{W5H} Tracey Erin Smith

Tracey Erin Smith is one of those people you meet and it feels like you've known each other since high school. Or are currently in high school together.  She has such a contagiously positive vibe about her, but with a tinge of that all refreshing bite that you need in a good high school buddy. If we were in high school together, I imagine that we would be those two girls in the back of Period Three World Issues, who would diligently take down notes and participate in important World Issues debates, but would also spontaneously giggle and be caught many-a-time for passing notes to each other in class [like "Tretorns are soooo 1988"].


It's this quality that makes Tracey the best kind of teacher. She's been igniting creativity in people of all ages for the past decade as founder and creator of soulOtheatre - an exciting program that designed to help people create their own one-person show. 


And you can sure as hell bet that in her class, spontaneous giggles and passing notes would be encouraged, if not required.

Who was your favourite teacher(s)?
Mr. Moses.  He was my English teacher at Claude Watson High School for the Performing Arts in Toronto.  Mr. Moses had a white beard and rode a motorcycle.  One day I gave him yet another baloney excuse why my English homework wasn’t done. He looked me straight in the eye and said: “You know Tracey, every time you lie, you give a piece of your soul away.”  

When did you discover your identity through art ?
When I wrote my one-woman show, “The Burning Bush!”  It was autobiographical in a fantastical kind of way.  I made my main character over come my worst fear of having to do a strip tease in front of the audience. In rehearsal I pretty much had a panic attack when it came time to rehearse that scene and we incorporated that panic attack into the show.  The character hyperventilates and makes sounds like a sick animal right before she runs on stage and takes off most of her clothes.  So the process of creating a solo show that was loosely based on my childhood dreams of becoming a Rabbi and my fear of getting naked taught, me a lot about myself.  The identity it helped me discover is that I hover somewhere between being a Rabbi and an exotic dancer.

Why do you feel it would benefit artists to collaborate?
Creative collaboration is definitely an inspiring equation of the sum being bigger than it’s individual parts.  I have seen in solo show classes I lead that working in a group helps creators come up with ideas they may not have got to on their own.  It’s such a cool moment when a class mate says just the thing you need to hear to put that missing piece in place for you that takes your show to the next level.  It’s awesome when that happens. Everyone wins.  The creator has a breakthrough and the classmate that gave the idea gets the instant satisfaction of helping someone in a creative and meaningful way.  
 
Where is it that you find, are the most valued elements in art?
What I most value is when someone reveals a truth about him/herself and therefore shares with us what it is to be human. I am so moved by honesty. It takes courage to be honest. It can be the hardest and the most freeing thing to reveal the truth, your truth.    
 
What is your artist style?
I asked my fiancé to answer this question and he said:  My artist style is compassionate, humanistic, loving and passionate.  (He may be a little biased)  I would add that my style to use what ever means are necessary to help others find their authentic style.  I try to bring all of who I am to my teaching and hope that that give those present the permission and safe environment to let all of themselves come out and play. I have noticed when people feel free to be themselves, they create more material for their show and the more they can connect with the beauty, humour and the absurdity of the human experience.
 
How do you share your style?
Recently some fellow theatre artists and some of my class participants said they see me as:  a Sassy Mystic, a Soulful Sh*t Disturber, a Vixon Superhero Teacher and a Mind Reading Stripper!  It came out of a writing exercise we did to identify who you would be if you were to be a ‘character’ in a play.  Because when you do an autobiographical one-person show, you are a character, the main character!  So it is extremely helpful in the writing to take a step back and see yourself as a character.  I would call this sharing your soul-style with the audience, hence the name soulOtheatre.  

[L'il Tracey]

Tracey is founder and creator of soulOtheatre, and an award-winning solo performer and playwright. Her hit one-woman show The Burning Bush! has been performed Off-Off Broadway in New York City, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax.

Tracey will be teaching her weekend workshop in New York City, April 15-17 at The TheaterLab.

Thanks Frost for the wonderful set of W5H Questions.

{W5H} Marcelino DaCosta aka. Frost

There are some people you meet who just resonate. Marcelino, aka Frost, is one of those people. We met at the Canadian Stage intensive. I was struck by his passion, curiosity, vulnerability and wisdom. On the first day of the intensive, he said something that had such an impact on how I view our work as Artist Educators. He said "We are meant to serve. We are servants"; a concept that I find full of both humility and purpose. 


He's the kind of person that you want to walk into your classroom, community or studio, because he is there to learn as much as he is there to teach. 

Who first gave you the confidence to be an artist? Who first gave you the confidence to be an educator?

I'd say, that I’ve always been drawn to art, pardon the pun. I'm originally a visual "artist" and became a street dancer in 98' focusing on original Hip-Hop style of "B-Boying" which I am still a practitioner of today.  Through training and growing with my crew, performing, winning competitions, meeting comrades around the world and learning from pioneers as well as true students of the art and culture, I began to form more confidence. After graduating from Sheridan College studying community outreach and development, I met one of my first educator/producer inspirations, Beth Gignac who is well known in the City of Mississauga, is currently an Arts Manager for the City of Calgary. She inspired me to think bigger and not be afraid of producing compelling ideas that could bridge gaps between people or arts and culture, as well as encourage my perspective around social justice.


