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poetry

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a Poet/vocalist, the 2nd place 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and a recipient of the 2008 National Performance Network/NCCC Artist of Color Residency Award. A first-generation Nigerian-American, Iyeoka was a practicing pharmacist before launching her career as a poet, performer, activist and educator.  Among Iyeoka’s individual lists of credits is performing at the Kennedy Center for an award event honoring activist and actress Mia Farrow, being commissioned by Discovery Channel for their 2008 brand campaign, being commissioned by a top-twenty ad agency to write a piece for a diversity training tool, receiving a Massachusetts Industry Committee Hip-Hop Award for Spoken Word Artist of the year, and a New England Urban Music Award for the Best Female Spoken Word Poet. She holds the distinction of being the only member of the nationally competing Boston Lizard Lounge Slam team to have earned her position nine years in a row.  Iyeoka is currently partnering with selective arts organizations to present the ART AS LIFE Professional Development Workshops on a 2010 nationwide tour.

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music

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is the founder and lead singer of the music group The Rock by Funk Tribe. Iyeoka is at the forefront of creating a new artistic genre that gracefully interweaves spoken word poetry with jazz, blues, gospel and electronic soul. Iyeoka & the Rock by Funk Tribe is one of the most sought after supporting acts for touring artists showcasing in New England.  As a dynamic sensation in the Boston music scene, Iyeoka and the Rock by Funk Tribe have been chosen as the supporting act of choice for touring artists including son of Afrobeat FEMI KUTI, popular “World Music” group ZAP MAMA at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and SLICK RICK @ Harper’s Ferry.

In 2010, Iyeoka’s latest hit single, “the Yellow Brick Road song” received national placement in an episode of the new hit HBO series “How To Make It In America”, gaining many positive reviews for both lyrical content and musical composition.

Embracing the power of words from writers such as Sonia Sanchez, Patricia Smith and Alice Walker, Iyeoka is a powerful songstress whose lyrical prowess invokes the spirit of the renowned soul-shaker Nina Simone.  A story teller to the core, Iyeoka’s hope-filled poems come from within and build momentum with truth transformed into songs that reemerge as unique, emotionally complex gifts to her audience, touching on a wide range of issues-love, women, culture, struggle, relationships, among many others.  In 2008, Iyeoka’s vocal talents on a cover of U2’s 1988 hit song “Desire” was showcased on a compilation of U2 covers Produced by Shawn Amos and Paul Heck, In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 features Grammy Award-winning/nominated African artists including Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, Vieux Farka Tour, Vusi Mahlasela and the Soweto Gospel Choir where proceeds benefited the Global Fund.

A gifted performer, Iyeoka’s acting prowess has been featured as the title character in a PBS documentary on Harriet Tubman, as well as an off-Broadway play produced by Dr. Thema Bryant Davis. Her poem on Rwanda is featured in a documentary film “Rwanda Rising” from Executive Producer Andrew Young, the former ambassador to the United Nations.

The buzz surrounding her poem-songs has garnered her national attention through performances at the TBS Trumpet Awards, the Sullivan Honors Awards at the Kennedy Center, the CBS hip hop show The Source All Access and Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam airing on HBO. Iyeoka also has opened for the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway tour at the Colonial Theater in Boston. Sharing the stage with recording artists Chuck D of Public Enemy, Musiq Soul Child and Vivian Greene to poets Gil Scot Heron, Sonia Sanchez, and Amiri Baraka—Across the nation, at venues ranging from universities,  concert halls, and neo-soul clubs to venerable spoken word haunts like the Nuyorican Poets Café in NYC and the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge; Iyeoka’s warm spirit, stirring lyrics and passionate performances leave audiences not only entertained but transformed with empowerment.

During 2007, Iyeoka began working with a 7 member Live Hip-Hop band called the Press Project which featured her future collaborator Brian Capobianchi (B. Cap) who would later join Iyeoka’s band The Rock by Funk TRiBE. While never a full member of the Press Project, Iyeoka played an important role as guest vocalist (as a counterpart to B Cap) and contributed to a track on the album “Get Right” and various high profile Live concerts such as playing for support with Soullive , the 2008 World Snowboarding Cup in Lake Placid and the Bonnoroo Music Festival.

Iyeoka lended her coaching abilities as a spoken word expert on the syndicated PBS KIDS GO! TV series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman. For her most recent project involving the youth, Iyeoka was invited to develop a workshop for Brave New Voices, Russell Simmons’ HBO docu-series about teenage slam poets.

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Workshops

Creating Your Current Anthem

The process of creating your current anthem is a profound practice that helps to uplift the spirit and reintegrate the subconscious with the paths in life that we hope to deliberately choose for ourselves. Working with simple moments that trigger empowerment—breathing, listening, movement, singing anything, speaking in your words is a cleansing process that reconnects you with your ability to summon balance and healing.

