30 - 2018-05-12 23:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Under the Surface is a group exhibition featuring works by Kim Cain, Tina Roberts-Jeffers and Katie Toth.
Together, their works ask us to take a closer look at their subjects, unearth the obscured and reconsider our assumptions about home.
Opening Reception
May 1st at 6:30pm
following the May Day rally

FREE ice cream will be on offer at our opening reception immediately following the May Day march thanks to Dee Dee’s Ice Cream!
Sign language interpreters will be present during our opening reception.
Visiting Hours
The exhibit will remain viewable for free to anyone attending festival events at the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op.
Visiting hours will also be held on the weekend of May 5th and 6th from noon to 5pm each day.

Seeds of the Seven Year Harvest
by Kim Cain

Through her painting, Cain pays homage to the arduous agricultural labour through which African Nova Scotian communities have survived despite obstacles set against them. Today’s generations of African Nova Scotians are the harvest of seeds planted long ago by tenacious and hard working ancestors.

In Full View
by Tina Roberts-Jeffers

She is
Possession
Commodity
Life
….I mean wife

In Full View is a photo exhibit that explores the unpaid labour of women, and more specifically Black women, in and around the home. The stills and self portraits point to the work needed to sustain households.
Labour that is often invisible is presented here in large, oversized photos that ask viewers to think about the physical and emotional weight of people and things on women.
In Full View wonders aloud who and what can be set aside until tomorrow, when the struggle demands so much of us today.

Face Control
by Katie Toth

What makes a refugee?

Canada is held up as a bastion of multiculturalism for many Romani people in Europe, who say that they are subject to a kind of “face control” that prevents them from finding employment and being treated as full citizens in their current nations. National and international laws try to draw borders between refugees fleeing persecution and immigrants seeking better financial futures. But for people who are prevented from participating fully in civil society because of discrimination or who are denied a chance to find meaning through their work, those lines aren’t so easy to draw. Material concerns are also political ones.

The Artists:
Kim Cain
Kim Cain’s work explores the African Canadian existence here in Canada and how it relates to the larger global African Diaspora. Growing up in Ontario, her concept of cultural racial identity felt watered down and irrelevant. Since relocating to Nova Scotia in 1995, she began an exploration of using Art as a means of claiming identity. Since her studies at NSCAD, Kim has shown her work in numerous exhibitions including In This Place (1996), Skin (1998), Sistervision II (1998), Far and Wide (2000), Beyond 2000: Art of Bob Marley (2000), Sistervision III: Through Others Eyes (2001), Africville Reunion (2010), Freedom Festival (2011 & 2012) and SisterReVision: Reclaiming the black female body (2014). She has had two solo exhibitions at the Anna Leonowen Gallery: The Bridge: a Visual Biography (1999) and Artmomma Resurrected (2008).

Tina Roberts-Jeffers

Tina Roberts-Jeffers is currently a stay-at-home mom to three beautiful, bright children. A former school counsellor, she arrived in Nova Scotia in 2010. Tina is committed to community and believes strongly in progress through collective action.

Katie Toth
Katie Toth is a multimedia journalist who has been featured in Teen Vogue, NPR and the Village Voice. She is interested in the boundaries between journalism, art and documentary. This is her second display for Mayworks Halifax. Photo credit: Mary-Dan Johnston.

Under the Surface is presented by the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union

Reel Justice
2018-05-02 18:30 - 20:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Our 2018 program of short films will examine Maritime landscapes and waterscapes through various themes including mental health and our connection to land.
Total run time: 80 min

Bound
By Daniel Boos (2015)
11 min

When a mysterious group of workers appear at his brother’s sawmill, a struggling shopkeeper must face a troubling decision. Winner Best Film: A&E Short Filmmakers Award (2017). Winner Best Short Film: Screen NS Awards (2016). Nominee: Best Canadian Short Film – CBC Short Film Face Off (2016).

Canada Vignettes: Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton
By Sandra Dudley (1973)
2 min

This short NFB vignette features coal mines in New Waterford and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, along with traditional Cape Breton folk songs sung by Men of the Deeps – a miners’ choral group.

Snow Shovelling
By Maritime Bhangra Group (2016)
2 min

Maritime Bhangra Group found a new way to clear snow while doing bhangra. Wanna learn?

Kreb
By Tim Tracey (2013)
7 min

A faceless factory worker fuses nature and technology until he discovers a dark truth. Winner Best Short Film: 2015 Screen Nova Scotia. Winner Platinum Remi Award, Best Animated Short: 2014 Houston World-fest. Winner Best Animated Short: 2013 Atlantic Film Festival.

Horizontal Concavity
By Koumbie (2017)
8 min

With the help of his therapist, a young man struggling with depression and anxiety finds himself at a party where he discovers he may not be as alone as he feels.

Matt: Forensic Mental Health Success Stories
By Stephanie Young (2017)
6 min
“Matt’s” story, written/preformed by spoken word artist Andre Fenton, is part of a collection of narratives gathered for the Forensic Mental Health Success Stories project, which aims to increase understanding and awareness about people who have achieved success after being found ‘Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder’ by a court.

