BIOS

NICK HUARD

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR AND DREAMCATCHER ARTIST FOR THE CANADA DREAMCATCHER

Nick Huard is a Mi’kmaq Artist, born in Restigouche, to the Bear Clan. Nick spent his early years living on reserve in the Gaspesie. He was sent to two residential schools, one English and the other French, resulting in fluency in both official languages while sadly losing his own Mi’kmaw language. He later attended College Bourget in Rigaud, Quebec. From his grandfather who was a saddle and shoemaker, and his father, a master cabinetmaker, he has inherited a deep respect for both his culture and the environment. He worked for many years as a respected and sought after sound person in film and television; work that took him around the world and to remote northern locations, where he shared not only his technical skills but also his survival and protocol skills with the many people who travelled with him. Nick began making dream catchers many years ago and has devoted himself to his art for quite some time. The materials he uses are all natural and traditional, handmade (from rawhide to polishing turquoise to shells to bone) and no creatures have been killed or mutilated in order to obtain elements used in the fabrication of his dream catchers.



NICK HUARD

MARY FRANCIS MOORE

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR CONFEDERATION CENTRE OF THE ARTS 2017 SEASON;WORKSHOP FACILITATOR AND WRITER FOR THE DREAMCATCHER PROJECT

Mary Francis Moore is an award winning, multi-talented theatre artist and creator. She is the co-creator and director of the Dora Award winning play One Thing Leads to Another at Young People's Theatre. She also co-created, performed in and produced (with Annabel Fitzsimmons and Alison Lawrence) the hit play Bittergirl, which enjoyed hugely successful runs in Toronto, the UK and New York, and has recently been turned into a published musical (which she co-wrote the book for), that is now being performed across Canada. She is a Dora nominated performer and has originated parts in numerous new Canadian plays.

Mary Francis holds a BFA, Specialization: Drama In Education, from Montreal's Concordia University and has taught across Canada for over 20 years. She is the former Theatre in Education Director at Magnus Theatre and Resident Arts Educator at Young People’s Theatre. As an artist in residence she has facilitated bespoke workshops at detention centres, hospitals, libraries, mental health facilities, and numerous community health groups and alternative justice programs - Sick Kids, Wesway Community Service Agency, Ronald McDonald House, The Mino Bimaadiziwin Centre, The Thunder Bay Boys and Girls Club, and the Sioux Lookout Community Centre, to name a few. She is the co-creator and facilitator of the Voices of Young Women program, funded by The Ontario Arts Council, which was implemented for 10 years across Ontario school boards. She has collectively created projects and workshops with and for youth at various theatres, including Nightwood Theatre, Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Soulpepper Theatre, Centaur Theatre and Confederation Centre for the Arts.


MARY FRANCIS MOORE

YVONNE MOSLEY

Original Concept, FILM & Project Collaborator

Yvonne has been passionate about film as a medium to tell stories since the 70s, and this has brought her to locations across Canada and around the world, to give voice to people and places not often heard. Yvonne worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for 6 years as producer, writer and researcher in both radio and television, working on a variety of programs such as the Jerry Lewis Telethon through to Star Trek Specials to Gzowsi and Company. She also spent time in the private sector, writing and producing television and special events including the inauguration of one of Canada’s Governor Generals, and corporate videos such as Alcan’s award-winning “Strategic Orientation - SECAL”. Over the last two decades, Yvonne has produced television documentaries including “The Man Who Loves Trees”(CTV); “Le monde de par chez nous” (SRC); “Coming Home to Prince Edward Island” (CBC Atlantic); and “World Heritage by the Sea” (CBC). Her passion and interest for working with Aboriginal communities began in the 70s in British Columbia and this has continued in Nova Scotia. She also worked for Cape Breton University’s Institute of Integrative Science and Health and produced “Two Eyed Seeing,” a video documenting a method of bringing harmony to the western and Aboriginal way of viewing science.

Yvonne has worked with all the Aboriginal communities on Unama’ki (Cape Breton). Since 2005, her deep relationship with Membertou First Nation has included producing special events and documentaries to showcase science, culture and traditions, as well as conceptualizing and producing “The Dreams of the Children of Membertou”, a seven year project completed in 2012. As part of the media delegation for the Aboriginal Spiritual Journey held in France and Belgium by Veterans Affairs Canada, she was introduced to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre in 2005. Since then, Yvonne has produced many short films and special events to showcase stories of youth, Veterans and Elders, including “Listen!” along with special televised live events like “Unsung Heroes-Héros Méconnus,” now in its sixth year, spearheaded by the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre. She is a strong ally of the Friendship Centre, and committed to supporting their important work to inform more Canadians about the lives and experiences of Aboriginal peoples. This is witnessed in “This Is What I Wish You Knew” a project that gives voice both in clay and on video to 50 Urban Aboriginals from Halifax, Nova Scotia.


YVONNE MOSLEY

BOB FOSTER

Charlottetown Festival Musical Director; Musical Supervisor for the Dreamcatchers

Bob Foster is a multi-award winning Canadian composer, musician and musical director. His work at theatres across the country has garnered him “Outstanding Musical Director” nominations at the Dora, Sterling and Betty Mitchell Awards, and has won him the Greg Bond Memorial Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre” (Betty Mitchell Awards, Calgary). Bob has musically directed countless productions for Mirvish Productions, Theatre Calgary, Drayton Entertainment, Stage West (Calgary and Mississauga), The Citadel Theatre, and The Charlottetown Festival. Outside of the theatre world, Bob’s skill as a songwriter and musician have seen him play and tour with Mae Moore, Paul Brandt, The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Bo Diddly, Gay Delorme; and as a co-writer and musician on Jann Arden’s early work, he has 3 platinum CDs to his credit. Bob Foster is also the current Musical Director at the Charlottetown Festival, Confederation Centre of the Arts.


BOB FOSTER