GIRL BRAIN

EMCEES

KITA NO TAIKO

Japanese Drumming (taiko) is a majority-female art form in North America. Many enjoy the ability to express themselves through the physicality, grace, rhythms, and camaraderie of taiko. Kita no Taiko is Alberta’s oldest Japanese drumming group, formed in 1986. Our performers are proud to demonstrate the powerful drums. We were happy to perform at SkirtsAfire in 2019 and support this festival!

Photo by Sean Gordon. In this photo: Keiko Marumo and Jody Crilly

SADIE’S GHOST

Sadie’s Ghost is Amber-Lynn Yourk (mandolin/guitar), Hannah Goa (fiddle/guitar), and Toby Tellier (bass/clawhammer banjo). An acoustic string band from Alberta, Sadie’s Ghost bridges bluegrass, Appalachian old-time, and folk music traditions. Accomplished instrumentalists in their own right, together they bring each other to new levels. Their music tends to the soul, transporting audiences out of the day-to-day with rousing, rough-hewn hootenanny and delicately spun, haunting harmonies.

Photo by Chris Beauchamp

THE UKECLECTICS

THE UKECLECTICS started as particles from an asteroid on an unstable orbit around Earth’s sun, grew strong feeding on non-corporate radio waves, and found themselves somehow each holding some kind of ukulele, or cajon. Bound together by the ancient laws of egregious taste, the Ukeclectics bring you deep cuts from decades past and present, with the only requirement being fun.

DAWN CARTER

Dawn Carter is a writer, educator, performance poet, public speaker, entrepreneur, and activist with Caribbean heritage. She emigrated with her family from racialized civil unrest in early 1970’s England. They lived in rural Alberta before settling in Edmonton, where she considers herself a Northsider for life.

She was involved in Edmonton’s nascent poetry scene at the Backroom Vodka Bar with the Raving Poets Band. From there, she read her fiery works in Edmonton, Toronto, and Calgary. Dawn has mentored and encouraged many writers since the 90s and is proud to count some Edmonton Poet Laureates as her mentees. She worked with altView, YouthWrite Society Canada, Edmonton Public Library, and other organizations as a performer, instructor, and producer. In 2016, she hosted the Ministry of Human Services Inspiration Awards, which recognized the work of Albertans committed to violence prevention and wellbeing in their communities. Most recently, her writing has appeared in The Black Prairie Archives: An Anthology (2020), the first collection of Black writers from the Canadian Prairies. She’s got stories and fighting words and it looks like that’s not going to change. She lives in harmony with her dog Stella and her cat Roscoe. She’s also the Executive Director of the Pride Centre of Edmonton.

FLAMENCO DEL CORAZON

Flamenco del Corazón is a flamenco cuadro made up of flamenco and jazz guitarist Jim Findlay, flamenco singer and dancer Susan MacGregor, flamenco singer Barb McKinley and flamenco dancer and palmero, Carmen Locke. Over the past few years, they have performed at numerous city events and locales, including Edmonton’s Blue Chair restaurant, the Edmonton Works, the Flamenco Society Community show, and others. Their passion for flamenco is evident in their performances, which some members of their audiences have compared to tablaos (flamenco shows) seen in Triana, Seville, Spain.

Photo by Cam Neufeld

PHYLLIS SINCLAIR

PHYLLIS SINCLAIR

Distinguished by Maverick Magazine as a “A Lady of Conviction,” singer-songwriter Phyllis Sinclair taps on the conscience of the established ethos to flag distinctions and inequities under a brilliant banner of song. With seraphic vocals she charmingly disarms, soliciting a self-imposed metamorphosis to transform old ways of thinking into new possibilities. A deceivingly quiet and amiable diplomatist, Sinclair’s passion and advocacy are evident in her nurtured prose.