What inspires your work as an artist educator? What feeds you? 
Life inspires my work, learning more wisdom from living- doing things right or making mistakes. Education, I'm currently working on my degree at York University doing Fine Arts & Cultural studies.  Growth in my craft, learning more history for sharing material that's based on experience, understanding relationships between people and how they interact also inspire me. Another thing that feeds me is when I create or learn more techniques to apply along with my experimentation. I make it my signature to never teach the same class twice, you never fully know what you'll get, except that either way it's gonna be quality and something to grow with and discuss.

When did you first feel like an "artist"? 
Been trying to be careful with that term "Artist" it has a lot of social constructs attached to it that may imply a level of supremacy.  I was ok with that for awhile? *laughing* cause I've been used to feeling that what I do makes me a like a superhero! and why not? like others who do what I do - I have an alter ego, a performance character and have supernormal abilities.  However I think a term like practitioner would better define and represent how I feel about Hip-Hop culture and my role within it. I began to feel like a true practitioner after I started teaching what I do, learning from pioneers locally and developing my own theories around creating original concepts. I think also when you learn to know your worth and make your exchanges the way you want (whatever those may be) then you're on the right track in my opinion. 

Where do you "work"?
That depends on the context, if I'm professionally doing "work", then it's in studios, community centres, drop-ins, schools, public and private venues, other communities. Some of my most favourite and full filling work is with my crew "Ground illusionz", a community Hip-Hop Group I formed in 1999. "G.I." works on an informal grassroots level for the purpose of training young practitioners of hip-Hop culture to professionally develop, compete, perform and teach and gain life skills. I also work as a facilitator with UNITY Charity, which is a not-for-profit public health organization. We offer alternative arts education and opportunities using Urban Non-violent Initiatives Through Youth. And finally, the work I've gained some my most relevant experience, is being a senior facilitator for the world renown "BluePrintForLife- Social Work through Hip-Hop" organization. BluePrint works with various indigenous communities across Canada's remote Arctic with the intentions of fostering the sharing of traditional culture & promoting healing.  Other stuff I consider "work" would be on myself (if there is really a self) I'm always trying to grow professionally and personally.


Why do you think arts education is valuable in today's capital-based world?
I'll make this one simple. Humans encouraged to learn and practice the arts, in short - is like creating and maintaining the most amazing custom vehicle of your dreams. If one learns and practices the arts, they travel more freely on the map of life, by evolving their perspective and problem solving skills, learn to have stronger values and cultural sensitivity, direction and aesthetic sensibility, formulate an opinion with facts and reason, promote healing, develop a sense of identity and imagination, unify with a community and think critically.  Problem is that most people in positions of power don't like their people getting smarter and/or having their own voice.  I don't need to explain why, the rest is 'his'tory.


How did you come to your first experience with the professional arts?
Probably at the same time in my development when I cognitively understood the concept of "performance" and the level of skill it takes to accomplish things that seem so simple, powerful or didactic. I would witness this at rock concerts, underground Hip-Hop shows and seeing my heroes based out of the Toronto scene like "Bag of Trix", "Intrikt", & "Boogie Brats" doing their thing in 99'.   After that, my personal history in growing as an artist/practitioner lead me to experience performing, competing and teaching, one understands "professional arts" more when they actually live life that way. It's different when you're on the inside actually bleeding for what you do, that's when your perspective can't be contested.

[vintage Frost]

Marcelino is a Professional Street Dancer and Community Outreach Worker. He has worked with people of all ages in Mississauga, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Whitehorse and Halifax. 


Thanks Rob Kempson for this great set of W5H questions.

{W5H} Rob Kempson

Rob Kempson is a stylin', sartorial wunderkind in our little Arts and Education Community. We were introduced a couple of years ago when I was on a playwright guest panel [along with the wonderful Marjorie Chan] for The Paprika Festival, of which Rob was in his first season as Artistic Producer. But it wasn't until the Canadian Stage intensive that I was able to get to know him. Busy as ever, he is still the Artistic Producer of The Paprika Festival, sits on the board of PAONE, just wrapped up his three-year tenure as Education Manager at Canadian Stage and is now the new Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille. Phew! 


A splendid feature of the W5H series, is that each featured Artist Educator generates a new set of questions for a yet-to-be-determined next artist. So, these questions for Rob come courtesy of Cathy Nosaty:

Where were you when you first heard music that made a huge impact on you?
That's almost impossible to say. The story goes that I asked my mom for piano lessons when I was five. We didn't have a piano in the house so I'm not sure how or why it occurred to me. Either way, she said no--largely because I was the type who wanted to try/do/make/eat/play something different everyday. As it turns out I kept on asking and she finally gave in when I was seven. That's also the year when I joined the church choir as a Boy Soprano (sexy, I know). After me, the youngest member in the choir was my dad. So I guess if I had to pick a place it would be my parents' church.
 
