Artist Bios
Henry Mak
Henry Mak is a videographer who works in Dance and Theatre. He is a core collaborator with Dreamwalker Dance Company, serving as Director of video content and Editor for the interactive web performance of “Firehorse and Shadow”. He edited and collaborated on “this is where I find myself today”, a dance film by Andrea Nann and the third year students in Ryerson’s Dance Program. He is filming and editing a dance film by Mayumi Lashbrook, based on her solo piece, “Defined by Bone” which will screen as part of CanAsian Dance’s Grit Short Dances program. His work has also screened at Reelworld and the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival.
Annie Katsura Rollins
Annie is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher, with over 15 years of exerience activating places and communities through interactive art, performance, and heritage. Annie was recently named valedictorian for her PhD dissertation on traditional forms of puppet performance and their role in building community (Concordia University) and teaches at the University of Connecticut's graduate puppetry certificate program. In Toronto, Annie co-founded the city's only experimental puppet collective, Concrete Cabaret, which seeks to cultivate a local community of material performers.
Eric Chan
Eric’s passion for the arts started early in theatre production. Having graduated from the Ryerson University program for Performance Production, he found his early years working with theatre, dance, and event companies. He later found work in television, where his newfound passion for creating from behind the lens grew. Over the years, Eric has been given the opportunity to collaborate with artists in the performance arts, even running into old friends along the way. He feels like in many ways, his journey has brought him back to his original love.
Maryem Tollar
Maryem Tollar is a renowned Egyptian-Canadian vocalist, known for her world music performances. Her voice has been heard on the theme of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and A.R. Rahman’s Bollywood hit, Mayya Mayya. Her recent performances include “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House” and “Safe Haven” (Tafelmuisk), “Syn-Phonia – Migration Patterns” (Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra) and “Constantinople” (Christos Hatziz). Maryem performs with several Toronto musical groups including Juno-nominated and CFMA nominated quartet, Turkwaz and Al Qahwa who have been nominated for a 2020 Canadian Folk Music Award for World Music Group. Maryem won the 2019 inaugural Johanna Metcalf Prize for Performing Arts.
Afasneh Zamani
Afasneh has produced and directed more than 15 shows for kids and adults and has collaborated with other theater groups as a Puppeteer, Puppet maker, Custom designer and Set designer. She has facilitated workshops in Iran, Armenia and Canada in puppetry, storytelling and paper puppets. She has experience as an art director and Jury member for many festivals in Iran. She also participated in several festivals and received some acclaimed awards (e.g. “The best in heritage” award of “The 21st UNIMA Congress & Puppetry Festival 2012/ China) and written articles about Iranian traditional puppets and theater.
Brenna MacCrimmon
Brenna sings and plays music from Turkey, the Balkans and many other places besides. She teaches ukulele and Turkish folks songs, knits, has too many books and really enjoys a good story. www.greengoatmusic.ca