|
I love and I work
Therefore I am at service to the world If I get in the way of these things, I am lost |
|
| Born
in Montreal, Canada in 1972, I am a multilingual,
Antiguan-Québecoise Lover, Writer, Poet, Spoken Word Artist,
Vocalist,
Dancer, Teacher and Director of Mother Tongue Media independent production company based in Vancouver BC - a Griotte. I am rooted in poetry. A 1997 graduate of Concordia University's Creative Writing and English Literature program, I have self-published five poetry/prose chapbooks, and my work has appeared in various literary journals and anthologies. I have also judged Canadian art and literary work for the Quebec Writer's Federation, Canada Council for the Arts and City of Vancouver. From five years in university radio to my first Montreal reading in 1995, I now fuse poetry, storytelling, rap and song in English, French, Spanish, Turkish and Yoruba in live performance. I often work with musicians to support my work and have featured at over 100 events in major Canadian cities with highlights at The Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Vancouver International Storytelling Festival, Beats Without Borders, ANU, CBC’s ZeD TV and When Sisters Speak in Toronto. I thank the Canada Council for the Arts, for helping me release two poetry music fusion CDs: Invisible World (2004) and The Memorists (2008) and featuring as writer and performer in the award-winning videopoem Almost Forgot my Bones (2004). My oral poetry and vocals also appear on recordings by artists in
the U.S. (Jerry the Cat), France (Brifo) and Turkey (Mercan
Dede).
Some past highlights include artistic collaboration with Mercan Dede, Brifo, Jerry the Cat, C.R. Avery, Pepe Danza, Sal Ferreras, Serwan Yamolky, Rha Goddess (KRS One), Goksel Baktagir; opening for Billy Bragg, Ursula Rucker, Michael Franti (Spearhead); sharing the stage with Ted Joans, bill bissett, Sheri-d Wilson, Wayde Compton. As Mother Tongue Media I have produced several multimedia arts events: Clicking Tongues spoken word series in Montreal; in Vancouver Tales of Ordinary Madness spoken word series, Under the Griot Tree Black History Month Festival and Trans-Metaphoria Black Poetics. With a many years of dance training in classical ballet and West African dance, I combined this with studies in Hatha Yoga and Sufism, and became a Semazen or Whirling Dervish in Vancouver in 2002 under the tutelage of Raqib Brian Burke. What is whirling? |
photo by Rodrigo Dorfman, Konya Turkey 2007 photo by Handan Erek, Barbican London UK, 2006
 |
| Based out of Istanbul, Turkey between 2004-2008, I performed extensively across Europe as a Whirling Dervish Dancer with
Turkish Electronic World Music group Mercan
Dede. I also gave workshops in whirling as active meditation in Canada,
France and Turkey and performed West African Dance in Istanbul. I attempt to combine all of my experience into One. “Tanya Evanson's poetry is a voluptuous, rhythmic song. Her voice comes from deep in her belly and erupts across the page like a slow moving fire, leaving the trace of heartache...” Rocco de Giacomo, LATCHKEY “Evanson’s subtle irony and figurative language is prolific and precise as she peels the dermis of her mind stripping each layer of thought from the trunk of her existence. Her language is strong, rich, and vibrant and comes across with the authority of the new era in Black Canadian thought.” Anthony Joyette, CACIQUE |
|
| PERFORMANCE HISTORY | |
 |
|