Speakers

 Randy Joynt has been the Manager of External Affairs for the Royal and McPherson Theatres Society in Victoria since 2016. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of Artspace and the co-founder and General Manager of TRIP dance company in Winnipeg. Randy began his career as a contemporary dancer, performing with companies in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal.  He has a keen interest in cultural policy and arts advocacy and has lead strategic planning processes, governance reviews and operational capacity building initiatives for a number of arts organizations.  He is currently on the Boards of ProArt and the BC Alliance for Arts and Culture; and has been founding Chair of Manitobans for the Arts, Treasurer of the Winnipeg Art Council and Vice-President of the Canadian Dance Assembly.

The Royal Theatre and the McPherson Playhouse are the flagship venues for the performing arts in Greater Victoria. No other Canadian city boasts two beautifully maintained historic theatres at the centre of its cultural life. Each year approximately 180,000 people from all over Greater Victoria and beyond attend shows at the theatres – from professional dance, opera and classical music to variety shows, rock music and community theatre.

 This presentation will detail the history of the theatres and their present day use as the region’s performing arts centre.

 

 

John Nsabimana was born in Kigali, Rwanda. In 1994, when over one million Rwandan refugees fled from the Genocide and the terror in Rwanda into neighbouring countries, John escaped Rwanda and travelled to Uganda. He then spent the next 11 years of his life in a refugee camp in Uganda. He arrived in Canada in 2004 on a United World Scholarship and attended Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific. John has completed his MPA at the University of Victoria.

While living in the refugee camp, John was able to see UNICEF in action in the field and the many life-saving services UNICEF provides for children in need and those in emergency situations. As such John has made UNICEF a priority in his life.

When asked about his plans for the future, John refers to the 10 year goal he wrote upon leaving Pearson College – John intends to work for UNICEF and help to make the world a place fit for children. Currently, John is one of Canada's Ambassadors to UNICEF.

Our young people who have been to RYLA training weekends will tell us about their experiences.