Arts Access is based on the idea freedom of choice and with this freedom comes an expansive and diverse body of work. Nobody is witness to that more than our dedicated facilitators. Below you will find some of the stories of the Arts Access artists’ unlimited creativity, as recounted by our facilitators.
Simon Alexander
Simon joined our program just one year ago and has already brought a new light to the arts center as he celebrates music, movement, and acting in his creative movement sessions. Each week, Simon takes the stage with a carefully selected list of songs he has handwritten in his spiral notebook. For each song he chooses, Simon has a vision or a story he wishes to tell. From embodying Jennifer Lopez while singing and moving to Let’s Get Loud with the facilitator acting as a backup dancer, to letting the Elvis wiggle and shake consume his performance with a spot-on rendition of If I Can Dream, Simon displays an eclectic taste in music and a huge talent for movement and impersonations. While the auditorium remains empty during most sessions, Simon is eager and ready to take his performance to the next level with having a live audience and is excited to share what he has been practicing with family and friends one day soon.
Jasmine Oliver
Jasmine has brought hip-hop to Arts Access since her start in 2021. From the start of her choreography career, Jasmine has never been too shy to add her own flair and spunk with R&B music and hip-hop moves. Making her performance debut earlier this year at our virtual Open Mic Night, Jasmine overcame her pre-performance nerves and left the audience smiling and dancing along with her rhythms, grooves, and throwback moves.
Faith Jalloh
You have never met a mind more outrageously creative than Faith Jalloh when building a story. Faith is working on a story turned screenplay called Candy Town, that evokes hilarity, suspense, and mystery in a death-defying battle between bakeries complete with watermelon-head robots, water gun fights, and a family of super spies. Faith’s story leads you on a roller coaster adventure with characters you learn to love with her boundless imagination as the words and ideas spill out of Faith and onto the screen each week as easy as breathing, leaving the reader wanting more. Faith’s story is not done just yet, and we all eagerly await to see what happens next and are as excited as she is to share her story with the world!
Special thanks to performing arts facilitator, Alyssa Thostesen, for sharing these stories with us!
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