In a bold and vibrant show, Ottawa-based Black performers gathered to present their art at the Ottawa Black Creative Hub’s performing arts showcase on Feb. 20.
Presented at Algonquin Commons Theatre by Hors Pairs Social and the Ottawa Arts Council, the showcase highlighted multiple forms of art: from opera, to various genres of musicians, different forms of dance, rapping, poetry and storytelling.
Hors Pairs Social founder Sharlène Clarke said she wanted to create an event that would help local Black artists gain media attention and exposure to flourish their careers.
She said the idea for the showcase came after attending other showcases last summer and getting “fed up” with the lack of diversity. After the final summer art show, she decided to do something about it.
“That day, I went back home and I just told my team, ‘You know, I really want to host the showcase.’ I made the decision that day, it was a little impulsive [but] I knew that it would have a great impact on folks,” she said.
Before the performances, the showcase hosted a panel with local Black arts leaders. They discussed topics such as sharing your voice, creating space for Black artists and cultivating an audience.
Multiple representatives from local artist councils and advocacy groups were also in attendance, allowing artists and audience members opportunities to network.
Clarke said Hors Pairs Social and the Ottawa Arts Council put out an open call for artists, then selected 15 for the showcase.
One of the chosen applicants was Carleton University’s African Dance Crew. The crew formed in September 2023, making this Black History Month showcase their first performance, according to team president Temitayo Oyenola.
For dancer Blouwatife Akinboyeku, a second-year communications and media studies student, the showcase marked her first dance performance in front of a crowd. She said she only previously danced recreationally in Nigeria and joined Carleton’s team when she moved to Ottawa.
“I don’t really have any past experience dancing, it was just in secondary school. People would just call you to dance […] but that was really what I liked,” Akinboyeku said.
Before the show, she said she was feeling nervous about performing.
However, she said those nerves vanished in the team’s high-energy performance. The group elicited cheers and a shared passion for cultural and popular dance from the crowd.
Oyenola said the crew’s co-founders started the group after seeing a diversity gap when it came to Afro-beats in Carleton dance groups. Oyenola was a part of her high school’s African Dance Team at Immaculata High School.
“That’s why I was looking for a team. When I didn’t find one, I was like ‘I’m gonna create one,’” Oyenola said.
Urbani performed a song from their collection titled Painted Flowers, where each song featured on the collection is based on a different flower painting.
This performance was based on the painting, “Summer Love” by Beatriz Milhazes. Just like the painting, Urbani’s performance was bright and her powerful voice carried through the theatre.
She said she decided to defy norms as a Black, queer opera musician.
“I’m excited to kind of be a representation of classical music in terms of a performer, but also as a composer […] in my intersectionality as being a queer Black person,” she said.
Clarke said she has high hopes for what the event can do for the community in terms of networking and exposure.
“I hope that people feel inspired […] that the ceiling that we are accustomed to or used to in Ottawa has maybe not been broken, but has been raised a little bit,” she said.
Urbani commended the showcase’s Black-centered executive team and tech crew, as opposed to just Black performers. She said that there are multiple ways for other organizations to correctly highlight Black art.
“Don’t just highlight us in Black History Month. [Also] make sure people on the executive and organizational team are Black too,” she said.
Oyenola said other art organizations can best showcase Black art by being open and flexible.
“You cannot define art […] to put one specific meaning to art, you’re downgrading [it],” she said.
Oyenola emphasized the importance of diversifying the possibilities of art.
“Who are you to tell Black people that they are not worthy to be in an art showcase? You’re not the person who founded art, so you shouldn’t be the person to dictate what should be in art,” she said.
After a successful showcase performance, Carleton’s African Dance Crew is now looking ahead to its next performance.
Carleton’s African Dance Crew will host a Rhythm and Flavours event at Carleton’s Kailash Mital Theatre on March 29. Tickets can be purchased here.
Featured image by @throughmy_lenzz.
