POETRY//THEATRE//ACTIVISM//COMMUNITYMFA//LEAGUE OF CANADIAN POETS
POETRY//THEATRE//ACTIVISM//COMMUNITY
MFA//LEAGUE OF CANADIAN POETS
For Film/Television/Theatre
For Film/Television/Theatre
Bryson Bourchier
www.ignite-artists.com
bryson@ignite-artists.com
www.ignite-artists.com
bryson@ignite-artists.com
For Everything Else
For Everything Else
johnny@johnnydavidtrinh.com
Contact
Contact
Representation
Representation
Johnny D Trinh
Johnny D Trinh
Johnny D Trinh is an interdisciplinary and spoken word artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Exploring the use of spoken word, music, video, social media, movement, theatre, and creative technology- Johnny’s practice integrates the multi-layered realities within which we exist to create immersive spoken word experiences. Johnny’s pedagogy is rooted in the constant goal of fostering a sense of empowerment, agency, and compassion through socially engaged, community based art. Johnny recognizes that many of us are uninvited guests on this indigenous Turtle Island, and continually works to negotiate that through accountability, solidarity, and integrity in practice. He creates opportunities to support marginalized communities cultivate their voice: “It takes a community to build an artist... whether we are nurtured by it, or resist against it.”
Johnny D Trinh is a member of the League of Canadian Poets, and holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Theatre & Creative Technology. Johnny's research focuses on autho-ethnographic performance, and spoken word as a primary method in community-engaged art.
Johnny D Trinh is an award-winning playwright, and author of several chapbooks. Johnny’s first audio album #undeniable was released in July 2017.
Johnny is currently the Artistic Director for Vancouver Poetry House and Interim Executive Director for Historic Joy Kogawa House.
Johnny is also the Founder and Artistic Producer of Stage to Page Performance Society, a masterclass workshop series that brings Poets/Writers, Publishers, and Theatre Makers together to support folks spoken word poets looking to publish their work. We apply contemporary play development/scriipt development frameworks to spoken word, and explore how these techniques can help spoken word poets translate their performances to the printed page.
Highlights: Feature Poet- BC Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Multiculturalism Awards (2020), Writer in Residence- Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre. Artist in Residence- John Howard Society Pacific (Vancouver), Poet in Residence- Burnsview Secondary School (Delta), Verses Festival- Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (CIPS) Tournament Director 2017, Regina Slam Champion 2016, Finalist- CIPS 2016, Finalist- Capturing Fire 2016 & 2015 (Washington, DC). Feature performances: Victorious Voices, Tongues of Fire (Victoria), Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (2016, 2015), Pride Toronto (2016, 2024), Toronto Poetry Slam, Tonight It’s Poetry (Saskatoon), Victoria Poetry Slam, Toronto Art Bar Poetry Series, Saskatchewan Festival of Words (2015,2016,2017,2024), WordPlay Poet, Saskatchewan Artists in Schools Program. Training: Banff Centre for the Arts, MFA: Interdisciplinary Studies: Theatre & Creative Technology- University of Regina, Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre: Summer Intensive, Musical Theatre Performance: Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Hon. BA- Drama- University of Waterloo. Recipient of the 2022 Zaccheus Jackson Nyce Memorial Award.
Albums
Albums
in 2017, I've launched my first spoken word EP, #Undeniable.
Click the button to check out the album and purchase the download.
Thanks so much for the ongoing support, and making it possible for this art to exist.
Art Practice
Art Practice
Always acknowleding that this work and art takes place on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Stó:lō nations.
All the way to the stage
All the way to the stage
This workshop will assist poets in developing their performance process and practice. It is a physical workshop that will give participants a better understanding of how their voice works, warm up exercises, and vocal techniques to improve and maintain vocal health. It will also integrate physicality into their performance, with physical exercises. All activities are accessible and can accommodate all bodies. Everyone is welcome. This workshop focuses on the importance of warm up and cool down, and on what you're doing to improve your craft while off stage. It will break down key strategies for preparing the body and the artist for rehearsal and performance- highlighting: alignment of body, physical warm up, breath, resonance, articulation, and then text. Techniques include but not limited to: Yoga, Laban, Alexander, Linklater.
