BIOGRAPHIES
Sandra A. M Bell
Producer, Production Stage Manager, CEO of JourneyAgents, Inc .an artist booking and special event Production Company
Sandra Bell specializes in world music and performance art. She is a third generation Carnival Costume Designer from the talented Morris Family of Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad. She has worked with numerous major cultural venues and festival organizations in the United States and abroad. Some of her enduring clients are The Apollo Theatre, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, International African Arts Festival, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Central Park Summerstage, Lincoln Center Out- of- Doors, FEMI, The Africa Center, Los Pleneros del 21, among others. As a teaching artist, consultant in schools, museums & community centers, Ms. Bell assists students in creating visionary and inspiring art. She is a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow and has earned numerous grants & awards. Her latest award is 2016 J’ouvert Individual of Year her costume design “The Counting.” The Ms. Bell has a BA in Arts Administration from NYU & certificates in Film & Television production. Please go to www.journeyagentsinc.com & www.sandraambell.com.
Alex Boicel
President of Afromondo Productions, Inc, Booking Agent, Consultant, and Producer
Alex Boicel is one of the world’s leading independent promoters and the creative force behind many well-known festivals worldwide. Over the years Alex has gained a wealth of experience and ingenuity which he infuses into all of his productions including, Africa Mondo Festival in Brooklyn which became wildly popular, attracting thousands people for nine years; a successful music television show, ‘Soul of Africa’, which ran for three years on the American cable channel BET J. ‘Soul of Africa’ featured music videos from the African Diaspora and was syndicated on VH1. He is an artistic director, talent buyer, booking agent and consultant for numerous global festivals including, the St Lucia Jazz Festival, Heineken Kalalu World Music Festival, St Lucia, the World Creole Music Festival, Dominica, Terre de Blues, Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe, the Anguilla Jazz Festival, Brooklyn Celebrates, Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, FESMAN Festival in Senegal and Kayenn Jazz in French Guiana where he served as program director; and the Festival del Caribe in Colombia where he served as executive programming director (and greatly influenced the evolution of Champeta music by introducing Congolese artists to Colombian Champeta artists); as well as numerous festivals in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Martinique and St Bart’s. He continues to serve as artistic director, innovator and consultant for several international festivals. www.afromondo.com
Michael Manswell
Artistic Director of Something Positive Inc.
Dancer, Singer, Choreographer, Teaching Artist, Michael Manswell began his artistic life as a storyteller at arts festivals winning many prizes and awards. He studied music with Lindy-Anne Bodden-Ritch and at Brooklyn College (CUNY) with Tom Cultice. As a singer he has toured Europe, the UK, and the Caribbean and has performed as a soloist in many productions of opera and oratorio including Dido & Aeneas, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Messiah, Missa Criola and Missa Luba. He studied dance at the Trinidad Dance Theater with Eugene Joseph training in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Ballroom, and Folkloric styles. Michael worked with Geoffrey Holder on “Dougla II” and “La Valse des Bakas” for TDT and toured with the company in the USA and the Caribbean. A prolific choreographer he has crated many works currently in the repertoire of Something Positive as well as “Once Upon This Island” (Packer Collegiate Inst.), and “Belle” (Brooklyn College). An orisha devotee in the Yoruba religion (Trinidad & Tobago) Mr. Manswell presents lectures and workshops in dance, music, and the traditional religious practice and has worked closely with the Interfaith Center and the Caribbean Cultural Center in their programs. Mr. Manswell was named one of “Brooklyn's Black Men of Distinction 2000” and “Brooklyn's Black Dance Kings 2010”. He is currently teaching for Something Positive Inc. Purelements-An Evolution in Dance, EM Techniques, and is an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Lehman College (CUNY).
Dr. Yansie Rolston
Director Ubele Initiative
Dr. Yansie Rolston is a Systems Change Advisor, Trainer
and Facilitator who designs and delivers innovative change processes, and implements and evaluates actionable strategies on social inclusion and community cohesion. She has considerable experience and skills providing technical advice and strengthening organizational capacity, and has been an advisor at various levels of government, business, and civil society both nationally and internationally. She has worked in a fundraising and project development capacity for a number of NGOs enabling them to deliver community empowerment programmes. Yansie has worked as the project manager for a number of culturally specific events including Black History Month festivals, World AIDS day workshops, Disability Awareness Community Consultations. She is an academic, practitioner and skilled facilitator creating, affecting and sustaining change to improve life chances and wellbeing. She has considerable expertise in working with and empowering people from disadvantaged and diverse communities. She has delivered empowerment workshops and presented her work internationally at conferences in the Caribbean, UK, Europe and Iceland, and has published handbooks, manuals and articles. Yansie is a founding member of the Ubele Initiative and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
Korkor Amarteifio
Consulting Producer
Korkor Amarteifio entered the art scene in the early 80´s in Canada as an art presenter. Her fascination with the interrelationship between the cultures led her to create a platform for artists and musicians from Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas, presenting their works to Canadian and North American audiences. The international Montreal festival ‘Rythme Du Monde’, which she then created and produced, succeeded in placing world music on the map of Canada and North America. Korkor Amarteifio assisted the City of Montreal to incorporate artists of diverse backgrounds into their programs. This includes the programs presented for the 350th Anniversary of Montreal and the Canada Council for the Arts to establish policies and programmes to enable all Canadian artists, regardless of their cultural backgrounds to have access to Council support. Korkor Amarteifio returned to Ghana in the early nineties and was Director of Programmes and Operations at the then newly established National Theatre of Ghana. She was instrumental in creating a concept, mission and structure for the theatre, turning it into one of greater benefit and appeal to the employees and stakeholders. She also created programs which succeeded in making the National Theatre of Ghana, a home for all artists and audiences of different ages, cultures and social backgrounds. She is the Director of the production house, World Rhythms Inc, and Associate Director of the Institute for Music and Development.