Meet the cast !
Koko Kumazawa - she/they Dance+drama
Kyra Sandhu - Drama
“I'm a good actress” was written after I started to see what actresses within Hollywood actually go through- especially “smaller/newer” actresses. My piece started to develop when I heard stories from survivors around me. I got an understanding that a lot of survivors often pretend they are alright and are just natural actresses after pretending they were okay for so long. Within my piece there's a lot of explanation of what happened to this “actress” and also a lot of reenactment of what was said to her. I wanted my piece to cover different types of anger, confusion, and obviously sadness. The main part of my piece is about covering the topic of sexual assault, however the piece to me is also kind of a mystery. “I'm a good actress” is just a huge metaphor and along with that you don't really know if she was a real actress, or just pretending.
An amazing artist who helped co- write my piece, and overall just helped me perfect it was Anna Tchernikov. They went out of their way to help me out and I can't express my gratitude enough. Along with Anna the directors of the show Kate and Emine, have been nothing but amazing- they’ve been the sweetest, and most genuine people i've ever met, and opened my eyes to new forms of art to appreciate. The “Know My Name” cast is the most talented, and sweetest group of people I've met, and I got the honour to work with them, which still feels surreal. This show will forever have my heart and I'm so grateful to have been able to share my piece.
Maddy Ringo - she/her Film head
Angelique Dancel - she/her Vocals
Hi! My name is Angelique Dancel, but people call me Angel:) I've recently started writing music this year, I found that this show has given me many learning opportunities to explore myself as an artist furthermore. It was amazing hearing voices from different backgrounds and experiences, the cast had created a safe space which I will always appreciate!
Kailin Brown - she/they Dance+Vocals
Emine Adilak - they/she Dance head+Drama
Weightless and Weighted: This piece is about both of our struggles with eating disorders. We worked with Hannah and Claire for our music, and we really tried to captivate an almost nightmarish sound. This translated into our choreography and exactly portrayed our relationships with food.
Cherry Trees: This piece is about my experience when I was sexually assaulted. I wanted my choreography to be kind of all over the place and messy, because that is exactly how I was feeling when I was dealing with everything that happened. I also chose to film this piece in an empty apartment to really embody my feelings of isolation and loneliness, in terms of how I connect with others intimately since my sexual assault.
Elizabeth White - she/her Vocals
Hello, my name is Elizabeth White and I have loved being in this show as it has given me so many wonderful opportunities that I cannot express with words. I would also like to mention how wonderful it was working with Olivia Barron, Talya Lemay, and Ella Kerr.
‘Protect Me’ started from a statistic that was going around on social media at the time stating that 97% of women are victims of some kind of sexual harassment. This sparked the idea to explore the even bigger picture idea that even the 3% still feel a constant state of fear. From the moment we are born we need to be afraid. It is ingrained to have the paranoia follow you, waiting to be next as we see it happen to almost everyone we love.
My song is from the perspective of my middle school self my friends fall into the 97% while I remained a 3. I felt guilty for being unnormal as if being harassed was some kind of club I wasn’t invited to. Therefore, I was automatically was named “undesirable” and a “feminazi”.
The story itself comes from a large place of innocence, fear, and vulnerability; Feeling fragile and frail in a world where I was destined to fall into the 97%
Hannah Wang - she/her Music
Hi! My name is Hannah. Working on this show has been an absolutely amazing experience. I am so grateful to be able to work with such talented artists, and the entire cast is filled with wonderful people. I hope you enjoy our show, and this is your daily reminder that your voice matters and always matters :)
Claire Cui - Music
Being part of Know My Name was amazing, and I enjoyed being able to work with a talented cast. The opportunity to work with members from other majors was a truly unique and unforgettable experience.
Anna Evans-Cook - She/her Visual Arts
Name: Be Still My Beating Heart; Eat Me Alive
Mixed Media (felted heart, lungs, spinal cord and clay teeth)
Artist Statement: This piece exaggerates the process of self-blame and the act of attacking one’s vulnerability, referencing corrupt expectations, relentless self-sabotage, and becoming consumed by the raw reality of it all being your fault.
Name: Pressure
Polymer Clay
Artist statement: This piece is in reference to internalizing a forced and unwelcome feeling of pressure and vulnerability caused by manipulation.
Lilly Logue - she/her Vocals
I’m Lilly Logue and my piece is called “The Girl Across The Street”. This piece talks about being catcalled and objectified. The feeling of thinking you aren’t good enough because you aren’t the one being affected. Then realising that you shouldn’t have wanted to experience that in the first place.
Nefi Swaby - she/her Drama
About “A child’s place”
I spoke with a friend about their experience with rape and having to go to court about it. It goes into the thoughts and feelings of not being yourself and everything being a big blur but you can at the same time remember it like it was yesterday.
About “Wonder”
Wonder is more of a personal piece because it’s about how an emotionally abusive relationship changes your outlook on love as a whole. I got to a point where I stopped caring about the idea of being in a relationship but in reality I did actually want to to be in reality I wanted to be in a relationship but I’m scared of being hurt.