Pearls
By Shelley Thompson (2017)
9 min

Miranda realizes her son Donald can only become the woman she is by defying her father and leaving their farm, in an outfit Miranda provides that includes a much-loved heirloom.

29 Hours
By Stephanie Young (2016)
2 min

Internationally, a trans woman is killed very 29 hours. Although hate crimes and violence affect the LGBTQ community at large, trans women, specifically trans women of colour, are at a much higher risk of becoming victims of hate-motivated violence.

Floating Warren Pavilion
By Zachary Gough (2017)
6 min

A playfully-autonomous floating art pavilion serves as a shared vision where artists come together to conjure a responsive space through experimentations that are guided by values of care and solidarity.

We Story the Land
By Martha Stiegman & Sherry Pictou (2016)
27 min

The Bear River reserve boundary cuts the people of L’sitkuk off from their ancestors’ hunting and fishing grounds. But there are old canoe routes that leave from the reserve, and cross the territory; and people here are working to reclaim them.

The Sankofa Singer/Songwriter Circle
2018-05-03 18:30 - 21:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
“Sankofa” teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.

The Sankofa teaches us that we must go back to recognize what was before us while moving forward in the future. As part of this looking back, a stellar roster of African Nova Scotian singer/songwriters will be paying tribute to the internationally known a capella group Four the Moment. Each of them will also showcase their new works and stories of inspiration and growth.
Singer/Songwriter circles give the audience a glimpse into the inspirations of these talented artists. Each creative process is unique, exciting and special.
Our MC for the night will be Folami Jones.
Featured Singer/Songwriters:

Cyndi Cain

Pat Watson

Kwento

Zamani

The Artists:
Cyndi Cain
She’s got the kind of voice that’s capable of giving you goose bumps on the most sweltering of summer nights. The Halifax-based soul singer has shared the stage with Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Sharon Jones Naturally 7, Charles Bradley and in 2010 was selected to perform for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Cyndi’s release Essentially Cyndi earned her an East Coast Music Award nomination, as did her follow up, 2013’s Soul Food, a more old school sounding record that’s filled with passionate songs of both beautiful joy and pain. Arguably the east coast powerhouse of soul, Cain’s taken home the Galaxie Rising Star Award, the African Nova Scotia Music Award for Best R&B Artist and this year and has been named ANSMA’s Artist of the Year.
Pat Watson
Classic jazz, silky smooth with a gospel touch, that’s the music in Patricia Watson. The purity of Pat’s voice, combined with her style and grace won her the Rising Star Award for 2009 from the African Nova Scotia Music Association. She has been singing most of her life and became serious about her music when she retired in 2009. In addition to singing with her band and the A Capella Women’s Choir, Pat has directed gospel music workshops for The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival and
various churches in Nova Scotia. She has also conducted jazz and gospel workshops for The Harmony Bazaar Women’s Festival of Women and Song and various fund raising events. Patricia has performed for different churches in Nova Scotia, Vancouver, Arizona, California and New Mexico as a guest soloist, speaker and workshop facilitator.
Kwento
Originally from the Preston Township, Kwento is a product of self discovery and reclaiming her African roots. She wishes for her presence to tell a story that validates and offers comfort to the silenced. Formerly known as Kirsten Olivia, Kwento is not your typical R&B singer – her unique sound can be described as a cross between Neo soul and Experimental R&B; bringing genres together in a fusion that’s familiar yet stretching creative boundaries. Her performances are full of emotional honesty and empowered femininity and her vocals leave audiences speaking of her effortlessness. She boasts an impressive list of stages she has performed on, from Harlem New York’s Carribbean Music Festival, Halifax’s Jazz and Tall Ships Festivals, Nova Scotia Music Week, East Coast Music Week, and The African Nova Scotian Music Awards stage, where she won the award for Best Emerging artist. Her musical exploits have seen her become an ECMA Nominee for Best R&B Recording and The Coast’s Best R&B Silver winner.
Zamani
At just 17 years old, Zamani’s music is described as captivating, satiny-soulful and refreshingly pure! Greatly inspired by the R&B, pop, Jazz and soul divas of this era, Zamani, skillfully arranges, produces, writes, sings and performs original musical works. After a featured performance at Halifax’s popular “For the Love of God Concert in 2015 and a debut jazz performance at the prestigious Halifax TD International Jazz Festival – which won the praise of vocalist Sharon Jones – Zamani was invited to give a featured performance at the 18 th Annual African Nova Scotian Music Awards which launched her into the African Nova Scotian music scene. Zamani was recently named co-recipient of the 2018 ANSMA Portia White Youth Award; She is a recipient of the 2018 Jongleur Productions Performance Award and a nominee of the Jongleur Youth Arts Scholarship. She is currently working on an EP of original compositions to be released in 2018.
Four the Moment

Four the Moment‘s career spanned several decades and began as a direct action response against the Ku Klux Klan planning to establish a base in Halifax. They have an incredible story that we Nova Scotians should never forget. Their songs spoke to the African Nova Scotian experience and the fight for justice, freedom and equality for all.

