Mohkinstsis (YYC/Calgary) BIPOC Circle Discussion

Thomas Geddes, Mike Tan, Kiana Wu, Jenna Rodgers, Chantelle Han
Online

The Alberta Dance Alliance is pleased to share a record of this important discussion on behalf of its organizers: Thomas Geddes, Mike Tan, Kiana Wu, Jenna Rodgers, Chantelle Han.

[On] Wednesday, July 8th from 12:30-2:30pm, [there was] a panel discussion amplifying voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the Calgary theatre and performing arts community.

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Our panelists include:

Makambe K. Simamba, moderator

Janelle Cooper

Caleigh Crow

Chantelle Han

Jay Northcott

Zach Running Coyote

Pam Tzeng

Tenaj Williams

 

As you may know, there are several ongoing conversations within our community regarding state-sanctioned violence, police brutality, and the realities of Anti-Black and Anti-Indigenous racism. Institutions of all kinds are recognizing how they uphold white supremacy and are making short term and long term goals. We believe these conversations must centre BIPOC voices. We’ve assembled this talented team of artists to discuss their experiences working in our local theatre community.

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If you have questions, concerns or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to direct them to bipocpanelyyc@gmail.com and one of the organizers will get back to you promptly.

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For those that either attended the event live or already taken the time to view the recorded version on youtube, thank you for listening and reflecting. We needed to take the time to give ourselves space again and to be generous with ourselves after offering what was done on July 8th. Today, Monday July 13th, we are sending this follow up as some questions were brought up in the live chat and we wanted to do a follow up with everyone with additional things and material.
  • Here is the youtube link to share amongst those in your communities who still haven’t watched.
  • Regarding individual support and donating to the Speakers and Organizers of this Circle Discussion, please go to this GoFundMe link. It has been organized by the same individuals and you can find the transparency in how funds will be allocated and where to find other individuals/organizations to support (such as companies that some of these speakers run! If you’d like to donate directly to their company, we encourage you to contact them)
  • For those that don’t follow Chromatic Theatre in Calgary, please go to their website and look at these theatre stats for a sobering look at BIPOC artists being hired amongst various companies. https://chromatictheatre.ca/yyc-theatre-stats/
    • There are individual stats of shows further down the page than just the infographics! All the way back to August 2018
    • Food for thought. Unless flown in from somewhere else, consider how many of these BIPOC artists are the ones who are maybe circulating through multiple theatre companies in Calgary.
  • Caleigh Crow, one of our speakers, brought up a talk her brother, Colin Wolf, did at PACTcon2019. We’ve all heard someone ask, ‘Well what can we do?’, ‘How can we help’? Colin has some thoughts on that
  • For inclusivity and accessibility, we recommend reaching out to Inside Out Theatre.
This was just a tip of the conversation with only a handful of artists.
Your attendance, listening and reflection is appreciated.
Your conversations, action and transparency, we can’t wait to witness and be welcomed into.
Cheers,
The Organizers and Speakers of the BIPOC Circle Discussion on July 8th