Spoken word can be hip hop, theatre, stand-up comedy, poetry, and everything in between. Work with spoken word artists in learning ways to put your feelings, thoughts, opinions, stories and ideas on paper, and then make them come to life with the tools and techniques of spoken word. By the end of the program, a student can expect to have a poem of their own committed to memory, and the confidence to perform publicly, should they so choose, in a final performance. Conquer fear, speak your mind, and have a bunch of fun doing it. Both youth and adults welcome.
Instructors: Elena Banfield and Will Klatte
Location: Oxygen Art Centre, 320 Vernon St (Alley Entrance)
5 classes: April 8 – May 6
7- 9pm Mondays
Course fee: $130 + HST
TO REGISTER:
Phone: 250-352-2821
Or drop by: Kootenay School of Arts. 606 Victoria Street, Nelson BC V1L 4K9
Bios
Elena Banfield grew up in Nelson. Her youth was enriched by many years in local musical theatre productions, concert bands, and orchestras. Elena left Nelson to attend UBC and graduated with a BA in International Relations in 2007, after which she moved to Toronto and re-awakened her passion for writing. Since returning to Nelson in 2011, Elena has competed and won multiple poetry slams, placed in the Kootenay Literary Competition, facilitated writing workshops for the Nelson Women’s Centre, and has performed poems for City Council, the Nelson Library, the inaugural Elephant Mountain Literary Festival, TEDxSelfdesign High, and a number of community events and fundraisers. She has worked with youth as a high school debate assistant coach, music festival clinician, conference facilitator with Amnesty International UBC, and as an educator with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Will Klatte is an aboriginal performance poet, storyteller, speaker, and English student. He has competed in poetry slams in Nelson and Victoria, given speeches at Selkirk College, presented at TedX SelfDesign, told aboriginal stories to elementary school students, and opened for two time individual world poetry slam champion Buddy Wakefield. His poetry has moved audiences from community fundraisers and donor galas, intimate galleries and house shows, to the Elephant Mountain Literary festival. Or perhaps you have heard him on Kootenay Co-op Radio. He has facilitated corporate team-building seminars, and has been involved in many writing workshops for fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, and is an artist liaison for the Nelson Poetry Slam.
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