Remember why you wrote it
Remember why you wrote it
This workshop focuses on tearing off the gloss, and stripping down our poems to unapologetically recognize our intentions and what we're trying to do with our words. This performance based workshop will ask you questions, and offer techniques on developing your performance process. What questions do you ask? What are you looking for at different stages of rehearsal? When is your poem actually ready for the stage? How do you keep an old poem fresh? How do you embody the poem so you're not limited to being a talking head with flailing arms? How do you take care of the audience and yourself? This workshop will help you find your most urgent truth, and give momentum to your words on stage. It is fully accessible, all bodies, all delivery styles, all persons are welcome. The key to this workshop is truly recognizing your own way of story telling, and give you a more ways to improve the quality of your engagement with the audience. Techniques include but not limited to: Shurtleff, Uta Hagen, Boal, and Clown.
Workshops
Workshops
In addition to features performances, Johnny has extensive experience in workshop facilitation, teaching short term and long term courses in a range of disciplines including: voice work, yoga, physical theatre, improvisation, theatre performance, public speaking, slam coaching, writing, and vocal performance (music). Here are some sample workshops for spoken word artists:
Stone Soup Chai Recipe
This is one of the first recipes we experimented with at the Stone Soup writing group. With a strong community of Punjabi residents, I wanted to learn and share familiar dishes. Chai in itself is nuanced in its many forms. What is considered Authentic? Trendy? Who has the authority to determine what is and isn’t correct? How do we negotiate… and do we need to negotiate at all… the gentrification of so many cultural tastes? Some people call it a chai tea latte. Some people laugh at this.
This specific recipe was developed because many of the participants of Stone Soup adhere to various degrees of veganism. My preference is to use honey, but regular sugar works just as well.
You’ll notice that there aren’t exact quantities. It’s because everything is to taste. More specifically, when it comes to spices- the makers consider the age and intensity of the spice. But this recipe is for 1 pot for 2-3 people.
Ingredients:
-thumb of ginger
-3-6 cardamom pods
-2-5 cloves
-1-2 sticks of cinnamon
-sprinkle of fennel seed
-1-2 star anise
-3 whole black peppercorn *this is mainly for health
-black tea
-sugar/honey
-coconut milk**** go to the Asian markets, and get the good stuff, the creamier stuff, though the non-Asian market ones in the big cartons can work too… it’s just a bit watery and flavourless. The small cans, and small cartons offer a much creamier mouthfeel.
Instructions:
1. In a mortar pestle, pound all the dry spices. You could also pound the ginger, but it’s not necessary. I even tried blooming the spices in a pan prior, but it honestly didn’t make it taste any better. When the aunties just put the spices in as-is, it tasted way better. Sometimes we needlessly overcomplicate. Anyway, pound the spices until they’re cracked and broken, but not into a powder, just break them up.
2. Slice the ginger up into a fine brunoise - skin on is fine
3. Toss these aromatics into a small pot, half full of boiling water and let them steep
4. Wait until the colour of the water turns into a deep amber, don’t rush this.
5. Add in 1–3 bags of black tea. Let this steep for about 4 minutes. It’ll look quite dark by this point. Depending on the amount of water you have in the pot, it’s more flavoursome to put in more tea bags and take them out sooner vs leaving less tea bags in longer. You can also use loose tea. It just depends on how many people you’re serving.
6. Taste it. After about 4 minutes- decide if you want to take them out. Some people then take the tea out, because it may get too bitter, some folks leave it in. ***** General note, taste as you go. Because if your spices are weak, you may want to add more earlier. This is a good time though to taste before you add the fat from the milk, so you can always adjust here.
7. Then add the coconut milk (or coconut cream if you’re feeling fancy), until the liquid is a beautiful caramel colour. Taste it.
8. Add sugar/honey*** I add this last because: without knowing the type of coconut milk, it might already be quite sweet
some drinkers, especially our members prefer to moderate the amount of sugar, so they add it themselves after, but I think adding a little bit is necessary
9. Bring the whole pot back to the boil and then turn off the heat
10. Grab a strainer, to strain out all the aromatics and potential tea bags
11. Pour into cups/mugs/whatever vessel feels good to you, and enjoy.
Stone Soupe Chai Recipe