In My View: Resilience, Art and Migration (Asian Heritage Month)

A   Asian Heritage Month is an important time every year in North America to celebrate the Asian cultures within our communities. Asian representation is especially in focus this year, in response to the Anti-Asian Racism and violence that increased during the pandemic, bringing to light the quiet tide of racism that has always existed and never enough discussed. As these hard topics ignite conversation, and issues bubble to the surface to be exposed to light, we encourage you to participate and be a part of discovering, understanding and being a part of the difference we make together. 

During this month, we will continue to highlight events and campaigns honouring Asian heritage month, such as the TIFF Asia Unbound program we shared earlier. Today, we invite you to mark your calendars for next week’s panel at the Toronto Public Library on Resilience, Art and Migration, for which two incredible Canadian talents, collaborators we love and value at Fete Chinoise, are involved. Jasmine Chen, a seasoned theatre and performance artist and educator, is the moderator for this panel, and one of the panelists is dancer and instructor, Ming-Bo Lam — both are cultural contributors who are building the community at large with their art and performance talents, and also advocates and strong voices for the Asian community.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Date: May 17, 2021

FREE ADMISSION, ONLINE EVENT

Please access event at Toronto Public Library virtual platform https://www.crowdcast.io/e/tplfourartists/register

MODERATOR:
Jasmine Chen

PANELISTS:
Writer/Director/Musician Romeo Candido,
Choreographer/OAYSIS Studios Founder Ming-Bo Lam,
and Artistic Leader/Theatre Artist Miriam Fernandes

OPENING REMARKS:
Mr. Justin Poy, Honorary Patron, Asian Heritage Month-CFACI,
Mr. Gregory McCormick, Toronto Public Library

In this lively one hour event, a panel of celebrated cultural leaders and award winning artists come together to discuss how they've navigated and succeeded in the world of performing arts. Moderator Jasmine Chen will be asking Writer/Director/Musician Romeo Candido, Choreographer/OAYSIS Studios Founder Ming-Bo Lam, and Artistic Leader/Theatre Artist Miriam Fernandes about their journeys in building their own platforms and amplifying the voices of their communities. They will share their insights and experiences in how resilience has enabled them to adapt, particularly during the pandemic, which has threatened the survival of the performing arts industry.

Panelists: Ming-Bo Lam is known, first and foremost, for her love of dance and ability to share that passion with all whom she encounters. Her choreography is rooted in her classical foundations and guided by strong internal dialogue and emotional undertones. Lam graduated with an Honours BFA in Theatre Performance Dance, from Ryerson University, as Valedictorian. Since graduating, she has crossed the line between classical dance genres and the commercial industry, choreographing for theatre productions (SeXT: Sex Education by Theatre; Mixie and the Halfbreeds, produced by fu-GEN Theatre Company) and independent dance projects and commissions. Select performance credits include the Much Music Video Awards, the Toronto Raptors’ Dance Pak, The Umbrella Academy, Sogand, PSY, and the NBA All Star Weekend 2016. Currently, Lam works as a freelance dancer, choreographer, adjudicator, and educator. She is also the co-founder of OAYSIS Studios: holistic movement lifestyle, offering online classes in dance, yoga, fitness, and mindful movement.

Miriam Fernandes is a Toronto-based artist who has worked as an actor, director, and theatre-maker around the world. She is the co-Artistic Director of Why Not Theatre. Acting credits include Jungle Book (WYRD/Kidoons), Animal Farm (Soulpepper Theatre), Prince Hamlet (Why Not Theatre), Dinner with the Gods (Wolf and Wallflower, Sydney AU), The Snow Queen and A Sunday Affair (Theatre New Brunswick), The Living (Summerworks Performance Festival), and Soliciting Temptation (Tarragon Theatre). She has trained with the SITI Company, and is a graduate of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Directing and creation credits include Nesen, (MiniMidiMaxi Festival, Norway) The First Time I Saw the Sea (YVA Company, Norway). She is currently in development for a few new pieces that she is co-creating including an adaptation of the Mahabharata, Three Pigs, and a new play called Partition. Miriam is the recipient of the JBC Watkins Award and was nominated for the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.

Romeo Candido is a dynamic multi-disciplinary Filipino Canadian award winning story teller with experience in narrative and factual storytelling for film, television, advertising, theatre and digital platforms. His horror film ANG PAMANA : THE INHERITANCE played in theatres across the Philippines and won Best Feature at the Winnipeg International Film Festival. His award winning transmedia project PRISON DANCER: THE MUSICAL, based on the Dancing Inmates of Cebu, is the recipient of the National Creation Fund and is being developed as a stage musical with the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. Romeo is the winner of the Bell Media / WGC diverse screenwriter program and was invited to be a story coordinator for season two of KIM’S CONVENIENCE. Romeo made his Netflix debut as a writer for both seasons of the sci fi thriller ANOTHER LIFE. He made his comedy television directing debut as the series director of the CSA nominated comedy SECOND JEN. His musical comedy drama TOPLINE is currently in pre-production and slated to shoot in the spring with Shaftesbury for CBC. A proud member of the Filipino Canadian community, Romeo has been instrumental in bringing to light the Filipino experience either as the Senior Producer of CBC Arts or his over twenty years of mentoring, collaborating, and documenting his community.

Jasmine Chen is a second-generation Chinese immigrant artist based in T’karonto (Dish with One Spoon Territory) and the unceded Coast Salish Territories (colonially known as Vancouver). Her work has engaged with communities across Turtle Island, including The Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Arts Club, Prairie Theatre Exchange, fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, 4th Line Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, and Canadian Stage. At the core of her work is her dedication to community building, storytelling, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her interest in multilingual creation, audience interactivity, social justice, and diasporic narratives often drive her artistic practice. Jasmine is a performer, director, arts educator, producer, writer, and creator. She is a recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Award, Stratford Festival Jean Gascon Award, the Toronto Harold Award, and is a Dora Award nominee. Her work has been featured in CBC Arts, NOW Magazine, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Intermission Magazine, and Fete Chinoise Magazine. Jasmine is the Artistic and Community Producer at Gateway Theatre in Richmond, BC.

Co-Organizers:

Asian Heritage Month—Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc.; Toronto Public Library; York Centre for Asian Research, York University; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; York University; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; WE Artists' Group; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society; Fête Chinoise