LIBERATED

Community Movement Jam & Sneak Peek

Saturday, March 16, 2024 Time: 2:00 PM EST; Sneak Peek at 3 PM
Button Factory Arts
25 Regina Street South, Waterloo
FREE Event – REGISTRATION REQUIRED

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Join us for an afternoon of Caribbean music and dance at the Liberated Community Movement Jam put on by Virtu Arts Theatre. Open to families and humans of all ages, you will get the opportunity to connect with your body through a series of Caribbean dances. The jam will be followed by a sneak peek of LIBERATED – a movement piece by Vanessa Spence, Artistic Director of Virtu Arts Theatre. Gifts and refreshments will be provided.

LIBERATED is a personal movement exploration that seeks to represent the constant balance of disconnection from the body and regeneration of the body felt by, creator and performer, Vanessa Spence, during and after her pregnancies. Vanessa uses Caribbean dance and African percussion as a vehicle for this exploration due to its connection with Caribbean carnival which represents freedom from past oppressions.

Vanessa C Spence is a classically trained theatre actor, published author, playwright, producer, and arts educator. She is the artistic director of Virtu Arts – the first Black woman-led theatre company in the Region of Waterloo that serves the diaspora of Black, Caribbean, and African artists in regions where they are not well represented. She is the Producer at Obsidian Theatre – Canada’s leading culturally specific theatre company, and an associate artist of Pat the Dog Theatre Creation where she is currently completing a company/creator arts residency supported by the Ontario Arts Council. Vanessa is also the Board Chair of Arts Awards Waterloo Region.

Vanessa’s personal artistic practice is rooted in building empathy and understanding of the stories of Black female bodies as a call to action that will positively affect the community and future generations. Vanessa was accepted as a regional playwright in the 2021 cohort for Pat The Dog’s Women’s Room where she completed her most recent work, Stretch Marks which saw a 3-day run in the IMPACT21 Festival presented by MT Space. Vanessa is currently developing an untitled, intergenerational play that tells the story of three sisters from Trinidad grappling with themes of aging, legacy, illness, and life vs. death.

Learn more about Vanessa at vanessacspence.com, and Virtu Arts at virtuarts.ca.

Vanessa C Spence is a classically trained theatre actor, published author, playwright, producer, and arts educator. She is the artistic director of Virtu Arts – the first Black woman-led theatre company in the Region of Waterloo that serves the diaspora of Black, Caribbean, and African artists in regions where they are not well represented. She is the Producer at Obsidian Theatre – Canada’s leading culturally specific theatre company, and an associate artist of Pat the Dog Theatre Creation where she is currently completing a company/creator arts residency supported by the Ontario Arts Council. Vanessa is also the Board Chair of Arts Awards Waterloo Region.

Vanessa’s personal artistic practice is rooted in building empathy and understanding of the stories of Black female bodies as a call to action that will positively affect the community and future generations. Vanessa was accepted as a regional playwright in the 2021 cohort for Pat The Dog’s Women’s Room where she completed her most recent work, Stretch Marks which saw a 3-day run in the IMPACT21 Festival presented by MT Space. Vanessa is currently developing an untitled, intergenerational play that tells the story of three sisters from Trinidad grappling with themes of aging, legacy, illness, and life vs. death.

Learn more about Vanessa at vanessacspence.com, and Virtu Arts at virtuarts.ca.