Opening Weekend Performance: Konvwa libèté by Raphaël Barontini

Allan Ramsarran is a Guyanese-born musician, performer, and cultural ambassador with over 30 years of experience in Afro-Caribbean arts. He began his musical career in 1989 at North Albion Collegiate Institute, where he developed his expertise in steel pan and percussion. Throughout his career, he has performed with several of Toronto’s premier steelband orchestras, with appearances spanning Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean.

In 1993, Allan joined Ballet Creole’s esteemed musical ensemble, The Creole Drummatix, where he remains an active performer, specializing in the double-second steel pan and Afro-Caribbean percussion. He is also a skilled dancer in traditional West Indian Chutney and Tassa styles. In addition to his artistic contributions, Allan serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors for Ballet Creole, supporting its mission to preserve and promote Caribbean culture.

Beyond the performing arts, Allan is a flight attendant, professional model, and entrepreneur, and the founder of Limin Vybz Edutainment and Beauty.

Amado Dedeu Garcia is a Latin GRAMMY Award-winning percussionist, singer, and music educator based in Toronto. Renowned for his mastery of Afro-Cuban rhythms, he has served as Musical Co-Director of the Clave y Guaguancó Ensemble since 1991. He has performed internationally, including major jazz festivals in Montreal, and collaborated with leading artists such as Rafael Zaldivar. Dedeu has also led workshops at McGill University and Humber College, contributing significantly to contemporary jazz education and performance.

Derek Thorne was born and raised in Trinidad. In a twist of irony, however, he was introduced to Caribbean and African percussion only when he moved to Montreal at age 20. While studying English at McGill, he became a founding member of Keteke and learned Cuban drumming from Glen Clark and Vôvô, founder of Montreal Jazz Festival regulars Saroumbon. After graduating, he came to Toronto, joining Ballet Creole in 1999 and Canboulay Dance Theatre in 2000. In 2001, he joined gospel/jazz fusion band ZOMA, where he sees his role as “rooting the band’s New York/L.A. sound in the dirt of the tropics, where it originated in the first place”.

Pat McNeilly, known as Panman Pat, is a Trinidadian-born steelpan pioneer, educator, and calypso icon who has made an enduring contribution to Canada’s Caribbean music community. He began playing steelpan at age five and came to Canada in 1966, participating in Toronto’s first Caribbean Carnival in 1967. A former police officer and teacher, McNeilly introduced steelpan as a formal high school music credit with the Toronto District School Board in 1986. A founding member of the Ontario Steelpan Association and the Calypso Association of Canada, he has received numerous honours, including two Calypso Monarch titles, a JUNO Award, the Trinidad and Tobago Republic Day Award, and the Pan Pioneer Award.

Raphaël Barontini was born in 1984 in Saint-Denis, France. He lives and works in Paris. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at the Hunter College of Art in New-York.

Barontini prioritizes challenging the historical canon surrounding cultures and territories marked by slavery or colonisation. His approach invites the exploration of new imaginaries and narratives enriched by a pluralistic history. His paintings, flags, banners, tapestries and ceremonial capes question the representation of power, its rituals, and its carnivalesque inversion. The medium of portrait being its main field of exploration.

Barontini’s works have been presented internationally, in institutions such as Panthéon (Paris, France), Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France), SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, USA), the Currier Museum of Art (Manchester, USA), Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA), the New Art Exchange Museum (Nottingham, UK), Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, USA), Instituto Tomie Othake (Sao Paulo, Brasil), Museum Rietberg (Zurich, Switzerland), MAC VAL (Vitry-sur-Seine, France), MO.CO (Montpellier, France), MAMC (Saint-Etienne, France), Louvre-Lens (Lens, France), and Louvre-Abu-Dhabi (UAE), among others…Raphaël Barontini completed different residency programs in Jacmel (Haïti), Los Angeles (USA), New Orleans (USA – Villa Albertine) & Singapore with LVMH Métiers d’Art.

Barontini’s works are held in major collections worldwide, including the SCAD Museum of Art (USA), Columbus Museum of Art (USA), FLAG Art Foundation (USA), LVMH Métiers d’Art Collection (France), CNAP (France), MAC VAL (France), Musée des Abattoirs (France), Frac Réunion (France), Frac Poitou-Charentes (France), and Fondation FIMINCO (France).

Raphaël Barontini is represented by Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City).

Photo by Jalil Ourgeudi © Jalil Ourguedi. Image courtesy of the artist.

Reimundo Sosa is a Juno Award-nominated Cuban-born percussionist, composer, and educator based in Toronto. Born in Havana, he began playing percussion at age six and developed extensive training in Cuban folkloric music, Rumba, and Bata drumming.

Since moving to Canada in 2009, Reimundo has toured extensively across Canada and the United States, collaborating with renowned artists including Jane Bunnett, Hilario Durán, Chucho Valdés, Femi Kuti, David Virelles, and Horacio “El Negro” Hernández. He also performed at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto and continues to contribute to the growth and preservation of Afro-Cuban music and percussion.

Roger Gibbs, Calypso and Caribbean Acoustic singer/guitarist and recording artist originally from Barbados, settled in Toronto in 1986. Roger was a performing member of COBA (Collective of Black Artists) from 1995 to 2013. In 2009 and 2012 he was Musical Director of Theatre Archipelago’s production of I, Marcus Garvey, directed by
Rhoma Spencer. Roger served from 2006-2019 on the board of Festival Management Committee (FMC), producer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

He has several album recordings, including two with his classic calypso band Shak Shak titled ‘Hot So’ (2012) and ‘Shak Shak Party’ (2017). Roger received a special award from the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Calypso in Canada. Roger currently leads a Caribbean Acoustic Caribbean ensemble at the Canadian-Caribbean Association of Halton (Oakville)

Yuhala Muy Garcia is a Cuban-born dancer, choreographer, and arts
leader with over 30 years of professional dance experience. She received her BFA in Dance from Cuba’s National School of Arts (ISA), where she trained in Contemporary-Modern and Cuban Folkloric Dance.

Yuhala has been a member of Ballet Creole for over 20 years, first as a lead dancer and rehearsal director, and now serving as the company’s Artistic and Executive Director. Her work reflects a deep commitment to Afro-Caribbean dance, cultural heritage, artistic
excellence, and the continued growth of Ballet Creole’s legacy.