THE SKIN YOU SHED

Program Cover, Skin You Shed
A microphone on an empty stage was a good image for the program cover of Ann’s one-woman show. Her voice, music, lyrics and stories soon filled the stage with life.

Program – The Skin You Shed
The Skin You Shed premiere took place at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver

African cloth
Some of Ann’s most cherished possessions are fabric panels of Zulu art.

Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve
Ann’s grandfather founded the largest game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Now called Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, it is believed to be the oldest game reserve in Africa.

Zulu basket
The earthy tones, geometric designs and intricate patterns of Zulu art fascinate and inspire Ann.

Zululand Farm
Ann’s childhood home in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Ann received funding from British Columbia 2000 to write a new one-woman show. The script and music of The Skin You Shed reflected her deep interest in the country of her birth, South Africa, its rich Zulu culture, and her concern for animals that are facing extinction.

The show also touched on Ann’s travels, particularly in Lebanon, where she had lived for one year during a violent period of civil war. Ann also wanted to express the changes that had occurred in her life since she became a parent.
The musicians in the show were Edward Henderson, Miles Black and Pepe Danza.

Written and Performed by Ann Mortifee

Ann’s family takes tremendous pride in the tireless efforts of her grandfather to create the game reserves, now known as the Hluhluwe Game Reserve and Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to save the white rhinoceros from extinction.

THIS IS A HEALING JOURNEY

HEALING JOURNEY is the title of an album, a concert, a keynote talk, a workshop, and one of Ann Mortifee’s most popular songs.

Healing Journey Editorial
Ann’s multi-faceted Healing Journey project received significant publicity.

Jabula Program
Ann’s South African heritage and her positive views on life are interwoven throughout her career. She named the band that accompanied her on Healing Journey tours JABULA, a Zulu word that means ‘be happy, rejoice’.

Healing Journey Album Cover
Ann’s friend Courtney Milne, a gifted photographer whose work invites people to find their own sacred places in nature, created the image for her Healing Journey album cover.

Healing Journey, while not a one woman show, has a unique story that illustrates the remarkable effect that Ann and her music have on audiences.

Ann and a creative collaborator, David Feinstein (author of Rituals for Living and Dying), decided to craft an album of music that would resonate with people who were facing their own, or a loved one’s death, or the death of a dream, a relationship or a time of life. The resulting album was Serenade at the DoorwayWhile it was being recorded, Ann was invited to give the keynote address at an international palliative care conference. She called her talk Healing Journey, after one of the songs on the album. The talk was a huge success, and Ann’s message of hope and inspiration, combined with her healing music, propelled her into a new endeavour – keynote talks with a musical component. She soon found herself giving presentations throughout North America and Europe to people facing death and people who work with people who are facing death.
A subsequent collaboration, this one with Dr. Cecil Hershler, led to a Healing Journey Workshop designed to increase understanding between patients, caregivers and professionals. People who attended Ann’s Healing Journey concerts were invited to attend workshops the following day to explore their own healing journeys.

Singer, Songwriter, Post-concert Workshop Facilitator – Ann Mortifee

Ann was invited to sing the album`s title song, Healing Journey, at the Closing Ceremonies of the XV Commonwealth Games. One half a billion people worldwide watched the televised broadcast.

Eventually the Healing Journey Workshops were used in multi-disciplinary health care settings. Ann, and Dr. Cecil Hershler, a physical therapist and pain management specialist, created a Healing Journey Workshop that supported greater care and understanding between patients, caregivers and professionals.
Link to Article by Dr. Cecil Hershler

Ann moved on to work with other topics in workshops, either by herself or in collaboration with people who were renowned in their fields, including Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Marion Woodman, Bernie Seigel, John Robbins, Jean Houston, John Kehoe and David Feinstein.

WELCOME TO THE PLANET

Most of us would be intimidated at the thought of writing a musical show about the history of the world, but Ann jumped in and did just that.

Ann Mortifee -Welcome To The Planet 1985
This is the only time (so far) in her career that Ann has appeared as a high priestess of the Egyptian Sun God, Ra!

Ann Mortifee Welcome To The Planet 1985
The dancer who appeared in the show played the role of a muse, and occasionally she interpreted Ann’s songs with sign language.

In this ambitious show, Ann covered the history of the world in song. It premiered at the Arts Club Theatre Granville Island Stage, then toured across Canada.

JOURNEY TO KAIROS

Ann returned from a three year travel sojourn and wowed audiences with her powerful new music.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Ann Mortifee performing Journey to Kairos.

Journey to Kairos

Promo sheet
From the promotional package for Ann Mortifee’s one woman show, Journey to Kairos.

The music in Ann’s second one-woman show reflected her world travels, including the year she spent in war-torn Beirut. Journey to Kairos went on tour, became an award-winning TV special on TVOntario, and was released as an album.

“In song after song, Ann continually awed her audience with a voice uniquely rich and beautiful … whispering almost inaudibly one moment, bringing down the roof the next.” – Comox Free Press

 

“The listeners were audibly gasping … some whistled and yelped; others just slumped in their seats and clapped blindly till they recovered.” – Cowichan News

 

“She has the ability to translate experience into poetry … poetry into song.” – Vancouver Express

 

“She is leading people on a spiritual odyssey. The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and the Baptism album are behind her now and seem, in comparison, the work of a gifted innocent. The new songs and poems are more mature, more challenging, harder to take. I felt somehow ennobled.” – Toronto Sun

The Journey to Kairos TV Special won the Grand Remi Award, from a field of over 1000 entries, for Best TV Production of the Year at the Worldfest International Film and Video Festival in Houston, Texas.

AN EVENING WITH ANN MORTIFEE

Thousands and thousands of people have attended Ann Mortifee concerts. Few have ever forgotten the thrilling, exuberant experience.

An Evening with Ann Mortifee

An Evening with Ann Mortifee

Doug Edwards, Tom Hazlitt, Ann Mortifee and Robbie King.

Arts Club Theatre on Seymour Street Vancouver
The original location of the Arts Club Theatre in downtown Vancouver was just steps away from The Bunkhouse, where Ann appeared on stage for the first time.

Ann’s first one-woman show ran for six sold-out weeks at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver.

The audience was so enthralled that it was actually afraid to burst into applause. – a first night reviewer

It is within a whisper of perfection … this exceptional artist took us on a very human journey of laughing and crying, loving and seeking … the applause was, predictably, tumultuous. – Vancouver Sun