Kema Kay, also known as Kema Sikazwe, was brought up in the West End of Newcastle. He came from a musical background with passion for rap, singing and song writing which he developed in a local youth project, where he spent most of his time as a teen.

​It wasn’t until his early 20s that he got interested in acting where he went on to land a main role in BAFTA, BIFA Palme D’or award winning film I Daniel Blake and Lady Macbeth. This led to an interest with major agencies across the UK, ending up with representation by United Agents.

Eager to learn and build his craft, Kema attended Newcastle’s Live Theatre regularly, becoming a Live Theatre associate artist in 2017 and getting up on stage for the first time.​

Kema wrote and performed his debut show, Shine, which was performed at Live Theatre and toured to Edinburgh, receiving four star reviews.

​When not on stage or screen, he delivers song writing workshops, going into schools teaching kids how to rap, sing, song-write and build their confidence.

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The Lake Poets is Martin Longstaff, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Sunderland. Inspired by artists such as Elvis Perkins, Carole King, Villagers, Feist, Van Morrison, Fionn Regan, John Martyn, Wilco, Damien Rice, Bright Eyes, and Neil Young, Martin’s output as The Lake Poets is as haunting as it is beautiful.

Alongside producing his own music, Marty is a community musician and music leader at We Make Culture’s Young Musicians Project. He will be playing alongside emerging artists from Sunderland, Lottie Willis, Sara Heraoua, Paige Smith, Eve Cole and Sarah Boxall. The group will also be performing one of Sunderland musician Faye Fantarrow’s songs, who tragically passed away this year at 21 years old. All of the YMP members were in the project alongside Faye and this is a particularly special opportunity for them to celebrate her amazing talent.

The Lake Poets

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Lottie Willis

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Paige Smith

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Sara Heraoua

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Eve Cole

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Charlotte Stothard

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Tony was born in Glasgow, Scotland and started his dance journey at the age of 18.

He began his training at Dance Studio Scotland, specialising in a variety of styles. During this time he was also selected to join the Scottish Ballet Youth Exchange which saw him performing internationally in Torino and New York City.

Since graduating from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2020, he has worked with Carlos Pons Guerra in the opera show Maria De Buenos Aires in association with Northern Opera Group and joined Eliot Smith Dance in autumn 2023 dancing the role of Jolly Ghosts of Present in Eliot Smith's The Three Jolly Ghosts of Christmas.

Tony will join Phoenix Dance Theatre as a full-time company dancer in the New Year.

Eliot Smith Dance

Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is LGBT led, and is a North East England’s leading dance company dedicated to creating inclusive and high quality work, touring predominantly in villages, towns and cities across the North of England. The company operate from an office space in Gateshead Town Centre.

The mission is to create unforgettable contemporary dance experiences that inspire whilst fostering understanding between people, to enrich their lives, and to open their minds to different perspectives.

The Jolly Ghost of Present (Tony Polo) will be performing an excerpt from Eliot Smith's newest dance production for families and children - The Three Jolly Ghosts of Christmas - which is currently touring libraries and museums across the North East this December. Click here for more information.

Photographer: Rhian Hughes

Described as “classy, dynamic and impressive”, Nadedja’s music has always had the power to mesmerise and captivate audiences - an uncanny, intrinsic talent first visible as a 12-year-old songwriter.

UK-based but Brazilian-born, Nadedja’s alt-pop sound is the perfect blend of intoxicating and magnetic soundscapes coupled with her ethereal signature vocal delivery. Inspired by the music and songwriting of Maggie Rogers, Rosalía and MUNA, Nadedja’s upcoming music captures a devotion to raw emotions and gut feelings, whilst exploring ways to free those passions through sensational pop textures, catchy hooks and compelling melodies.

Since the release of her independent debut EP ‘Transient’, Nadedja has been championed by national radio airplay on BBC 6 Music, and is one of BBC Introducing North-East’s ‘Tips for 2022’. Her music has been playlisted on daytime BBC Newcastle shows and featured on a BBC Sounds podcast, alongside numerous plays on Amazing Radio, BBC Tees and North-East Introducing shows.

She’s also received extensive support from renowned organisations such as Help Musicians, Sage Gateshead and Generator. ‘Transient’ has enjoyed widespread coverage in publications around the world, including several features in Tom Robinson’s Fresh On The Net blog, and the Brazilian tastemaker blog ‘Nação da Música’.

Nadedja has supported acts such as Mica Paris, Rose Cousins, Ajimal and Cattle & Cane, as well as festival appearances including Latitude, Dot to Dot, Tour de Moon and the BBC Introducing stage at Stockton Calling.

In 2021, Nadedja was the very first artist to headline Sage Gateshead’s ‘From The Glasshouse’ concert series. She’s expanded her international presence by performing on several occasions on Live Brazilian TV, including a morning news show on Globo.

In 2022, her brand-new music video for ‘Holographic Sickening Love’ was selected as one of June’s best independent videos of Brazil, by the esteemed Hits Perdidos tastemaker platform.

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