What was your first favourite music?
My first favourite music was undoubtedly The Phantom of the Opera. I liked lots of music at that time, but nothing else impacted me in the same way as that show. During recess--EVERY recess--my friend Kathryn and I would kick people out of the tube slide so that we could sing through the entire show from the little lyric books that came with the cassettes. We thought the acoustics were best in the tube slide and we were in Grade 6, so no one else really had a chance at the slide. I can still remember arguing over who got to sing Christine's part in Angel of Music. Sometimes I wish my life were more like that still. Or maybe I just wish that I could still sing that part.
 
When did you realize that there were songs out there that expressed feelings and ideas similar to yours?
Shortly after I fell in love with Phantom, I fell in love with Musical Theatre in general. I think that the lyrical content of musicals, the emotion that they evoke, the stories that they tell always mean more than the verse and chorus of a hit pop song. When I found musicals, I found myself unable to separate the song from the story and the music took me away on a complete journey, rather than providing background entertainment. I think that's why kids connect with Disney movie musicals. Everytime you hear the song, you are transported. As much as Gaga makes me want to dance, she has yet to transport me.
 
Who was your favourite musician/band?
Jann Arden. Without a doubt. Something about her three-chord compositions and nasal voice made my pre-adolescent self shudder with excitement. I think I've seen her upwards of five times to date, and I would still go see her again if the opportunity presented itself. One time, my friend and I drove to Massey Hall (from Kingston) to see her, and we had won backstage passes because we were "Jann's Fanns" online. That's real dedication--becoming a fan long before facebook redesigned the meaning of that term. Even though her new stuff isn't that great I still have every album.
 
How did you feel listening to your favourite music?
All of my playlists are labelled by feelings, not categories. Music has always gotten under my skin and made me feel physical impulses--to dance, to sing-along, to write, to compose. It's not uncommon to see me bounce to the beat while riding the subway, or full-out tap on the platform. It's also not uncommon for me to miss my stop because I'm involved in a song that I'm listening to (although sometimes it's just because I love the Tetris app). I think my connection with music is best described by when/how I listen to it; when I'm listening to music, that is my primary activity. I cannot listen and work, listen and write, listen and anything. It consumes my whole feeling. Now doesn't that sound all artsy... sheesh.

[young Rob and friends]

You will find Rob at the helm of The Paprika Festival, running March 18-26th, at the Tarragon Theatre. The festival is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary this year. It features incredible, original performances by young people and it's absolutely free.

{W5H} Cathy Nosaty

In grade seven and eight, when all the popular girls got on the volley ball team, I was on the W5H Team. It was a competitive trivia tournament between schools, very much along the lines of Reach for the Top. I was quick on the buzzer, and sometimes I think I knew way more stuff back then, in pre-Google land, than I do now [capital of Belgium anyone?].


In the spirit of W5H [which stands for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How], I've created this series for you to get to know some awesome and inspiring Artist Educators out there, many who I met at the Canadian Stage intensive in February. In W5H, we'll take a walk down memory lane with a variety of arts educators, to learn about their school days and their earliest memories of art and learning.


First up: Composer Cathy Nosaty. Cathy and I met ages ago when she worked on the sound design for Theatre Direct's production of Wajdi Mouadi's Alphonse, performed by the incomparable Alon Nashman. 

Where did you go to elementary school? 
St. Avila School in Winnipeg.  It was one of the first ‘open-concept’ schools where there were about 10 classes Grades 1 – 6 all in one huge space!  I don’t think the ‘open-concept’ lasted long though…..it was pretty noisy.

What was for your favorite subject?
Language arts.

When [if ever] did you get in trouble at school?
In grade 4 my classmates were accusing my friend Ruth of writing on a bookshelf with a black marker – Ruth said she didn’t do it and I stuck up for her.  I found out later that she DID write with the black marker – Ruth had thought there was a piece of clear tape there so she wrote on the bookshelf but denied it later.  I felt badly about it afterwards – I had not meant to, but I lied when I told the other kids she hadn’t done it.

Who was your favourite teacher?
Mrs. Beavis, my language arts teacher.

Why?
She made me feel special.  She even had me over to her house for lunch and for her son’s birthday party!  It was pretty great.

How did you cope with your least favourite subject?
I don’t recall having a least favourite subject in elementary school.  But in high school school I really disliked algebra – I didn’t understand a single thing the teacher was saying!  My marks went from 93% in geometry to 26% in algebra the next term– it was discouraging.

[this is Cathy at 5 year old]

Cathy has been an artist educator with Manitoba Artists in the Schools, Ontario Artists in Education, Learning Through the Arts with the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Create-An-Opera Program for The Canadian Opera Company. She has created scores for theatre production for regional and independent theatres across Canada, including music for over 60 productions for Manitoba Theatre for Young People and 10 productions for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.