MOSI + MOO in the News

Bottom (l to r): Co-creators Jody Scotchmer and Sarina Condello Top (l to r): Alex Wong (puppeteer); Alexandra Montagnese (puppeteer); Quentin Vitko (MOSI); Kirsten Sixt (MOO)

SARINA CONDELLO

CO-CREATOR, CREATIVE PRODUCER, CHOREOGRAPHER, WRITER, CO-COMPOSER, EDUCATOR, AND ACTOR – BELLE!
Sarina has more than three decades of experience teaching dance and creative play to children of all ages. Qualified as a primary / junior teacher in Ontario, she did her masters of education in curriculum development focusing on creative dance for the child, and her doctoral studies on the implications of performing arts and creative experiences for children at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE). She also holds degrees in Dance Education and Composition from Canada’s York University, and a combined Bachelor of Education majoring in Dance and Drama from The Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the University of Toronto. In addition to writing a creative dance curriculum for the Toronto District School Board, Sarina has taught creative dance and drama courses for the primary/junior teacher at a number of major universities and colleges.

Sarina runs special programs in dance and music in elementary schools in the Toronto area and in her own studio. Sarina is the co-founder of Childhood Now, a registered charity that provides arts-based programming to thousands of vulnerable and orphaned children in Africa and in First Nations communities across Canada. She frequently gives workshops on learning through dance and the arts to educators and caregivers in Canada and around the world.

In addition, Sarina has created and starred in two television series: Way Off Broadway and The Barefoot Dancer. She has appeared as a guest choreographer on Popstars (CTV), Big Voice (W) and has also been a movement coach for Battle of the Blades (CBC). She also directed and starred in her documentary, Thank You Tanzania. You can currently catch Sarina as a frequent guest dance instructor on CityTV’s Breakfast Television and Global TV’s The Morning Show.

JODY SCOTCHMER

CO-CREATOR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, PRODUCER, WRITER, CO-COMPOSER
Jody has over 25 years of TV, publicity, and radio experience. She was the original Executive Director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. As well, she executive produced four annual, live-to-air shows, featuring mega Canadian and international icons, as well as the Gemini Award-winning annual Words to Music: The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, airing on CBC Television and Radio-Canada. During her tenure, she oversaw every facet of the hall of fame, including production, marketing, sponsorship, induction, development, and fundraising.

Among her other titles, she has been a Drama Development Executive at Cream Productions; Communications Manager for Alliance Atlantis’ reality program U8TV; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Alternate Spokesperson; creator of CBC’s original executive and host Media Training program; CBC Radio One and Two Communications Manager; and co-producer, lead performer, and co-writer of many amateur musical theatre productions in Toronto.

QUENTIN VITKO

ACTOR & PUPPETEER – MOSI

30-year-old Quentin is the brains and zaniness behind loveable MOSI, and has been an integral part of MOSI + MOO from its inception.

Not only is Quentin passionate about creating skits, animation and puppetry, he is also a one-man workshop, writing, editing, and starring in crazy YouTube short films. Quentin has been the lead in comedic music theatre productions for the last 15 years, making his transition from stage to TV an easy one. Half his Quentin’s life has been spent working with preschoolers in movement and the arts. For 10 years, he was a children’s martial arts instructor, working with large groups of kids ages 3 to 12, including special needs children. He has inspired Indigenous children in Northern Canada, Africa, as well as kids with cancer as a mentor and summer counsellor at Camp Ooch. Quentin is also a fitness instructor for Sasafit.

KIRSTEN SIXT

ACTOR & PUPPETEER – MOO; ABILITIES CONSULTANT

Kirsten is the magician behind the adorable singing and rhyming cat, MOO. From the beginning, Kirsten has leant her incredible talents to give MOSI’s affectionate sidekick a resonating voice and character.

