BIO: Jessica Nolasco is a High School Senior, an International Baccalaureate Programme Diploma Candidate, and President of the National Honor Society at Parkdale High School in Riverdale, Maryland. In her leisure, she crafts her passion for the spoken word. She’s been a member of the youth poetry group Lyrikal Storm since 2010 and is published in “A Celebration of Poets Anthology 2011-2012.” She recently participated in the Emancipation Proclamation “Freedom Competition” and the Rosa Parks Memorial and Breast Cancer Awareness Programs. In 2011, she won a speech contest from the annual Hispanic Youth Institute. In Fall 2013, Jessica will attend the University of Maryland College Park.
PAGES, is a multi-lingual spoken word artist originally from Cameroon, central Africa, which is only a portion of his diverse background. Founder of Da Movement Poetz, Org - a performance group promoting youth advocacy through the creative arts - he has the ability upon grabbing a mic to take his audience into layers of painful past experiences, the poverty and turmoil which plagues Africa, women’s rights and issues, politics, and love & heartache in a beautiful amalgamation of words and sounds.
As both an emcee & spoken word artist, the same versatility in his pen is also embodied in his performance. As a “Movement” poet, his features have included The Kennedy Center; numerous colleges and universities such as Columbia University; He has appeared on BETJ’s Lyric Café; and worked in collaboration with various organizations such as CWA (Brave New Voices), Teaching for Change, Words Beats Life,Inc, & being the 2009 youth spokesperson for D.C. Vote. In addition to winning multiple local slams, he is also the 2010 & 2012 DC Grand Slam Champion. He was nominated for a NUSPA award as Best Performance Poet male. He is one of the permanent hosts for Busboys and Poets Open Mics, and also co-hosts GraffitiDC, one of D.C.’s newest ground-breaking premier Slam Series. Currently, if he is not somewhere rocking a stage, he works as a creative writing teacher and leads workshops throughout various universities, and elementary to high schools. Pages, is an avid bow tie enthusiast, gummy bear elitist, and an anime & manga fanatic.
He has opened for Chrisette Michelle, Raheem DeVaughn, Afrika Bambaata, Andrea Gibson, and has shared the stage with Common, Mos Def, Chris August, Rudy Francisco, Rachel McKibbens, Saul Williams, Oveous Maximus, Shanelle Gabriel, Sonya Renee, Rosario Dawson, Amiri Baraka, Gayle Danley, Bassey Ikpi, Ainsley Burrows, Holly Bass, Asia Samson, Eboni Hogan, Brook Yung, Joshua Bennett, Talaam Acey, Michelle Meyers of Yellow Rage.
In addition to being a spoken word artist, he is also an educator and teaching artist, working through numerous schools from Elementary to High school levels, teaching creative writing and performance, and mentoring young kids throughout the D.C. and Maryland area. He is also assistant coach for the D.C. Youth Poetry Slam team, a Teaching Artist and Assistant coordinator for Youth Programs of the non-profit organization, Split This Rock.
As both an emcee & spoken word artist, the same versatility in his pen is also embodied in his performance. As a “Movement” poet, his features have included The Kennedy Center; numerous colleges and universities such as Columbia University; He has appeared on BETJ’s Lyric Café; and worked in collaboration with various organizations such as CWA (Brave New Voices), Teaching for Change, Words Beats Life,Inc, & being the 2009 youth spokesperson for D.C. Vote. In addition to winning multiple local slams, he is also the 2010 & 2012 DC Grand Slam Champion. He was nominated for a NUSPA award as Best Performance Poet male. He is one of the permanent hosts for Busboys and Poets Open Mics, and also co-hosts GraffitiDC, one of D.C.’s newest ground-breaking premier Slam Series. Currently, if he is not somewhere rocking a stage, he works as a creative writing teacher and leads workshops throughout various universities, and elementary to high schools. Pages, is an avid bow tie enthusiast, gummy bear elitist, and an anime & manga fanatic.
He has opened for Chrisette Michelle, Raheem DeVaughn, Afrika Bambaata, Andrea Gibson, and has shared the stage with Common, Mos Def, Chris August, Rudy Francisco, Rachel McKibbens, Saul Williams, Oveous Maximus, Shanelle Gabriel, Sonya Renee, Rosario Dawson, Amiri Baraka, Gayle Danley, Bassey Ikpi, Ainsley Burrows, Holly Bass, Asia Samson, Eboni Hogan, Brook Yung, Joshua Bennett, Talaam Acey, Michelle Meyers of Yellow Rage.
In addition to being a spoken word artist, he is also an educator and teaching artist, working through numerous schools from Elementary to High school levels, teaching creative writing and performance, and mentoring young kids throughout the D.C. and Maryland area. He is also assistant coach for the D.C. Youth Poetry Slam team, a Teaching Artist and Assistant coordinator for Youth Programs of the non-profit organization, Split This Rock.