Paige LeBlanc - she/they Film
This is to all the young girls and enbys who were taken advantage of. I hope you know that you are so brave and powerful, and that I love you. I wish I could have heard these words when I was young. Eighteen is a love letter to my childhood<3
Sierra Davis - she/they Drama head+film
Sierra Davis & Julia Yoo
Being two women of colour, we always struggled with our identity in feminism. Sierra; being a black girl it’s always a battle with race and feminism and how I'm always my race before I am a woman. We both deal with fetishization on a daily basis. Other women showing the non-white woman.
Benjamin Haslam - they/he Visual art head
Sam Denovan - Dance
Weightless and Weighted: This piece is about both of our struggles with eating disorders. We worked with Hannah and Claire for our music, and we really tried to captivate an almost nightmarish sound. This translated into our choreography and exactly portrayed our relationships with food.
Astrid Krallisch - she/her Music head
Emma Vacca - she/her Dance head
Anna Tchernickov - She/they Writing Head
Asloan - They/them Visual arts head
Linnea Townsend - she/her Drama
Normal is a monologue written by Jess Davis that explores the subjectivity of normalcy when it comes to love, and the ways in which heteronormativity and bigotry impacts queer people.
Maya Granic - she/her Drama
You don't need to be perfect. That's what this process has taught me. This piece is about the confusing ever changing thoughts and experiences of being in a toxic household with an abusive caregiver. A sort of hopeless poem in a hopeless world that somehow makes me feel hopeful. My name is Maya Granic. This piece is called: YOU.
Paige Cuddy - she/her Dance
Tessa Ziemba-Lee - she/her Dance
Tibor Stojanovic - He/him Music head
My name is Tibor Stojanovic and I am one of the heads, as well as Astrid Krallisch, for the band. I had a very engaging experience working with musicians and some of the other heads of the show in order to create an environment for musicians to write music which uplifts the message of the show. As musicians, it is important to take into consideration the emotional aspect of the music we write and play in order to properly capture the needed atmosphere, and I do believe the musicians in the show did a fantastic job.
Julia Yoo - she/her Film
Sierra Davis & Julia Yoo
Being two women of colour, we always struggled with our identity in feminism. Sierra; being a black girl it’s always a battle with race and feminism and how I'm always my race before I am a woman. We both deal with fetishization on a daily basis. Other women showing the non-white woman.
Sean Maiato - he/him Music
My experience making music for Know My Name, and being a part of the band was incredible! I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate, and I loved working with my friends to create music, especially for a show that has such a strong meaning behind it. I loved contributing to the Trailer backing track, but also creating my own music piece for a dance piece. It’s so important to express ourselves creatively, and this show really allowed us to do that.
Fathiat Shittu - Drama
TRIGGER WARNING!
I wanted to write this piece by taking inspiration and research of rape survivors recounting their encounters and with respect to their experiences and trauma. I created a monologue on some shared experiences of being raped. I found that from an outer perspective it was incredibly difficult to write a piece on sexual assault when you have not personally experienced it. I read stories and watched interviews of survivors recounting their experiences and based my piece on their stories and experiences. I wrote this with the intention of putting the audience into a survivor's shoes and to know that it is not always black and white and all experiences deserve to be heard and acknowledged. I want to leave the audience with a new lens on sexual assault and never jump into conclusions and just listen and empathize.
Fathiat Shittu.
Dylan Mah - He/him Music
When writing this piece, we allowed ourselves to express feelings of struggle, oppression, and empowerment through the medium of music.
A first for us, we were tasked with composing a piece that would be interpreted by a dancer, creating a final product of dance and music. This created the challenge of clearly showing the different emotions in our piece, while still supporting the dance component.
We would like to thank Kailin, for her dance interpretation, and Tibor, for guiding us in our composing.
Jessica Davis - She/they Drama head+film
Olivia Barron - she/her Dance
I am Olivia Barron and I choreographed a contemporary solo for the piece “Protect Me” in the show. The piece is meant to express the innocence that women are taught to keep, and how just because some women live through a persona of purity doesn't mean that they don’t also feel those fears that most (if not all) women face daily (ex. Objectification, SA, Catcalling etc.). Whenever anyone feels violated, uncomfortable or helpless, they should be able to share their stories without feeling invalidated due to an experience not being “serious enough” or “bad enough” according to society's standards.
Nicole Dasilva - she/her Dance+writing
“Self-love”
Provocative. Self-love. Confidence. Sexy. Self-worth. Acceptance. Power. Empowerment. Independence. Control. I can sexualize myself, you can't sexualize me. A piece on this and so much more.
Talya Lemay - she/her Music
My name is Talya, and I am the harpist in the Know My Name band. As a musician I like to use music to help other people express their stories, and I really enjoyed working with the performers to help create a meaningful experience. I learned a lot about the lives of the cast, and enjoyed being a part of the show.
Sophie Byrd - she/her Vocals head
Francis Scarth-Lella - he/him Music
When writing this piece, we allowed ourselves to express feelings of struggle, oppression, and empowerment through the medium of music.
A first for us, we were tasked with composing a piece that would be interpreted by a dancer, creating a final product of dance and music. This created the challenge of clearly showing the different emotions in our piece, while still supporting the dance component.
We would like to thank Kailin, for her dance interpretation, and Tibor, for guiding us in our composing.