Prophecy Fog

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Jani Lauzon

Creator and Performer

Jani Lauzon is a multidisciplinary artist of Métis ancestry. She is a 10 time Dora Mavor Moore nominated actor/director/writer, a three time Juno nominated singer/songwriter, an award winning screen actress, a Gemini Award winning puppeteer and a Toronto Theatre Critics award winning director. She recently received the ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence celebrating both her body of work and her commitment to advocacy for inclusion as well as the John Hirsch Directing Award. Memorable theatre appearances include; Cordelia/Fool in the NAC Aboriginal production of King Lear, Shylock in Merchant of Venice (SITR) and the Neighbour/Servant in Blood Wedding (Modern Times/Aluna Theatre). Television guest appearances include Ruby and the Well, Something Undone, Saving Hope and Conspiracy of Silence. She won Best Actress at Dreamspeakers and the American Indian Film Festival for her portrayal of Doris in A Windigo
Tale. She recently directed and co-wrote (with Kaitlyn Riordan) a successful run of 1939 at the Stratford Festival. Her company Paper Canoe Projects was created in 2013 to support the creation of her works that include: Prophecy Fog, A Side of Dreams, I Call myself Princess, Just One Word and euthanasia (short films).

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Franco Boni

Director

Franco is a recognized cultural innovator, facilitator and community builder with a demonstrated track record of restoring financial stability and artistic credibility for local art organizations and festivals for over two decades. He is currently the Executive and Program Director for The Regent Theatre, leading the design and restoration of a 600 seat theatre in Toronto’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. From 2003 – 2019 Franco served as Artistic Director of The Theatre Centre, leading the company in the restoration of a former Carnegie Library into its new performance venue on Queen Street West. During his time at The Theatre Centre, he directed two works: Sea Sick by Alanna Mitchell and Prophecy Fog by Jani Lauzon.
Awards include the George Luscombe Award for mentorship, the inaugural Ken McDougall Award for emerging directors, and was the Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award, recognizing his outstanding leadership in the development of arts and culture in the City of Toronto.

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Melissa Joakim

Environmental Designer

Melissa Joakim is a lighting and projection designer and scenographer. She is a recipient of a Dora Award in Scenic Design for Prophecy Fog (The Theatre Centre, Paper Canoe Projects and Nightswimming Theatre). She has recently collaborated with Outside the March, Ahuri Theatre, Bad New Days, Lucid Ludic, Theatre Why Not, Theatre Passe Muraille, Lemontree Creations, Soundstreams, Signal Theatre, ARC Stage Co, and Crow’s Theatre. She is the stage manager and touring lighting designer for Sea Sick (Theatre Centre, 2014) which has toured extensively around the world and recently had its USA premiere at The Kennedy Center.

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A.J. Morra

Production Manager

Based in Toronto, A.J. is a graduate of the Technical Theatre Program at Toronto Metropolitan University, and has enjoyed an active career as a Technical Director, Production Manager, and Stage Manager for contemporary dance, opera, circus, and theatre. Selected credits include three seasons with Toronto Dance Theatre, and assorted projects with ProArteDanza, Dreamwalker Dance Company, Groundling Theatre Company, Holla Jazz, Zero Gravity Circus, Soundstreams, and Signal Theatre.

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Brian Quirt

Dramaturgy

Brian Quirt is the Artistic Director of Nightswimming, and Director of the Banff Centre Playwrights Lab. With Nightswimming he has commissioned and developed 30 new works. Nightswimming credits include directing recent national tours of The Fish Eyes Trilogy by Anita Majumdar and Broken Tailbone by Carmen Aguirre. He has created eight of his own plays, including Why We Are Here! (with Martin Julien; High Performance Rodeo; Harbourfront; Belfry Theatre) and These Are The Songs That I Sing When I’m Sad (with Jane Miller; Boca del Lupo; Blyth Festival). Brian is the past Board Chair and a past-President of the Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), and was founding Board Chair of SpiderWebShow Performance.

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Julia Aplin

Movement Consultant

Julia has been dancing and creating dances for as long as she can remember. She has performed around the world with Dancemakers and has created dances for theaters, rivers, boxing rings and cyberspace. She continues to explore her fascination with the human body in
motion through dance, healing and teaching. www.juliaaplin.com

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Sam Osawamick

Cultural Advisor

Sam Osawamick was a member of the Odawa nation. He lived in Kaboni on the Wikwemidong Resrve located on Manitoulin Island. He is best known for the stories he shared with writer Basil Johnson including The Bear Walker and other Stories.

Sam was a traditional medicine man. He collected medicines from trees and plants in a traditional way, and made teas and salves. He lived a humble life in his home in Kaboni where people from all over the world would come to visit and ask for healing and medicine.

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Pauline Shirt

Cultural Advisor

Pauline Shirt was born and raised in Saddle Lake Reserve, Alberta. Pauline is greatly recognized for her commitment to the Toronto Indigenous community and for her dedication as a teacher and lecturer since the late sixties. She is a member of the Three Fires Society and the Buffalo Dance Society.

Being founder of the First Nations School and the Red Willow are just two examples of her hard work ethic and perseverance to enhance the betterment of the Toronto Indigenous community. Today, Pauline serves as a mentor to many Indigenous youth and young families as an experienced and trusted Grandmother.

She also works in all levels of government conducting opening prayers and attending meetings, making sure the Indigenous community is positively recognized as she offers a voice for her people.

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Sadie Buck

Cultural Advisor

Sadie Buck was born into a long line of traditional singers and dancers. Her life as a traditional singer has honed her training and performance skill to a master level. Sadie has taken her traditional training ideology and transposed that to her contemporary life as an artist, performer, facilitator, director, author, trainer, researcher and consultant. Sadie is also the lead singer of the Six Nations Women Singers, one of the most influential female Native singing groups. They have recorded with Robbie Robertson and performed at the Presidential inauguration in 1997. Representing the Onkwehonwe people, she is from the Seneca nation of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Tonawanda Seneca. Sadie Buck established and ran the Aboriginal Women’s Music Program at the Banff Centre for three years where she organized and co-led the JUNO nominated recording, “Hearts of the Nations”.