Given the Cree name, Songkeeper Woman by her territory elder, Sinclair says the name comes with a a level of responsibility that she takes to heart. Born on the western shore of Hudson’s Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, Sinclair is a member of the York Factory First Nation. (Kischiwaskahegan Negani Innewiseewin)

A singer-songwriter for over two decades, Sinclair’s proves that “using what you got” works. She has earned awards, and accolades for her deep and affective construction of songs, carrying listeners to places she’s been, and wants to go. Canada’s premium Folk, Roots and World Beat magazine, Penguin Eggs described her song North Coast Fisher Wife’s Prayer, from her debut album Fence Posts and Stones, as “positively impressive.” Her second release, Fathomless Tales from Leviathan’s Hole, earned her a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award nomination for Best Folk Acoustic Album. From this album her song, The Manicure, was selected by Musicians with a Cause to be included in their “More Life in the Years” CD compilation. Her song was selected out of over 350,000 entries world wide. Dreams of the Washerwomen was selected by Radio Canada International’s Brazilian sector as a best new recording by a Canadian artist. It also earned her a Best Folk Acoustic Album Award by the CAMA Awards. Phyllis was nominated as Female Entertainer of the Year by the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards for her extensive tours. Her newly released album Ghost Bones, ranked #1 on the National Folk/Roots/Blues Chart, garnered two Top 10’s on the National Indigenous Countdown, one of these songs, “O Land” placing #1. Ghost Bones has been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award.

Photo by Bill Meachim

BELEDIYYA DANCE COMPANY

El Samah is a dance style from Aleppo, Syria that has its roots in Sufi ecstatic dance and in the ancient Andalusian musical poetry of muwashahat. The swirling fabric evokes the devotion of worshippers and the spinning dancers reflect the dance in its many forms from private worship to public performance on stages throughout the Middle East. Belediyya Dance Company presents El Samah to Salla Fina by Lebanese singer Rima Khcheich.

Belediyya Dance Company performs dances from around the Mediterranean, focusing mainly on folkloric and performance arts from North Africa and the Middle East.

SOPHIE MAY HEALEY

Hysteria Winthrop is a proper young lady who suffers from a mysterious malady, and hasn’t left the house in years. This performance will be her first outing in a very long time, and she can’t wait to meet all of you!

Her creator, Sophie May Healey, is a recent graduate of the BFA Acting program at the University of Alberta. She strives to tell honest stories through her work as an actor, singer, dancer, and writer, exploring ideas of gender, neurodivergence, and cultural identity in theatre, film, clowning, and visual art. Her original neo-bouffon clown works, including Hysteria Winthrop and Sharon the Wellness Hag, have been featured in cabarets and festivals across the city and online. She is currently working for Azimuth Theatre as apprentice for their creation and outreach program. Next, you can catch her getting intense in Ghost River’s 3-week National Devised Theatre Intensive, and Opera NUOVA’s 10 Day Artist Development program immediately after. Recent credits include the Bakkhai in “Bakkhai” (Bleviss Laboratory Theatre) Mina Harker in “Dracula”, the Owl in “The Birds”, the Young Woman in “Don Juan Comes Back From the War” (Studio Theatre) and Maisie Merryweather in “The Boy Friend”(University of Alberta).

HAIDEE

HAIDEE is an up and coming Filipino-Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter. Her most recent release ”2U,” features FITZGERVLD, a fresh, carefree sound, and effortlessly agile vocals. Her debut EP, coyly titled ”An EP,’ was released June 26th, 2020 which was lauded as being fresh, straightforward, and sincere. HAIDEE writes & records her music in a cozy basement studio in an effort to preserve the emotional honesty of her music.

Photo by Kesara Kimo

GIRLZ WITH GUITARS

Girlz With Guitarz are a three piece all girl band (two sisters and a younger aunt), who started jamming in a garage. They play cover tunes of all kinds, all genres and they’ve also started writing songs. Playing acoustic guitars, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, bass, and harmonica’s all while sitting and playing Cajun’s. And the piece de resistance is their kick ass harmonies! From humble beginnings in a garage, Girlz With Guitarz has brought their music across the city, recently opening for Susan Aglukark on Canada day.