February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the rich culture, achievements, and contributions of Black communities across Canada. In this post, you will discover some fabulous artists, explore the history of different performing art forms, and review resources that can compliment lesson plans or personal reading.

Master Rumbero Joaquín Núñez Hidalgo is an accomplished recording artist, performer musician and exceptional teacher and facilitator. He is currently performing in his virtual presentation Cuba Brazil Carnival Experience.

Cuba and Brazil are two of the most influential countries in world music today and the cultures are rich in rhythms and songs. In his presentation, Joaquín showcases the music styles, and different percussion instruments used; music that would be played for carnival, festivals, and community events.

Read or download Joaquín’s study guide

Learn more about the cultural influences of Cuban Music and the different styles and instruments of the Conga, Cha Cha Cha, Salsa, and Mambo. Discover Brazilian Samba and its sub-styles; Bossanova, Partido Alto, and Batucada

Krystle Dos Santos is a two-time Western Canadian Music Award-winning blues, jazz and soul singer based in Vancouver with Guyanese roots. She has been performing for more than a decade across Canada and is known for her powerful voice and infectious warmth, pairing original soul music with beloved Motown classics. With a voice that is commanding, powerful and rich with talent, her music, inspired by classic and neo-soul combined with contemporary hip-hop and R&B elements, is executed brilliantly. Her approach to music is unmistakably genuine.

Dive into music history with Krystle Dos Santos and her four-piece band with one of their virtual concerts; History of Motown or BLAK | Canadian Women in Music .

Resources for History of Motown

Read or download Krystle’s History of Motown study guide

Motown And Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream Speech

Learn more about the history of Motown

Resources for BLAK | Canadian Women in Music

Read or download Krystle’s Women in Music study guide

About Hogan’s Alley

Racial segregation of Black people in Canada

The Civil Rights Movement in Canada

Black Artists in Canadian Music History

Learn more about Eleanor Collins as Canada Post honours the legend with a stamp 

Join Mestre Sérgio for his authentic Capoeira workshop From Pernambuco to Toronto to learn rich traditional movements, music, songs, dance, drumming and important stories of cultural expression and preservation from the North East of Brazil.

Mestre Sérgio is a Master of Capoeira, award winning Singer/Songwriter/Musician, Recording Artist & Cultural Ambassador of Indigenous & Afro Brazilian traditional music and performing arts from the North East of Brazil. Workshop facilitation is provided in English and/or French by Suzanne Roberts Smith, an acclaimed actor, director, physical theatre performer, artist educator, and percussionista. Together Sérgio and Suzanne speak five languages.

Learn more about Mestre Sérgio at www.xoco.site

Check out Sérgio’s band XOCÔ’s latest video & single

Read or download Mestre Sérgio’s study guide

Learn more about the history and different styles of Capoeira

Watch the short documentary The Berimbau & Capoeira Angola, which re-examines the understanding of the origins of Capoeira

Watch Berimbau – History an introduction to one of the instruments that Mestre Sérgio’s plays

Watch some Capoeira performance videos

Britta B. is a Kingston-born, Toronto-based poet, spoken word performer, emcee and artist educator. Her works have featured in print, in sound and onstage across North America. She is an alumna of the Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Spoken Word Residency. As an artist educator, Britta facilitates artist-training seminars, poetry workshops and social justice programs. Britta recently completed a Creative Writing MFA at University of Guelph.

In her virtual presentation, Rebel with a Rhyme, Britta B. uses poetry performance and conversation to discuss how she came to recognize her voice through spoken word poetry and turned it into her career. Her talk explores themes of identity, diversity, women’s empowerment, and resiliency as a platform for creative and thriving communities.

Visit her at www.brittab.com

Read or download Britta’s study guide

Poetry and the Civil Rights Movement

Learn more about some of the history of spoken word poetry