Freedom: A Mixtape is a soulful artistic response to recent and historical violence on Black bodies, presented through a collection of original songs, stories, poems, anecdotes, spoken-word pieces, and musical instrumentation from folks living in Ontario's Niagara Region. A community conversation about our complicated relationship with emancipation and the human right to be free, Freedom: A Mixtape is a compilation album that is part protest and part celebration. It is history and the present moment all at once, a reminder that this moment is part of a larger, ongoing movement. Familiar pains are felt deeply in moments both bygone and bitingly present, setting the tone—and stage—for action.

Analog field recordings and soothing talk-radio energy give voice to the residue of intergenerational trauma, the depths of colonialism, resilience amidst oppressive conditions, and a clarion call that joy is a birthright for everyone. With emotional precision and softness, Freedom: A Mixtape offers a radical reminder that in our bleakest moments, we rise up through love of self and community.

Marcel is a father, award-winning artist, and facilitator. He is Artistic Director of bcurrent Performing Arts and Director of Artistic Outreach for SpiderWebShow Performance. Together with Adrienne Wong and Michael Wheeler, he curates FOLDA, an annual festival of live digital art in Kingston, Ontario. For three years, Marcel was Outreach Director at Suitcase in Point, co-founding the Nest Artist Residency and Electric Innovations. As an artist, Marcel has worked with theatre companies nationwide and internationally. In his work, Marcel investigates telling stories that connect artists and audiences to a cultural and ancestral past while also imagining a future without borders or boundaries. Marcel is passionate about crafting narratives that focus on joy as a form of resistance against the prevailing colonial narratives that have shaped the Black Canadian experience. He uses digital technologies to expand this work’s reach, bringing collaborators in remotely and taking the work out to a wider public. He’s interested in finding non-traditional ways to build community through performances and storytelling that are interactive and welcoming.

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Suitcase in Point is a multi-arts organization producing original satire and innovative events in St. Catharines, Ontario. Founded in 2001, Suitcase in Point is a courageous ensemble of artists and producers who engage and excite the Niagara community with original multi-arts performances and events, including In the Soil Arts Festival and Suitcase in Point’s comedy cabarets. Through original work and collaborative community projects, we provide audiences with unique perspectives on contemporary life and culture. Our approach and our work aim to challenge perspectives and encourage change, tolerance, and self-awareness with an aim to promote a healthier, more connected community. Suitcase in Point nurtures new generation artists through mentorship and residency programs, provides studio space for development and rehearsal, and creates meaningful connections between emerging and established artists from across Canada.

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Chance Mutuku is a Creative/Entrepreneur. He is founder and Creative Director at BBBBlanc* Studio, a design and branding company based in St.Catharines Ontario. BBBBlanc* Studio helps brands and collaborators alike to turn their ideas into actual things and to help market them both as digital and/or physical experiences. Aside from design, Chance is also a DJ , where he is able to blend multi-genre musical experiences. Beyond these creative endeavors, Chance also contributes to his community through creative workshops and public speaking engagements. Through these activities, Chance uses his story and experiences as a creative to encourage creative youths to use their skills to create positive impact in the world.

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Dian Marie Bridge is an award-winning writer, director, and creative producer who seeks to open spaces, provide platforms, enrich community-bridge building, and to help others do the same. She was previously Associate Artistic Director at Luminato Festival Toronto, Artistic Director intern at Obsidian Theatre, Artist-in-Residence at Necessary Angel Theatre, Founding Artistic Producer of Cric Crac Collective, and member of the Stratford Festival’s Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction. Dian holds a degree in Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature from Brock University and was enrolled in the University of Minnesota’s Theatre Arts and Dance program (Twin Cities).

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Deanna Jones (she/her) is co-founder and Artistic Director of Suitcase in Point, with whom she has created and performed in over fifteen original plays, including Barrel Crank, the Dora Mavor Moore Award–nominated Keith Richards One Woman Show and Be Wearing Wolf. Other selected acting credits include Silly Old Men Ought Not to Fall in Love (Theatre Beyond Words), Bluenose (Carousel Players), and Trout Stanley (Essential Collective Theatre). She is part of FIXT Point’s ensemble for the Tale of a Town Canada, directed Niagara Artists Centre’s STRUTT Wearable Art Runway Show (2011–2014), and is Artistic Director of In the Soil Arts Festival. Deanna has a B.A. in Theatre from Brock University, and has trained with One Yellow Rabbit, Philippe Gaulier, Upright Citizen’s Brigade, and SITI Company. Deanna is currently working on a new show about the history of smoking cigarettes, des antécédents de tabagisme.

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