all folk
have their stories.
all stories have their folk.
current projects
Black & Rural
Black & Rural is a nationally funded artistic inquiry into the hearts minds of black folks tucked away on Canada’s countryside. Through this onging project, Shayna seeks out, honours and showcases the reflections of rurally based Blacks (like herself) to defy the monolith of what “matters to Black Lives”.
Funding Partners: Canada Council of the Arts, BC Arts Council, Columbia Basin Trust
Heritage Partners: BC Black History Awareness Society; HeritageSask, SACHM
Production & Artistic Partners: Pi Theatre, Dark Glass Theatre, Civic Theatre
Spring 2023 world premiere
Spring and Fall 2024 Tour
Grandmama Speak
Grandmama Speak is a kaleidoscope of Afro-centric folklore and fact, fable and fierce reality hinged upon the mystery of “living waters”. Hand-crafted by Shayna and pieced together from the diverse folkloric traditions of the African diaspora, Grandmama Speak is a trumpet for black wisdom, resilience, and legacy that will touch listeners of all varieties, regardless of colour or creed. Love and loss, pride and pain, hambones and redfish take center stage in this evocative show and will leave listeners laughing, sighing, and lingering over the age-old wisdom of Grandmama Speak.
55-65 mins. ages 13+
**Ongoing
African & Afro-Diasporic Folklore Research & Performance
The study and performance of Afro-centric folklore is central to Shayna’s artistic work. Unabashedly low-tech, and brazenly embodied, Shayna crafts traditional oral storytelling shows to honour and advocate for the wisdom of Afro-centric folklore and the power of this in-the-flesh art.
**Ongoing & Varying Performances
Artist Profiles: ArtStarts DanceWest Network
No Mama, No Cry
No Mama, No Cry (formerly titled Black Skin Deep), a story of “mothers-who-leave”, beckons listener’s into the strength, the shame, the grit and the grace of a lineage of women who “mother” unlike the rest.
commissioned by Dark Glass Theatre (Vancouver, BC)
*Premieres June 2024
“Jones is an artist who clearly studies the art and craft of traditional storytelling, and does so with great love….her sensuous style is incredibly rich and vivid.”
- Robyn Grant-Morin, Parton and Pearl Reviews, Toronto, ON
watch & listen
