A free afternoon of family performances featuring the fun-filled show of mime and puppeteer Christopher Welsh together with the pounding African rhythms and acrobatic dance of Sidiki Conde.

Christopher is an energetic positive Deaf role model. He is a performer who has been entertaining audiences young and old alike for many years. He trained with the National Theatre of the Deaf in Chester, CT (84) and also studied improvisation at Second City in Toronto, ON (88), Canada Clown Carnival (97), Winnipeg International Storytelling (07, 09), Shakespeare Living Willow Theatre in Wales, UK (08).

In 1988 Christopher was the first deaf comedian to perform before a hearing audience at Yuk-Yuks in Toronto. He has also performed with the “Show Of Hands” Theatre Company in their national tours in 1988 and 1989. Since 1988, through his companies Vibrisign and Wavehands, he has taken his one man show on the road. He has traveled across Canada to various schools and festivals performing skits using puppets and mime for children and adults of all ages. He also has given workshops on mime, improvisation, the use of facial expression, and sign language. Christopher has also appeared on YTV’s Treehouse and TVO programs that feature ASL Storytelling.

The call to sing and dance first came to Sidiki Conde in a dream he had after he lost the use of his legs when he was fourteen in Guinea, West Africa. Music and dance became his transcendence and his vocation. Conde founded Message de Espoir (The Message of Hope) a music and dance ensemble in 1986 with other artists with disabilities. Conde has performed with West Africa’s premier traditional music and dance ensembles including Les Merveilles de Guinea. Conde performed, directed the musical arrangements and company rehearsals. Guinea has 26 different ethnic peoples; each with their own language and traditional arts. Conde traveled to remote villages to meet the people and learn their songs and dances. In 1998 Conde came to America and founded his company Tokounou.