Brenton Weyi

Brenton Weyi (born January 16, 1990) is an American essayist, thinker, playwright, poet, and humanist.[1][2][3] He is an inaugural Playwright Fellow at Denver Center for the Performing Arts[1] as well as a lead organizer for TEDxBoulder—one of the largest global TEDx events.[4][5] He is known for cross-disciplinary creativity[6][7][8] as well as for his upcoming musical, My Country, My Country[9][10][11][12]

Brenton Weyi
Personal details
Born
Brenton Zola Weyi

(1990-01-16) January 16, 1990
Dallas, Texas
Alma materWhitman College
ProfessionWriter and orator
Websitebrentonweyi.com

He is the great-great-grandson of venerated Congolese religious leader Simon Kimbangu, the great-grandson of statesman Charles Kisolokele, and a descendant of Kongo Empire prophet and leader Kimpa Vita[13]

Education

Weyi was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Denver, Colorado; he is the son of immigrants.[13] He grew up speaking French and Lingala, and later learned Japanese.[13] He attended George Washington High School, where he co-captained the inaugural mock trial team to become the first in Denver Public Schools history to win a State Championship and earn a top-5 national title.[14] Weyi then attended Whitman College, where he earned degrees in both philosophy and history.[15] He appeared in several theatre works,[16] founded a hip-hop crew and co-founded an award-winning poetry team.[17] He also engaged in improvisation, music and[13][18] danced professionally for a period.[12][19]

Career

After completing his undergraduate education, Weyi moved to Thailand, where he lived and worked at a meditation and martial arts school.[12] He has written for numerous digital and print publications, and is known for his poetic essays, often addressing various humanist topics.[12][20][21][22] He is also known for his travels to over 60 nations.[1][12][13] In 2014, Weyi became an early adopter of the sharing economy, becoming a champion for Airbnb.[23]

He created a reputation for his multi-disciplinary storytelling and immersive creative work.[10][24] He has partnered with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Norman Rockwell Museum, Denver Art Museum, the Flobots, The Schusterman Foundation and others.[8][25][26]

In 2015, Weyi joined Playback Theatre West, Colorado's longest-running improvisational theatre company, which uses theater an empathy-building tool.[27][28] In the same year, he also co-founded Storytellers Acapella,[29] an all-male vocal quintet with the mission of bringing together communities with music and storytelling. In 2016, he was the architect for an oppositional Congolese political campaign and created the slogan "Stand By Me."[13][30]

In 2019, Weyi was a featured storyteller of Denver's edition of the Empathy Museum, a travelling pop-up that encourages members of the public to walk in each other's shoes.[31] The project was originally founded by artist Clare Patey, and Denver's edition was put on by the Biennial of the Americas, featuring stories from Suzi Q Smith, Mayor Michael B Hancock, and others.[32]

My Country, My Country musical

In 2016, Weyi began work on a stage musical focusing on Congolese independence in the backdrop of the Cold War named My Country, My Country.[11] The piece highlights the story of Patrice Lumumba and Baudouin I of Belgium and the tumultuous time of nationalism and Communism around the world that eventually led to Lumumba's death. Weyi staged his first reading at the Denver Art Museum in 2018.[33] In late 2018, Weyi became the first Coloradan to host a Massivemuse—a large, multidisciplinary arts event—for national classical music company Groupmuse, which featured a staged reading of My Country, My Country and the music of Fanny Mendelssohn.[9] Weyi was named as an inaugural Playwright Fellow at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a new yearlong play-writing fellowship for four high-potential Colorado playwrights.[1] In 2019, Weyi presented My Country, My Country twice more.[25][34]

Achievements
  • 2017: TEDxBoulder Speaker with talk titled "I've Always Wanted to Tell You..."[4]
  • 2018: Grand Slam champion of Boulder Storytelling Series, Truth Be Told.[35]
  • 2019: Nominated by the City of Denver and Denver Public Library for the Juanita Gray award for exemplary service to the city by an African-American.[36]
  • 2019: Featured as a 'Colorado Creative,' a yearly series profiling the top 100 creatives in Colorado[7]
  • 2019: Named Inaugural Dramatic Writing Fellow at Lighthouse Writer's Workshop 'Writing in Color' retreat[8]

