Helga Davis (Composer/Performer) 2004 marked Helga's directorial debut at the University of Texas, Austin, with Sharon Bridgforth's, "love/conjure/blues". Helga is co-star of "The Temptation of St. Anthony", directed by Robert Wilson with libretto and score by Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock. In March 2007 Davis began hosting Overnight Music on WNYC and was awarded the ASCAP Deems Taylor Multimedia Award. In February 2008 Davis conducted a special feature interview with artist Kara Walker for the WNYC program Morning Edition on the eve of her Whitney Museum retrospective. Helga wrote and performed a new multi-media piece entitled: "Imaginings" at the Whitney Museum at the retrospective's conclusion. In the Spring of 2008 Davis starred in "The Blue Planet", a multi-media theater piece written by Peter Greenaway and directed by Saskia Boddeke. She last appeared in VOX the Contemporary American Opera Lab run by the City Opera of New York.
Omi Osun Joni L. Jones (Performer) is an artist/scholar whose performance training ranges from Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger to Theatrical Jazz with Laurie Carlos, Daniel Alexander Jones, and Sharon Bridgforth. She has earned performance awards in D.C. and Austin, Texas, and her scholarship has appeared in national performance journals. Omi is the lead editor of Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project, University of Texas Press. She is currently completing a study of theatrical jazz entitled Jazz, Ase, and the Power of the Present Moment. Omi is an Associate Professor and Director of The Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Monica McIntyre (Musician/Performer) is a passionate performer who wows audiences with her deep voice and unorthodox slapping, plucking and strumming cello technique; blending the genres of: jazz, blues, soul, reggae, and middle-eastern music, creating her own musical landscape. Monica released her debut album Blusolaz in October 2003. Monica has performed at numerous events throughout the country. In August 2005 she released her first single Bars of Gold. In the winter of 2010 she began producing shows under the name CelloMama Compositions (CMC) and as of July 2010 has produced: Past Is Present, ReUnion, and Fishing In Brooklyn.
Pam Patrick (Musician/Performer) percussionist, has performed across the country and in Europe, South America and the Caribbean with Women of the Calabash and in Urban Bush Women's critically acclaimed piece "Song of Lawino." Pam is the musical director for Dr. Glory's Youth Theatre, and a performing and teaching artist for Young Audiences New York and Brooklyn Academy Of Music. In addition, Pam is a featured performer at Battery Park City Parks Sunset Jam series and accompanies Pat Hall's dance classes at NYU. Pam is currently a doctoral candidate in Urban Education at CUNY working on her dissertation in arts education.
Francine Sheffield (Performer) performed with choreographers such as H.T. Chen, Wendy Perron, Amy Pivar and Marlies Yearby. She was company member of Urban Bush Women under the leadership of Jawole Zollar for 6 years. Presently, Francine is a member of choreographer Baraka De Soleil's DUNDERBELLY. This is Francine's second collaboration with Sharon and her first time in a Sharon Bridgforth production.
Negaysha Walcott (Performer/Apprentice) born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, is an honor roll student at Medgar Evers College Preparatory School. She will be a graduating senior this fall. Negaysha has performed for Mrs. Valerie Katz and has worked with Ron Brown and Baraka de Soleil. This is Negaysha's very first professional production.
City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. CPF works in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and education programs, and empowering citizens to support their parks on a local level. CPF programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year, contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout New York City.
