ELEVATING R2R24 WITH AN INCREDIBLE GROUP OF WELLNESS, MEDIA & THEATRE ARTISTS
Alex Ivanovici and Brett Watson
Porte Parole Productions
Day One – Presentation
“The Assembly Live: Rural Canada”
We can’t tell you how excited we are to have Alex and Brett host and moderate the presentation “The Assembly Live: Rural Canada” on the Blyth Main Stage.
The Assembly is a documentary theatre concept developed by Alex Ivanovici, Annabel Soutar and Brett Watson with Porte Parole Productions. The project explores social and political polarization by inviting 4 carefully selected participants with opposing viewpoints and varied backgrounds to share a meal. Two moderators accompany the participants as they discuss the issues that most divide them. Typically, the whole evening is audio recorded, transcribed and edited into a script that is performed by professional actors.
In The Assembly Live, however, the real participants’ encounter happens live in front of an audience. No script, no actors…no safety net! This direct and spontaneous collision between 4 polarized individuals is authentic and raw and fosters deeper engagement between the audience and the topics discussed.
Porte Parole is a theatre company that creates and produces original documentary plays about Canadian contemporary life to inspire diverse audiences to think critically together about current social issues.
Biographies of Brett and Alex >
Learn more about the work of Porte Parole.
Nick Vinnicombe
Lake Affect Media
R2R24 Videographer & Technician
Nick Vinnicombe, founder of Lake Affect Media, has been with Rural Talks to Rural since its inception in 2016. Nick brings a decade of experience in multimedia services such as video creation, and live streaming. Founded in 2014, Lake Affect Media serves Midwestern, Ontario. We are excited to have him back at R2R24!
Shauna Rae
Founder of Radar Media
Podcast, ‘Clearing a New Path’
R2R24 Podcaster
Shauna Rae spent 10 years as a radio journalist, then 10 more in communications, PR and community engagement and the last 5 years working to disrupt oppressive systems in rural and remote Canada.
Shauna started Radar Media as a vessel for shifting narrative sovereignty in our mostly white-lensed rural and remote news and information landscape.
Radar Media focuses on sparking conversations and actions for meaningful change and on raising the frequency of people, places and organizations through collective liberation and healing. We conduct, and consult on unique research and storytelling projects.
Shauna’s interests lie in the impacts and evolution of movement journalism, solutions journalism and community-based storytelling. She believes in empowering youth to create a seismic shift in what we traditionally have called ‘journalism’ in rural and remote Canada, and in facilitating collective community engagement in that process.
Her podcast and newsletter, ‘Clearing a New Path’ focuses on building a more united, anti-oppressive rural Canada.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauna-rae/
Tanya Porter
Founder of The Inner Space
Lunchtime Yoga & Meditation at R2R24
Tanya Porter is the founder and Living Arts Director of The Inner Space, teaching meditation and classical yoga to both adults and youth for over 23 years. She is the creator of the mindfulness and wellness drumming modality Rhythmic Re-framing, bridging her 30 years of drumming experience together with her yoga and meditation practices. She is the author of Drawing Breaths – A 7-Step Daily Self-Care Journal Practice.
Tanya is a multi-disciplinary artist, performer, educator,and yoga instructor specializing in over 25 years of Theatre, Drum, Dance, and creative wellness programming for all ages. Her workshops and team building programs are popular in private, corporate, healthcare and educational settings. She also offers customized one-on-one sessions in yoga, meditation, drumming and other healing disciplines. Tanya is a certified yoga instructor from The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, with a designation of CYA-RYT 500.
Website: https://www.theinnerspace.ca/