References
  1. Press, DCPA (2019-02-16). "Denver Center Theatre Company expands commitment to local playwrights". Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  2. "Untold: Denver's Next Massivemuse". Colorado Community Media. 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  3. Harris, Kyle (2017-02-22). "Feral Factory Launches Plan to Activate Art Spaces With First Urban Collage Exhibit". Westword. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  4. "Brenton Weyi". tedxboulder.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  5. "What Does Entrepreneurship Have to Do with Stage Makeup? By Danielle Dannenberg". sueheilbronner.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  6. Venues, Denver Arts &. "Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness Initiative | Denver Arts & Venues". www.artsandvenuesdenver.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  7. Froyd, Susan (2019-10-21). "Colorado Creatives: Brenton Weyi". Westword. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  8. "Living History With Brenton Weyi". Lighthouse Writers Workshop. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  9. "Untold: Denver's Next Massivemuse". Colorado Community Media. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  10. Froyd, Susan (2019-01-25). "Colorado Creatives: Daniel Mazur". Westword. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  11. Staff, Westword (2018-09-25). "The 21 Best Events in Denver, September 25-October 1". Westword. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  12. AfterFM.com (2019-01-15). "AfterFM - Kabaret - Building Community with The Storytellers". afterfm.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  13. Yessoufou, Moutiou (April 18, 2015). "Emmanuel & Brenton Weyi on 'African Roots'". Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  14. High School, George Washington (2008-08-01). "IB Broadcaster" (PDF).
  15. "The Circuit: Graduation Edition". Issuu. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  16. Otto, Elsbeth. "'TREE-SPEAK' burrows into different dance roots". Whitman Wire. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  17. "Whitman College Pioneer - Fall 2009 Issue 13". Issuu. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  18. Hardee, Caitlin (2009-12-07). "Whitman DJs bring the party to campus". Whitman Wire. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  19. Stead, Jordan; Trujillo, Josh; Bean, Sy (2013-09-01). "Brenton Weyi Dances at Bumbershoot, 2013". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  20. "You'll Never Look at a City the Same Way". upliftingcontent.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  21. "The Way of Stoicism: How East and West Use Similar Principles for Virtuous Living". Daily Stoic. 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  22. Nakaso, Dan (September 23, 2013). "'Why Every Man Should Be Poor Once in His Life.' By Brenton Weyi. The Good Men Project". The good men project. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  23. Hamm, Catharine (2014-08-22). "Learning the wonders of the sharing economy in trip to Denver". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  24. "An artist at Leon Gallery connects with his audience live despite the limitations of these coronavirus times". Denverite.
  25. "A taste of the DCPA's fellowship for rising playwrights is at the Museum of Nature and Science's Botswana Hall". Denverite. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  26. "6 Moments to Watch For in the Next Untitled: Creative Fusions at Home".
  27. Thoughts, Brad Feld, Feld. "Improv and Entrepreneurship – Playback Theatre West". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  28. "Reliving the Chief Niwot tragedy". dailycamera.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  29. Cole, Joanna (2018-10-23). "AfterFM - Storytellers Acapella on The Morning Sound Alternative - Oct 23, 2018 with Joanne Cole". afterfm.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  30. "Meet the Colorado businessman who is running for president in Congo". Los Angeles Times. 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  31. "Empathy Museum Encourages Visitors To Walk In Someone Else's Shoes". 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  32. "'Happy, Healthy & Safe Place': Hancock Talks About Denver's Future". 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  33. "Untitled: Gregg Deal". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  34. "Living History with Brenton Weyi".
  35. "Brenton Weyi 'Baby Blue'". Story Slam Boulder. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  36. "$100,000 gift spotlights Black History Month, family of pioneers in Five Points". The Know. 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
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