Natasha “Courage” Bacchus
Natasha “Courage” Bacchus (She/Her) is not only an advocate as a Black Deaf woman but is also an actress and athlete. She has a goal of uplifting BIPOC Deaf Artists in the theatre community. She’s best known for her role as “Squib” in Black Drum and Courage Bacchus Talk Show. Natasha is also an elite competitive athlete with three-time Deaf Olympian, Silver Medalist for Pan Am Games for the Deaf, and so much more.
Shay Erlich
Shay Erlich is a hard of hearing, multiply disabled, community-engaged artist and wheelchair dancer. Shay is the co-founder of The Cyborg Circus Project with Jenna Roy and Naomi Moore. The Cyborg Circus Project is a dance and circus project by and for disabled movement artists which seeks to provide accessible disability-centred opportunities for community participation and professionalization opportunities in movement arts. The Cyborg Circus Project has performed original dance work both locally and internationally including In Situ 2018, NextFest 2019 and the Contact Dance International Film Festival 2019.
Art Gunter
Arthur Gunter is a profoundly deaf former Hamilton, Ontario native who after extensive travels, now resides in Toronto. Graduate of Humber College’s AAS Rehabilitation program, Art is Rehabilitation Worker / Counselor helping people with disabilities to improve their job opportunities and living skills. He is an active community member, advocating for employment and Disability Rights. He has a vibrant interest in the arts and culture community and hopes to increase awareness of people with disabilities, including the Deaf /Hard of Hearing, so more can enjoy the experiences of arts and culture in society. He believes strongly in equality and human rights laws.
Jack Hawk
Jack Hawk is a multidisciplinary artist, astrologer, community worker and autistic, two-spirit mutt. Jack currently invests his time as the Outreach Coordinator for Tangled Art + Disability with the strength and love of the Tangled team. Previously, he worked in non-profit gallery management and held positions with George Brown College and the Griffin Centre. Originally from Utica, NY, he now lives in Toronto with his blue-tongued skink.
Sean Lee
Sean Lee is an artist and curator exploring the notion of disability art and accessibility as the last avant-garde. His methodology reframes embodied difference as a means to resist traditional aesthetic idealities. Orienting towards a “crip horizon”, Sean gestures towards the transformative possibilities of a world that desires the way disability can disrupt.
In addition to his position at Tangled, Sean is an independent curator, lecturer, and advisor, adding his insights and perspectives to conversations surrounding Disability Arts across Canada and the United States. Sean currently sits on the board of CARFAC Ontario, Creative Users Projects and is a member of the Ontario Art Council’s Deaf and Disability Advisory Committee and Toronto Art Council’s Visual and Media Arts Committee.
Christine Malec
Christine Malec is an arts and culture consultant within the blind community and co-host of the podcast Talk Description to Me. She offers culture and music programs to blind adults through the CNIB Foundation, and hosts a monthly segment on Accessible Media Incorporated, Kelly and Company called Curious Minds. She is a musician who is easing the pain of being unable to busk during the pandemic by posting music on her Patreon Page. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
Gaitrie Persaud
Gaitrie Persaud (She/Her) is a Queer Tkaronto-Indo Caribbean raised, Gaitrie Persaud is a theatre maker who develops performances using an eclectic mix of visual and physical theatre styles. Acting is her passion that she lives for. She had been involved in a big play “The Two Natashas: Our life in Guyana” with her co-actor and collaborator Natasha Bacchus.
She is also an ASL Music performer, ASL coach and Deaf interpreter of theatre. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Phoenix The Fire which is a theatre community hub for IBPOC Deaf artists.
Jenna Roy
Jenna Roy is a wheelchair dancer and performance artist. They co-founded The Cyborg Circus Project with Shay Erlich and Naomi Moore in 2018. The Cyborg Circus Project has performed original dance work both locally and internationally and has also run several community arts and social service programs. Jen has a diverse teaching practice focusing on movement, access and inclusion. Her practice stems from their experiences as a queer, trans, mad, multiply disabled person. They envision a future where disability-justice informed art has permeated the fabric of the arts in Canada.
Jessica Watkin
A multidisciplinary Blind artist Jessica started as a playwright and has since developed performance movement pieces, ensemble-created performances for the Fringe (Toronto), created a rug for an exhibit called Productive Discomfort where her piece was called “This Was Not Made For Your Visual Pleasure #PleaseTouchMe” and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Feminist Space Camp (Magazine).
Jessica is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. Her research focuses on Disabled Artists and their creation processes in Canada, as well as systems of support and training institutions and the effects on Disabled people.
