Black and Blue Matters

Plays Dancer

Jaleesa ‘Tea Leaf’ Coligny has had rigorous training in urban dance – 10 years in Hip hop and 3 years in Krump – which she received from several pioneers of the Montreal and New York dance scene. She continues to deepen her knowledge by keeping an eye on Hip Hop culture. She has been deeply inspired by all aspects of the culture from a very young age, and more particularly with its sub-genres. Jaleesa consistently seeks to develop her Hip-Hop dance vocabulary and understanding. She continuously shares her love for Hip Hop in both freestyle and stage performances. She was the newest member to join Ebnflōh Dance Company in 2018.

Plays David

Troy Slocum is a sound designer, audio artist, and electronic music composer. His work has been heard in film, television, live performance and installations in galleries and venues throughout Canada and beyond. Recent credits include the sound design and original music for: The Lamentable Tragedy of Sal Capone at the National Arts Centre; the inaugural NAC Indigenous Theatre production of Marie Clement’s The Unnatural and Accidental Women; the National Film Board documentary, The Road Forward, and the documentary series, Looking at Edward Curtis, for the Knowledge Network, both of which were directed by Marie Clements. He is also scoring and designing the sound for the new CBC horror-comedy web series, The Bannocking, created and produced by Damien Eagle Bear. He is also designing the sound for the feature length documentary Grey Roads directed by Jesse McCracken, premiering this Spring at HOTDOCS 2021. His work can also be heard in the documentary feature, That Higher Level, and in True North – The Rise of Toronto Basketball, also produced by the NFB. He has been nominated for a Soirée Des Masques Award for Best Sound Design, several Mecca and META Awards, and won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Sound Design for The Pipeline Project from ITSAZOO/ SavageSociety Theatre. Troy also mentors students in the Production Design & Technical Arts Program at the National Theatre School of Canada. 

Sets & Costume Design

Nalo Soyini Bruce is a Montreal-based artist, set, costume and prop designer of Caribbean origin. Her designs evoke rich associations through vibrant colour relationships, textured surfaces and varied materials. She uses this vocabulary to express underlying historical, cultural and psychological dimensions of stories enacted on screen and stage. Since she emerged from the Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program’s 2017-2018 ensemble, Nalo has worked with numerous theatre companies that include Black Theatre Workshop, Geordie Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille on productions that explore themes of cultural identity, tolerance, acceptance, and hopeful futures. Recent projects include Simone Half and Half, directed by Quincy Armorer (Black Theatre Workshop’s Black History Month school tour presentation, February 2020); The Negroes are Congregating, directed by Natasha Adiyana Morris(A Piece of Mine Arts & Theatre Passe Muraille co-production, March 2020); Da Kink in my Hair, directed by Ray Hogg(An Arts Club Theatre Company production, April 2020 opening cancelled due to Covid-19).

Lighting Designer

A former dancer/choreographer turned lighting designer, Tim Rodrigues has worked with an array of companies on creation-based projects and international tours. A graduate of the Contemporary Dance Department at Concordia University and the Production Design & Technical Arts Program at the National Theatre School of Canada, he is an active collaborator in both the dance and theatre communities. Notable lighting designs include: 1976 (choreographed by Dana Michel); Reaching for Starlight (Dir. Mike Payette) for Geordie Theatre; Dreary and Izzy (Dir. Mario Crudo) and The River (Dir. Thom Currie) for Magnus Theatre; Marjorie Prime for The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (Dir. Lisa Rubin), which earned him a META Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design, and How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Dir. Tamara Brown) for Black Theatre Workshop, which earned him a 2019 META Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design. In November of 2020 he was announced as a Resident Designer with Montréal’s Black Theatre Workshop. In addition to his designs, he proudly serves as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for MainLine Theatre. 

Stage Manager

Danielle is so pleased to return to the BTW family. Earlier this year she stage managed Sanctuary by Lydie Dubuisson for the Discovery Series. Other BTW credits include, Rendez-Vous with Home, Bluenose, She Said, He Said, Binti’s Journey, Gas Girls, and Harlem Duet. Other theatre credits include Porte Parole (The Assembly/L’Assemblée), Geordie Theatre (Virginia Wolf, Reaching for Starlight, Around the World in 80 Days), Centaur Theatre Company (Paradise Lost, The Last Wife, Motherhouse, The St. Leonard Chronicles, The Envelope) as well as the Segal Centre for Performing Arts (Times, They are A Changin’, Same Time, Next Year, Waiting for the Barbarians, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Forever Plaid, Tribes).