Roving and Family Stage Performances
Jef at the North Carolina Turkey Festival
Whether onstage or roving, Jef is a quiet kind of guy. He juggles and balances things. He gets confused at times. (Sometimes he even forgets what his hat is for!) He involves his audience members to help him when he's confused and to play along with his mime, mask, and variety arts shenanigans. He even leads sing-a-longs!
Jef shares his work at fairs and festivals. He has performed at such places as Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC; Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, SC; the Very Special Arts Festival in Pembroke, NC; The Ocrafolk Festival on Ocracoke Island, NC; and The Children's Festival in Hampton, VA.
Jef studied mime with C.W. Metcalf and Tony Montanaro with brief instruction with Jacques Lecoq. For 17 years he performed as a member of TOUCH, North Carolina's premier mime theater. He then created the mascot, Wool E. Bull, for the Durham Bulls Baseball Club and began performing with his juggling partner, Ken Kay, as Ken & Jef. Since Ken retired, Jef has performed solo, captivating children and families throughout the South with his shenanigans.
Jane Lonon, Christmas in July, West Jefferson, NC
Parker, Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary, Charleston
Kristi Jeffords, Hartsville Memorial Library, SC
Brooks Amick, 3rd Grade Teacher, Spartanburg Preparatory School, SC
Margaret Southwell, K5 Teacher, Northside Elementary School, SC
As a Teaching Artist
Because of his specialized training in styles of movement theater, Jef shares workshops, master classes and short residencies in mime, theater mask, circus arts, ensemble techniques, Commedia dell'arte, melodrama, theater style and creating/devising theater at schools, universities, conferences and events throughout the Southeast, including: Department of Dramatic Art, UNC- Pembroke, Pembroke, NC; Department of Theater and Dance, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC; Drama Department, Duke University, Durham, NC; Drama Department, Lees McRae College, Banner Elk, NC; International Festival of Mime and Pantomime, Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta Mime Festival; Southeastern Regional Mime Festival, Greensboro, NC; International Thespian Festival, Muncie, IN; Southeastern Theater Conferences; North Carolina Theatre Conferences; Palmetto State Arts Education Conferences; Stanly Co. High School, Albemarle, NC; The Community Youth Theatre, Chapel Hill, NC; Ashe County Middle School, Jefferson, NC; Children's Summer Theatre Workshop, Oriental, NC; YouTheatre at Flat Rock Playhouse, Flat Rock, NC; the South Carolina Children’s Theater in Greenville, SC; Pine Street Elementary in Spartanburg, SC; Southside Middle School in Florence, SC; Philip Simmons Middle School in Wando, SC; MC Riley Elementary in Bluffton, SC; and the Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary in Charleston, SC.
As an Arts Integration Specialist
Jef became interested in Arts Integration and its educational possibilities around the turn of the century. He began his individual study of this style of teaching and began implementing it in his own work.
From 2005 through 2021 he was a North Carolina A+ Fellow, and through that program he is continually trained not only in the latest techniques and understandings of arts integration, but also the use of Multiple Intelligences, teaching techniques, neuroscience and all around arts education.
In 2010 he attended the Lincoln Center Institute International Educator Workshop in which he was exposed to world-class professional development exploring the arts, imagination and inquiry.
He has continued his studies with a focus on the use of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences in relation to arts education, pre-performance routines for educational endeavors, and what goes on in our brains while we do art. Lately Jef has been studying Social Emotional Learning and the intersection with Arts Integration.
Because of this specialized training and ongoing study, Jef shares workshops in arts integration and arts education with teachers in North and South Carolina as well as Iowa, Alabama and Texas. He has also presented workshops at the Palmetto State Arts Education Conferences in South Carolina; ArtsR4Life Conferences in Raleigh, NC; the South Carolina STEM/STEAM Conference in Spartanburg, SC; the MUSE Machine Summer Institute at the Chapman Center in Spartanburg, SC; the A+ National Conference in Raleigh, NC; and he was the keynote speaker and workshop provider at the Charleston County Arts Education Conference in 2017.
Students at Southside Middle School in Florence, SC, explore mask characters.
Durham Academy PreSchool
I'll share a short presentation and then will work on mime with each class.
Durham Academy PreSchool
Roving Performances
Roving performances for children and Families at the Mountain View Elementary School.
Roving Performances
Sponsored by the Chapman Cultural Center
Demonstration Lessons about the use of theater in preschool classrooms.
Sponsored by the Chapman Cultural Center
Sponsored by the Chapman Cultural Center
Demonstration Lessons about the use of theater in preschool classrooms.
Sponsored by the Chapman Cultural Center
On the campus of Wilkes Community College
Roving performances throughout the Festival as well as stage performances in the Little Pickers Tent.
On the campus of Wilkes Community College
Walter Elisha Park
Roving the Festival Site and Stage Performances on the FunZone Stage.
Walter Elisha Park
West Side Parking Lot
Employee Appreciation Picnic roving Performances
West Side Parking Lot
Throughout the school
Arts Education Mime Residency
Throughout the school
Pineville Lake Park
Roving Performances throughout the Festival Site.
Pineville Lake Park
Berkley Manor
Roving Performances throughout the Festival Site.
Berkley Manor
Are you planning a special event? Are you having a professional development opportunity for your faculty members? Send me a message about your plans, and I will get back to you soon!