As a proud Canadian and New Yorker, Lisa’s credits are world renowned. She was an original cast member in Broadway’s Shuffle Along, choreographed by Savion Glover and Directed by George C. Wolfe, where she received both the Fred Astaire Award and the Actor’s Equity Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. She is also currently a multiple Dora Award nominee for her performance, choreography and co-direction of the Tap Dance Legacy Concert with dance Immersion and Canadian Stage. Her TV credits include the 70th Annual Tony Awards and Amazon’s Original “Z, The beginning of everything”. Previous highlights have also included touring with the Savion Glover production, Stepz, dancing at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club with Dormeshia as well as performing with both New York's Off-Broadway and the North American touring casts of STOMP. Since 2010 she has run her own performance and production company Tap Phonics and has been commissioned to present for organizations such as The Brooklyn Museum, 92Y, Gibney Dance, Fluid Fest and Fall For Dance North. As an educator and Professor she has taught for PACE University, NYU, The School of Jacob’s Pillow, University of Calgary, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Rosie’s Theater Kids and member of the creative council for the American Tap Dance Foundation. Her recent endeavor includes co-curating the Tap Dance Legacy Series along with Travis Knights in partnership with Dance Immersion providing the local black community free access to their cultural history. She also has written and directed her debut film TRAX which has streamed worldwide encompassing her journey back to Alberta while discovering important local black history. Above all, her proudest achievement greatest inspiration, is the gift of being a mom. For further info please visit www.lisalatouche.com

IG: lisalatouche

FB: https://www.facebook.com/LLTontaps/

Tap Dance Reel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uryGYMP_-og&t=3s

Shone Thistle (she/they) is a Queer poet and multidisciplinary artist. Once described as a “feminist folk poet,” Shone’s poetry credits range from radio to jazz concerts, festivals to conferences. Poetic highlights include representing Calgary at the 2007 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, competing to receive perfect scores at the world-famous Nuyorican Poets Café, and performing with jazz quartet Red Line Trio+1 during the 2019 Brightside Festival.

Shone’s poetry can be found in several anthologies including Mic Check: An Anthology of Canadian Spoken Word Poetry and more recently in YYC POP: Poetic Portraits of the People.

Shone played an integral role in brokering Calgary’s first permanent Pride and Trans crosswalks. She also mobilized sector wide leaders in the establishment of Canada’s strongest municipal bylaw against conversion therapy. Shone currently sits on the board for Calgary Spoken Word Society. Her superpower is taking disparate content and weaving it into a cohesive story.

Shone was born on the unceded ancestral Coast Salish lands of the Lekwungen peoples, colonially known as Victoria, BC. Her father’s family first immigrated to Canada in the 1600’s from Guernsey between France and England at the mouth of the Celtic Sea. Her mother’s family first immigrated to the Americas from Norway. Shone is the daughter of a west coast visual artist and an east coast naval boatswain, multigenerational descendent of authors, artists and storytellers.

Shone’s early creative work focused primarily on multimedia visual art, painting and murals, often inspired by pop culture, current events, Queer body politic and nature.

Today Shone works on her creative practice from her Bowness studio in Mohkinstsis, Calgary. Current projects include a Soundscape installation that will run at Arts Commons from March to June, and a live adaptation of the project performed on April 21-22 as part of Earth: Mothership a cabaret curated by Sargeant X Comrade, as part of the TD Amplify Cabaret series.

Social Handles/Website:

o www.shonethistle.ca

o @shonethistle