Brownton Abbey
Celestial beings from queer dimensions transform the historic Harbourfront Centre into a kaleidoscopic off-world temple as Brownton Abbey, the UK-based Afro-Futurist performance party with a Space Church theme, hits Toronto. Created by and centering queer people of colour, especially those with d/Disabilities (s/Super Powers), Brownton Abbey features an international collective of UK and Toronto-based artists.
The genre-defying event fuses a hyped party, performance art and the personal/political as a catalyst to celebrate intersectional identities. Take up space, drench yourself in contemporary ritual, and get transcendental on the dance floor. If you would like to dress up, please feel free to interpret the theme of Intergalactic techno church realness.
Brownton Abbey is creatively co-produced by Tarik Elmoutawakil and Rob Jones.
Performer Loren O. Delaney
A photo of Loren O. Delaney. Her hair is in long braids and her face is painted. She is standing against a red background, holding a clear balloon in each hand, and looking straight at the camera.
Tarik Elmoutawakil performing at Brownton Abbey
A photo of Tarik Elmoutawakil. He is wearing goggles and neon bobbles on his head. He is joyously holding up streamers, and the photo is washed in blue light.
Yousef Kadoura performing at Brownton Abbey
A photo of Yousef Kadoura. He is kneeling on stage, wearing draped scarves and loose clothing. He is holding a bundle of sticks and looking at a book that is open in front of him.
Audience member dancing at Brownton Abbey
A photo of Lasana Shabazz performing on stage, face and torso mostly in shadow, covered by blue and red light.
Rachael Young performing at Brownton Abbey
A photo of Rachael Young performing. This is a wide shot of her on stage, wearing a dress with an incredible oversized metallic skirt.
Ebony Rose Dark performing at Brownton Abbey
A photo of Ebony Rose Dark performing. They are wearing a hot pink body suit, and the stage is lit up green. Above them a large black "V" is projected on a white background.
LAL performing at Brownton Abbey
A wide shot of the stage during Brownton Abbey's performance. Streamers cascade down from the ceiling. One person is centre stage, obscured in shadow, with a purple spotlight on them.
Performers
Tarik Elmoutawakil (UK) is the lead artist for Brownton Abbey. He is fixated on creating light playful atmospheres with deep theatrical experiences as a mode of brown and queer resistance, harnessing the elevation, celebration, and centering of otherness.
Ebony Rose Dark (UK) is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in dance. Their latest work explores themes of sexuality, desire, BDSM, and black disabled bodies.
Rachael Young (UK) is an award-winning artist whose interdisciplinary performances traverse the boundaries between live art, dance, contemporary theatre, and socially engaged practice. Her work creates spaces for intersectional realities to be explored and celebrated, and for alternative narratives and forms to evolve and be heard.
Lasana Shabazz (UK) is a performance artist, dancer, theatre-maker, and writer whose work grapples with themes of race, sexuality, and, ultimately, transcendence
Yousef Kadoura (Canada) is a Toronto-based actor, writer, and producer who has dedicated himself to performance and storytelling as tools for education and social justice. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and the Curator in Residence at Tangled Art + Disability.
Syrus Marcus Ware (Canada) is a Vanier Scholar, visual artist, activist, curator, and educator. Syrus uses drawing, installation and performance to explore social justice frameworks and black activist culture. Syrus is a core-team member of Black Lives Matter Toronto and of BlacknessYes!/ Blockorama. Syrus is a PhD candidate at York University.
LAL (Rosina Kazi / Nicholas Murray) (Canada). Known as “musicians with a deeper social message,” LAL released their debut album “Corners” in 2002 and have since carved out a strong diaspora voice in the Canadian music scene, which remains largely unexplored by mainstream media. LAL introduces a political edge to the electronic underground, bridging the gap between art and social justice.