The focus of this workshop is to introduce participants to a process of exercising the habitual patterns that feed the creative experience enabling you to create a composition of celebration and recognition that in every moment we can be truly present for the motion in our journeys that launches new paths to renewal.

Through a combination of breathing exercises, writing prompts, improvisation, artistic demonstrations from the facilitators and a supportive environment to explore the gathering of inspiration, you will have the opportunity to transform your authentic voice.

In addition to creating your own anthem, you will learn the tools that propel words to shift from the page to the stage. This workshop is for both the beginner and experienced writer, the slam poet, actors and even non-writers who seek to discover the empowering medium of transforming your life with poetry and the organic ways to express it.

The Testifying Goddess

Here we celebrate our true Goddess nature and learn how to amalgamate her into every aspect of our creative lives. Here we experience deliberate spiritual nourishment and attention to recharge our spirits, bodies and our hearts. We envision the path of strengthening our self-image by cultivating love for our body, the temple of our spirit. This process shifts participants into celebrating our enlightened energy at every stage of our journey in life. Through creative writing exercises and personal testimonies we share about love, pain, changes, the art of sharing your Testimony, and poetic exploration within our sacred circle creating a magical blend of unity, the impact of ritual, laughing, singing, healing, meditating, honoring, opening and connecting. New friendships in this environment go deep fast, and we create a community of Testifying Goddesses that can catapult personal connections with the potential for resonance long after the experience is over. Iyeoka Okoawo is a Poet and Vocalist and a workshop facilitator for both the youth and adults. She inspires women to embrace their creative expression and goddess nature, and enables them to step into their power, opening to the joy of a spiritual and creative life connection. Iyeoka is a nationally award winning poet and a guest Visiting Teacher at the Esalen Institute. Iyeoka has hosted “The Testifying Goddess Weekend” several times with women empowerment retreats and leadership conferences.

Poetry Slam All-Star Showcase & Workshop

What do you get when you combine Poetry with Storytelling, Comedy, Dramatic Monologue, Battle Rap, Song, and Dance? You have an art form called Performance Poetry! What happens when these new performers compete, judged by members of the audience? You get a Poetry Slam. And what elite final event remains after thousands of poets from across the globe compete for a year? You get the Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS).  Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a 10 year slam veteran of this art form, the 2nd place champion of the 2009 IWPS competition and frequent presenter at the Esalen Institue, founded in 1962 as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of the human potential.

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo hosts a Poetry Slam All-Star showcase that includes an option to participate in a Master Workshop that guides participants in creating their own current anthem.

Workshop For the Brave New Voice

Living as a professional artist takes initiative and perseverance.  If we are to survive doing what we love we must first find the avenues and pathways to succeed within it.
ART AS LIFE is a new PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM that introduces youth poets to the ins and outs of creating a viable foundation into navigating potential future income streams and career opportunities in spoken word. This workshop will give access to resources for individual art funding, a comprehensive “cheat-sheet” for establishing a strategic professional resume, and information on expanding your artistic profile and repertoire beyond the “slam”.  Drawing from roundtable discussions, research on best practices in the spoken-word field, and artists’ on-the-ground experience, this workshop incorporates a step-by-step overview of the topic, partner exercises and case studies.  We will present “the process of becoming”, putting your art into action (ie: teaching, mentoring, project development etc), and working through the social/familial/political challenges of a career as an artist. Handouts will include University slam resources, a Find Your Approach list to begin framing your career strategy, and quick tips for building your support group.

Wordshop Lecture:
“Reveal your anthem, Unveil yourself”

Iyeoka is a poet, recording artist, a 10 year veteran of “slam poetry”, and a 5x finalist at the National Poetry Slam. Iyeoka is currently the 2nd place 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and a recipient of the 2008 National Performance Network/NCCC Artist of Color Residency Award.

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo lectures on the impact of poetry on the creation and inspiration of songwriting and music. The presentation includes an analysis of the direction and potential of the poetry and music genre to expand into the mainstream. The goals of the lecture are to inspire poets to explore the options of interacting and collaborating with musicians from rehearsing to improvisational techniques. Iyeoka provides exercises that highlight the process of cementing your  personal foundation, encouraging artists to “reveal your anthem, unveil yourself”.  She dialogues with young and seasoned poets alike on techniques of strengthening your brand to the development and expansion of your current catalogue of work to categorize your poetry. She speaks of the importance of identifying your uniqueness and capitalizing on the crafted integration of your multiple artistic talents.

Iyeoka’s latest hit single, “the Yellow Brick Road song” most recently received national placement in an episode of the new hit HBO series “How To Make It In America”, gaining many positive reviews for both lyrical content and musical composition.

Iyeoka is available for performances and workshops for all ages. To book one that fits the needs of your event, school, group, or organization, please email her Booking Team at: bookingiyeoka@gmail.com