FOOTPRINTS - Key Persons
Joe Kelly is a seasoned professional filmmaker living and working in Calgary, Alberta.
Joe creates content for diverse human-centric clients and partners in the areas of education, research, media art, culture, and community. Work is created with strong ties and associations to the Calgary cultural community, accessing a broad network of media professionals.
Job Titles:
- Dance Researcher
- Instructor at Mount Royal University
Juanita is a former anatomy instructor at Mount Royal University and dance instructor for the Wildflower Arts Centre. Having spent several years competing internationally in highland dance she can now be found sharing her love of Latin dance, especially bachata. She has a specialty in adult education and a passion for connecting the biomechanics of movement with dance for all ages and abilities. Over the last three years she has been collaborating with the specialist dance team of Footprints Dance Project to develop teaching tools specifically focused on physical literacy. She is currently working on a PhD, with a research concentration in anatomy, at the University of South Florida.
Karen earned her BA in Recreation Management from Malaspina in 2002. She has been teaching, performing, choreographing in dance for over 20 years, for various organizations in Canada and abroad. She specializes in hip hop, ballet, jazz, fusions, Latin and African. Her choreography was part of the Western Canada Summer Games Opening Ceremonies in July 2007. A certified fitness leader she is also the founder of BassBurn.
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director
- Artist and Director
Nicole Pemberton is a dance artist and director of the new dance collective J'ouvert Playhouse currently residing in Calgary, AB. Her extensive training in Caribbean, hip hop, contemporary, African, Afro-Cuban, jazz, funk, ballet ,and house dance has taken her around the globe. Nicole holds a diploma in dance from Grant McEwan University and a BA in Dance from the University of Calgary. Her professional performance experience includes work for Ballet Creole, Canboulay Dance Theatre, and she was featured in BravoFact. Nicole is a well-known dance educator and choreographer in demand across North America. Watch Nicole dance in the ‘ASC Highlight Series'.
Shemar Herbert was born in Calgary, and is of Jamaican and Nevisian heritage.
Growing up in a musical environment, Shemar's love for music is what first sparked his love for dancing. At the age of 9, he began his formal dance training with Diversity Performing Arts Club of Calgary which has since then sharpened his acting, singing, and dancing skills.
In 2016, Shemar began training in a myriad of street dance styles including but not limited to: Afro House, Locking, Hip Hop, Popping and Dancehall.
Then continued under the direction of ILLFX's Katherine Burrows, Edgar Reyes, and Cody Jaxon. Since then, Shemar has learned, trained, and collaborated with the likes of Shotyme Stylz, Bridgman Packer Dance, Suga Pop, Lisa La Touche, and Luther Brown. Shemar has been the winning recipient for Artists Emerge Solo (2017), Monsters Dance Santa Clara (2018), Calgary Talent Show (2017), and most recently Battle City (2022) - he has also performed for an audience of 20,000+ for a We-Day event (2019).
Shemar will continue to expand on his own choreographic endeavours and forms of artistic expression, while ensuring further exploration of his love for dance. Alongside the fostering of his own artistic identity, Shemar vows to pay homage to the cultures that have historically paved the way for the future generations.
Since July 1999, Wakefield Brewster has been known as one of Canada's most popular and prolific Performance Poets.
He is a Black man born and raised in Toronto, by parents hailing from the island of Beautiful Barbados, and he has resided in Calgary since 2006.
He has spoken across Canada, and several States, and makes countless appearances on a regular basis in a variety of ways, for a myriad of reasons, throughout each and every single year.
In 2022 he was appointed Calgary's 6th Poet Laureate, the Calgary Poet Laureate produces literary work that is reflective of Calgary's landscape, cityscape, and civic identity and that may raise awareness of local issues.