ResumÉ

Music Industry

Kafayat is an improvisation Jazz Vocalist, Multi-Instrumentalist, Chant call-and-response rendition, and Percussion Dancer.
She plays the Harmonica, Bird-call wooden flute, Shèkere (Gourd rattle), Triangle & Striker, Àgogo bells, and Clap Rhythm (from the Broken Beat genre)
And have performed/ danced with the likes of …
–Nok Cultural Ensemble.
–Warm-up act for 2 time Grammy Award winner Lèkan Babalola & the Sacred Funk Quartet
–Bukky Leo & Black Egypt
– Birchfield Jazz Festival, Introduced the Mayor of the West Midlands; Andy Street   *Senior Artist Liaison; We Out Here Festival / BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio 6 Giles Peterson curated, The Big Top Stage,
*Roadie to Grammy Award nominee; Seun Kuti & Egypt80 (The legendary band of Fela Kuti)
* Stage/ Artist Liason; We OUT Here Festival – Supporting Tomorrow’s Warriors, Youthsayers and more.
*Artist Liaison to MTV Award winners / Google Recognition Award winners; ‘Sauti Sol‘
*Merch Supervisor Roadie with World-stage scholar, and 15-piece Orchestra Band Leader; Dele Sosimi
*Green Room Coordinator, Live at Leeds Music Concert
* Stage Crowd control; Afrobeats Corner / Notting Hill Carnival London
*Manager and Road associate to International pop artist Olu Maintain – treated the former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, recorded with 50cent’s G-UNIT first lady Olivia, US reality star Natalie Nunn, and Hypeman Fatman Scoop.

Stage Manager
Kafayat is an extremely reliable and efficient stage manager…
*Stage Manager, QM Records/ The Underground Live Music Venue featuring Haze Da Martian and Blazer Boccle. *Artist Liaison, Migration Matters Festival, 2023
*Stage logistics, BADDEST BOY concert/ Ocean View / WizKid, Banky W, Eldee. 1908 Connect
*Event Assistant, The Hogan Music Supervision and licensing company; End of year Event across 3 floors/ Dancing Family Records
*Stage Manager, A Not So Silent Night annual Christmas gig, Vital Culture / Mill TV featuring BBC SilverFinger Singh, DJ JLud, Shantelle King.
*Artists’ welfare, DJ Abrante concert, Somerset House.
*Rehearsal logistics & Artists’ Liaison, HEADIES Hiphop Awards, Smooth Promotions / 1908 Connect
*Logistics, ROCK DA MIC Records music talent hunt for Felabration concert carnival  
*Assistant Stage Manager, Cyber Sound Entertainment Records (Sydney-Australia registered)
*Bar Supervisor, Dubai Lounge & Night Club London
*Music Video Production Manager, Malio Entertainment


Commissions
*Culture and Identity Research funding/ University Research Strategy Joint bid with the Department of Psychology – University of Bradford, 2023.
*BD:Fest23, Sarcastic- Idiot; Alternative Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – durational outdoor exhibition
*Cambridge Junction, Jòko (sit on it); Art & The Living Body in Performance – Exhibition, 2022
*Arts Council England, Project Grant, 2022
*Martin Firell/ Channel 4, Out of the Ordinary – Film
*Barrel Organ / Camden People’s Theatre, The Monster That Feminism Made Me, 2021
*Arts Council England, DYCP, 2021
*Bradford Council, Loud -Straws (International women’s day project featuring Jordan Stephens of music group Rizzle Kicks and Chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Lisa Holdsworth, 2021
*Bradford Council, Queer Down, (Mid Pandemic Project on avoiding‘Covid-iots’, 2020
*PER-SO-NA, One-woman show, Lighthouse Poole 2022, Crucible Theatre Sheffield 2021, Bridge House Theatre London 2021, Theatre in the Mill Bradford 2020, Tetley Art Gallery Leeds 2018

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She is a character-performer. Think Helena Bonham Carter, Josh O’Connor, Lolly Adefope, Ryan Reynolds as Blue shirt Guy, Ryan Sampson, Dev Patel, Maggie Smith, Jennifer Coolidge, Simon Farnaby, and 50Cent.