The Sankofa Singer/Songwriter Circle is presented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees

Heavy
2018-05-04 18:30 - 20:00, 2018-05-05 20:00 - 21:30, 2018-05-06 16:00 - 17:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Gain 100 pounds, then lose that 100 pounds in six months.

Body shaming, self loathing, eating disorders, and parenting as an obese Dad are part of his fight on the journey to self love, body positivity, and becoming a superhero Dad.

Credits:
Written/ Performed by Taylor Olson
Directed by Sansom Marchand

Bio:
Taylor Olson: Since finishing the Dalhousie Acting Program in 2014, Taylor has worked locally on film and stage. He is one half of Afro Viking Pictures and part of Interwoven Theatre Collective. A multiple ACTRA award nominee, select screen credits include: Pure, Mr. D (CBC), Halloween Party, Hopeless Romantic (Northeast Films), Black Cop (Blac Op Films), Ariyah & Tristan’s Inevitable Break Up, Hustle & Heart (Afro-Viking Pictures), You Ruined Our Life!, Your Money or Your Wife (Shut Up and Deal), Haven (Syfy), Sex & Violence (Emotion Pictures). Selected theatre credits: Redfish (HTYP/ Boom Boom Pow), For the Taking (Festival Antigonish), David for Queen, Two in the Coop (HTYP), and Catherine Bank’s Bone Cage (Matchstick Theatre).

It's A Girl!
2018-05-04 20:30 - 21:30, 2018-05-05 18:00 - 19:00, 2018-05-06 18:30 - 19:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
I had a dream again the other night…
Sex, love, and identity: the life of one trans woman.
Created by Michelle Raine and Alexis Milligan
It’s A Girl! is a 60min performance piece created to engage public conversations about trans identity, and to provide opportunities for discussions about the new language of gender identity emerging in our society.
*Content warning:
Discussions about gender, transphobia, mental illness, assault, harassment, and marshmallows. Marshmallows everywhere

The True Cost of Coal
2018-05-08 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Part visual art installation, part spoken word storytelling, The True Cost of Coal examines the cost of coal-powered electricity, while celebrating stories of struggle from communities in the Appalachian mountains. A collaboration between the Beehive Design Collective and hip hop duo Test Their Logik, this event features large scale murals and stinging rhymes that will resonate loudly in Nova Scotia.

The True Cost of Coal graphic uses mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia as a lens through which to understand the historical and contemporary story of energy and resource extraction.
With a gigantic portable mural teeming with intricate images of plants and animals from the most biodiverse temperate forest on the planet, the Bees will share (and seek) stories of how mountaintop removal coal mining affect communities and ecosystems throughout Appalachia and beyond.
Long exploited as a resource-extraction colony within the US, the Appalachian mountains are home to a fight for survival which has determined, in part, the industrial power of this country. Without coal, mined at a great cost to Appalachian communities, there would be no ‘cheap’ electricity. Today’s energy corporations and government bodies are continuing to show the extent of their greed and short-sightedness as they push their extractive agendas in the “New Coal Rush.” We will expose the deceptions of “clean coal” technologies and bring to light the root causes of the climate chaos the planet is facing today.
The True Cost of Coal examines all of our connections to coal, while celebrating stories of struggle from mountain communities. The last chapter of the story also looks to the future, raising questions about alternatives, remediation, and regeneration.

Presented by the Service Employees International Union Local 2

iWitness
2018-05-09 19:00 - 19:30, 2018-05-10 19:00 - 19:30, 2018-05-11 19:00 - 19:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
“…a bold mover!” (Lisa Traiger, Washington Post)

Vincent E. Thomas/VTDance contemplates acts of humanity in the deeply moving, multi-layered work- iWitness. “I Pledge” explores simple truths in human behaviors and implied truths in human documents. “Render & Proceed” investigates the convolution of media and its impact on the human spirit. “Come Change” considers the past and present for a hopeful tomorrow.

Collaborators include: Dwayne Hess (video), Cecylia Barcyzk (cello), Daniel Jose Older (sound design, text), Jodi Ozimek (costume)

Photo credit: Marie Falconer

iWitness is the solo work based on the award-winning, evening length- Witness. Witness was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of 2008 Performing Arts for Everyone and the Millennium Stage.

“There is no doubt that Vincent E. Thomas is an ambitious choreographer.“(Washington Post)

Photo credit: Paul Emerson (same credit for feature event photo)

Standing With Water
2018-05-09 20:00 - 21:30, 2018-05-10 20:00 - 21:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Standing with Water is a tribute to two bodies of water on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean – the Songor Lagoon in Ada, Ghana, and the Shubenacadie River here in Nova Scotia.
This suite of dance pieces brings the two bodies of water and the issues that surround them into dialogue, exploring questions of ancestral relationship, responsibility, teachings, and the sacred. The pieces are a tribute to water itself, and to those who work so hard to protect it. Standing with Water is an ode to what was, and to what could be.
Choreographed by Liliona Quarmyne and featuring dancers Susan Barratt, Kathleen Doherty, Kara Friesen, Denise John, and Liliona Quarmyne.

Standing With Water is presented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees – Nova Scotia

With support from the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group
