Jasmeene Francois, Theatre Artist
Jasmeene Francois is a theatre artist, storyteller Applied Theatre Practitioner, and aspiring writer from Riverside, California. Currently she works as a Teaching Artist Americorps Fellow with ArtistYear at PS 171 in Astoria, Queens. She created a theatre curriculum for the school and teaches different theatrical styles such as playwriting, puppetry and acting to students in Pre-K to 5th grade. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Drama and History from Ithaca College in 2011. After graduating, she taught in English in Japan with the JET Programme for three years. Jasmeene then rejoined the theatre-making world and graduated with a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While in London, she worked as a drama workshop facilitator with Body and Soul Charity and Outside Edge Theatre Company. She was also a writing workshop assistant and intern at the Ministry of Stories, Production Assistant and performer with The Paper Project, and Festival Assistant for Talawa Theatre Company.
TAP Work:
Jasmeene participated for 8 weeks in a poetry and photography residency at PS 17 with the wonderful TAP mentors Alex Velozo and Maria Schrimer. Even though Jasmeene’s medium is theatre, she gained an in depth look to the process of combining different mediums. Jasmeene’s lesson plan for the residency brought in theatre by bringing in monologues to explore perspectives of different people. With her lesson planner, Zoe, they created and presented a combined dance and theatre lesson plan that focused on bringing everyday object to life. Jasmeene was able to attend different workshop from the National Dance Institute, Wingspan Arts, Opening Act and Marquis Studios.
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
"My most memorable moment with TAP was with the first salon. I moved to New York in July of 2018 for a few months I felt the overwhelming loneliness and disconnection that can come with moving to a new city. Meeting and connecting with teaching artists felt like I was beginning to create roots in the city and in the field. I remember feeling so honored to be a part of vibrant teaching artist community. Through TAP, New York City began to feel like home."
Find out more about Jasmeene here:
