Be Bold. Be Heard. Poetry + Flamenco

Work-in-progress Sharing

Three Spanish artists working in the spirit of flamenco across music, dance and painting, are joined by three east London spoken word artists for an unprecedented collaboration at Rich Mix, as part of the Flamenco Festival London. Each flamenco artist is paired with a poet and given three days to develop a new performance piece on the theme “Be Bold. Be Heard.” The theme is the title of Rich Mix’s summer programme which showcases untold stories and triumphant voices.

Con la actuación de: Andres Mérida, Jesús Carmona, Sabio Janiak e Ivan Bavcevic.

Overview

Experience the energy of flamenco fused with the power of poetry. Dancer Jesús Carmona, painter Andres Mérida and multi-instrumentalist Sabio Janiak have paired with The YoniVerse, a London- based poetry collective of South Asian womxn. Witness the initial outcomes of their unprecedented collaboration on the theme of Rich Mix’s summer season, “Be Bold. Be Heard.”

About The Yoniverse

The Yoniverse is a poetry collective by South Asian womxn, for South Asian womxn. We love poetry, samosas, and hybridity. Free expression, new voices, and taking up space. We believe in owning our narratives, celebrating the diversity of the South Asian diaspora and identity, and learning about South Asian poetic traditions. We believe in encouraging womxn and girls to be unapologetically loud by creating platforms and hearing their stories. We are creating a contemporary South Asian voice, engaging with established arts organisations to ensure that this new voice is heard. We are connecting with our roots and forging new paths, decolonising and de-exoticizing our bodies. We are unflinching, frank, distinct. We speak for ourselves. We are not to be consumed, but to be heard.

The Poets

Amani Saeed

Amani Saeed is an international spoken word artist whose work brings the big issues to your kitchen table. She explores the crisis cultivated by living between sometimes (but not always) contradictory cultures, treading the line between masjid and mini skirt. Previously, Amani was a member of the Roundhouse Collective 16-17 and is currently a Barbican Young Poet. Amani’s work has been described as ‘electric,’ ‘strident,’ and ‘brave.’ Her debut collection, Split, was published with Burning Eye Books in 2018.

Website: www.amanisaeed.com Social media handles: @amanithepoet

Shareefa Energy

Shareefa Energy is a spoken word poet, writer and workshop facilitator. Her poetry is raw, honest and consistent against injustice. Witnessing her performing has been described as an almost religious experience. She was awarded with the UK Entertainment Best Poet 2017 Award. She released her spoken word neo-soul jazz EP ‘Reasoning with Self’ in 2015. Her poetry has featured on BBC One, Channel 4 and ITV. Shareefa performed at Poetry Meets Hip Hop in Berlin, the Verve Festival and has facilitated creative writing poetry workshops internationally, from Palestine to Sierra Leone. She was artist in residence at North Kensington library for the Apples and Snakes Spine Festival 2018 and 2019. She is a member of the UK female South Asian poetry collective The Yoniverse. Her debut poetry collection is being published by Burning Eye Books this Autumn 2019.

Shruti Chauhan

Shruti Chauhan is a British Indian poet and performer based in Leicester. She has performed both nationally and internationally, and in 2015, she toured Three the Hard Way – Part 2 with Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze MBE and Lydia Towsey. Shruti was voted Best Spoken Word Performer at the 2018 Saboteur Awards and won the National Poetry Library’s Instapoetry competition the same year. Shruti wrote the song lyrics for the BBC Four documentary, My Asian Family – The Musical (2018) as part of the BBC’s Big British Asian Summer season. Her pamphlet, That Which Can Be Heard, is published with Burning Eye Books.