Speaker

*Speaker – CLORE Leadership: Governance Now (Midlands Arts Centre)
*Speaker – Journalism & Media Week Leeds Trinity University
*National Literary Trust appointed Speaker at the UK screening of Netflix documentary ‘Knock down the House’ (following congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s rise to Senate) at the National Science and Media Museum
*Speaker, Woke Minority Heritage Summit, Strike A Light / UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
*A mouth-piece for women’s visibility and has been invited to speak at various women-oriented events like
–Venus radio International Women’s Day broadcast
–Park Avenue Ladies Cricket International Women’s day event
–Bradford Transformed – International Women’s Day event.


Funding Judge

*The Big Commission (£60k grant for new work to premiere at BD: Festival 2023), Bradford Council, and Bradford Producing Hub
*Being Great Storytellers Programme, Bursary and Training, BPH
*New Queers On The Block Commission (£3k grant to develop and deliver an event which centres the LGBTQIA+ community in Bradford), Theatre in The Mill and Malborough Arts – Brighton, Instigator Sonia Sandhu.
*Make Work; Your Idea, Your Way Commission (£18k grant to support those great ideas that have been waiting for the right opportunity), Bradford Producing Hub and Creativity Council

Television/ Film

*Take my Sunshine Away, Film, Falling Stars / Mind Matters for Education, Mercedes, 2022
*BBC 2, Precious Hair and Beauty Film
*Foster4Leeds, Adopting and Fostering Campaign Ad, Pocket Projects/Leeds City Council
*BBC 1 Years and Years TV drama featuring Jessica Hynes and Rory Kinnear.
*First Bus Company Travel Ad, Adam Web
*She performed alongside Bollywood star Siddharth Jadhav.
*Channel 4 Great British Sex documentary.
*Alternative Research Project CYP6034, Training Film, Trinity Vision / Leeds Trinity University
*Manchester City premier league Ad (Project Restart), Cisco /Milk Money TV

Red Carpet

*Hosted a segment at the Red-carpet of London Beach Rugby 2018.
*Co-ordinated Red Carpet for the premiere of Basira in London Movie / Odeon Cinema Greenwich/ DJA Media

Project Manager/ Facilitator

Kafayat project-managed the Nelson Mandela spoof at Ravensbourne London, used as the opening skit for the Screen Nation Film and TV Awards / Park Plaza Hotel Westminster.
*Curator – The very first African Festival of Arts in Bradford (BAFA) *Festival Manager / Co-curator – Yòrúba Cultural Festival London (Zion Train Entertainment) * Co-ordinated the Redcarpet for GLAM Africa Fashion show/ Awards London,
* Facilitated the Global Bradford Migrant storytelling session at the Bradford Festival; a National Literacy Trust Project
*Nothing Hill Carnival London; Western Union Corner
*Assistant venue co-ordinated Leeds International Film festival
*Audience coordinator Light Night Leeds
*Front of house Leeds Young Film Festival.

Kafayat has been about a bit. 
Her one-woman shows have toured internationally, including venues like Konstepidemin Göteborg, The Harbour in Bray. Nationally at Crucible Theatre Sheffield, Cambridge Junction, Lighthouse Centre for the Arts Poole, Vortex Jazz Club London, Jazz Cafe Camden, Centre For Live Art Yorkshire (CLAY) Leeds, Tetley Art Gallery Leeds, amongst others. She has featured in social-impact campaign Ads across billboards and the Web, and on award-winning TV programmes on BBC 1, Channel 4, and more recently on BBC 2.

Other stage performances include: Searching for the Heart of Leeds (Malena) Leeds Playhouse, Inner Circle (Maya) Displace Yourself Theatre/ The Arc Stockton, Not an Open Mic; Women’s Comedy Theatre in the Mill, Revolution Bradford (Red Leader) Freedom Studios, Space Wars (Slimax) Wrongsemble Theatre, The Lonely society (Ione) Common Chorus Theatre, This Space Is Occupied (Apinke) Bent Architect Theatre, Superheroes (Black Panther warrior princess Zinger) Wrongsemble Theatre, Dragons Den parody; Dragon on the web series with Kinotrigger Productions.

Kafayat is currently touring her choreography-in-wider-context show iN Monologue With My Mom; Redress of my childhood trauma, and Humanities exhibition Jòko (sit on it): Art and The Living Body in Performance in Sweden, and across Europe.