The Ottawa Black Creatives Hub presented its first showcase in honour of Black History Month on Feb. 20 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre. Photo by Lenzz.
Sharlène Clarke, Bernie Julney, and Laurie Lormil stood onstage, holding hands, as the crowd applauded and cheered. The three-person team had just put on a successful showcase of Black artistry spanning dance, poetry, storytelling, music and film.
Hors Pair Social hosted The Ottawa Black Creatives Hub Performing Arts Showcase on Feb. 20 in collaboration with the Ottawa Arts Council and the Algonquin Students’ Association. The OBCH is a social club within Hors Pair Social that supports Black artists and creatives in Ottawa.
The show featured performances from Grey Brisson, Chloe Bonnet, Miss McLeod, Mxzy, ChristJay, KingH509, Carleton Afro Dance Crew, N’nerjie, The Lionyls, Olivia Onuk, Malaika Urbani, Sommer Knight, Jacqui Du Toit, and Noni.
The Hors Pair social team, Bernie Julney, Sharlène Clarke and Laurie Lormil came on stage to salute the audience. Photo by Lenzz.
With Malaïka Urbani, the audience stepped into a Disney movie where princesses are surrounded by birds and random animals as they sing. Her enchanting voice filled the theatre with an original song inspired by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes’ painting, Gamboa Seasons: Summer Love.
“Being in a space of all Black artists where the organizers are Black is so nice and refreshing. I was happy and I was honoured,” Urbani told me during intermission. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in classical voice and composition at the University of Ottawa.
Malaïka Urbani performed an original song at the OBCH Performing Arts Showcase. Photo by Lenzz.
Highlighting the diversity of cultures within the Black diaspora has become a staple of Hors Pair’s events.
Miss McLeod nodded at her Jamaican roots through her rendition of the jazz ballad “Feeling Good,” infused with Reggae sounds. The 18-year-old singer delivered an electrifying performance. And professional dancer Chloë Bonnet ended her piece with a visual representation of Le Marron Inconnu or Nèg Mawon, a bronze statue of a runaway slave located in the heart of Haiti’s capital.
Chloë Bonnet at the OBCH Performing Arts Showcase. Photo by Lenzz.
The showcase explored themes of violence, grief and trauma through Olivia Onuk’s poetry about leaving the church and Fitch Jean and Fresh Anderson’s short film Jayla. A moving monologue by one of the characters in the film sheds light on domestic violence and the barriers like a lack of support and hope for change that prevent victims from escaping the cycle of abuse.
Miss McLeod at the OBCH Performing Arts Showcase. Photo by Lenzz.
The night also included speeches from representatives of art and community organizations such as the Ottawa Black Art Kollective, The Framework, and the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition. This is on track with the OBCH’s goal to make resources accessible to creatives.
An event of 15 different performing acts and over 40 artists is thanks to skillful organization and tenacity. A group of six jurors selected the artists for the showcase during a three-hour deliberation. The bookkeeping process, which Clarke said was tedious, included preparing artist agreements, invoices, tech sheets, media promotion, and release forms for the show’s taping.
“Until the last two weeks before the show, 80 per cent of it is paperwork. It’s at dress rehearsal, when everyone is practicing, that I knew the show was going to be successful,” Clarke said.
For Julney and Lormil, events like this showcase provide artists and creatives opportunities to connect and learn from one another.
“It’s to make the artist’s journey not so singular and autonomous. It can be collective as well,” Julney said.
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