Kirsten is an Occupational Therapist who has worked in many hospital settings but found her passion working with children and puppets. For 18 years, she has been involved with Teaching Awareness through Puppetry (TAP) as a puppeteer and, since 2007, a Co-Director. This educational program teaches children, grades K-6, about awareness and understanding of differences. In schools or online, she uses lively life-size puppets to engage youth and help them learn important life skills and coping techniques. She has been involved in program development, strategic program change, scriptwriting, marketing, health promotion, education and research, puppeteer training and disability awareness. Her workshops also foster student engagement and education in remote Indigenous communities through a program called Connected North. For the past 36 years, Kirsten also has been entertaining as a star of community musical and live theatre.

SHEILA PHILCOX

CO-COMPOSER; ARRANGER
Sheila Philcox co-wrote all of MOSI + MOO’s beta series music. Not only did she arrange, direct and perform on all the songs, she also has accompanied the team on their MOSI + MOO LIVE! series.

Sheila Philcox’s involvement in Music Education has spanned more than 30 years. Her personal education includes a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education, both from the University of British Columbia. She also holds an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Sheila has had experiences teaching private piano and theory. Her classroom experience includes, bands, choirs, and music composition/appreciation. She has spent summers working at musical theatre camps including many years at “Gotta Sing Gotta Dance” in Vancouver BC and Patti Ross Milne’s “Work Yourself Inside Out” in Toronto. She has spent 20 years working for Sarina Condello at Learning By Heart Studio where they have put on creative dance and musical theatre performances for children of all ages in Toronto and Montreal. She has also worked in the adult community musical theatre realm for the past 13 years as music director. Sheila’s work in musical theatre also includes arranging songs for new musicals.

In 2012, Sheila had the good fortune to be part of Bravo Television’s docu-reality series Way Off Broadway that followed 20 regular folks from different walks of life in their quest to put on a musical in 8 weeks.

In early 2020, Sarina Condello and her son Quentin Vitko were ready to depart for South Africa, with two custom-made puppets, to run her charity arts program for disenfranchised children. However, COVID-19 hit and they were grounded. Overflowing with ideas and energy, Sarina decided to create an online children’s movement program based on her highly popular studio classes. She called Quentin over to breathe life into the boy puppet and a little show, Dance with Sarina & JJ, was born. Their Zoom class was held in her home studio weekly in two time zones. Over two months, the show developed a raft of fans across Canada, including many teachers who said the dance class not only gave them a much-needed break, but it was their kids’ favourite part of school!

The proof of concept for a bigger show was solid. Sarina partnered with long-time collaborator Jody Scotchmer and they spent over a year developing an educational dance platform for children ages 2 to 7. With generous input from Quentin and friend Kirsten Sixt, they created two iconic puppets, MOSI + MOO, and the persona of their dance teacher friend, Belle.

Inspired to create impactful content where KIDS DANCE TO LEARN, Jody and Sarina co-wrote four 13+ minute long form dance adventure episodes, 18 5+ minute dance parties, and four 5+ minute dance games. With pandemic beleaguered teachers and parents in mind, the team also created special support materials: four episode guides, lesson plans, rubrics, worksheets and creative dance tips.

Sarina and Jody then worked with Boomerang Art + Design to create MOSI + MOO’s brand design and website. Steve Evangelatos (The Snoopy Show) came on board to draw the show’s animated characters, and Ben Silverstein joined to illustrate all of the green screen assets.

Next, Jody and Sarina crowdfunded through family and friends and raised enough capital to build a live-action and a green-screen double set (location courtesy of The Jam Club) and shoot their MOSI + MOO beta series. Sarina choreographed all the episodes and rehearsals began by adding Dora nominated actor, puppeteer, and theatre creator Alexandra Montagnese (Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival Theatre) and Gordon Wong (TAP) to get MOSI + MOO dancing and grooving! A professional crew was hired and, under the direction of Julian Peter, the team shot MOSI + MOO’s beta programming — in the midst of the COVID pandemic lockdown in Ontario — through March, 2021.

Together with composer/arranger Sheila Philcox, Jody and Sarina wrote 24 original dance songs, plus additional lyrics to 16 classic nursery rhymes. The trio professionally recorded, with Kirsten, Quentin and friends Kylie Martin and Kyra Vitko, an entire original album of songs, MOSI + MOO Volume 1, which available wherever music is streamed. A new album, MOSI + MOO Nursery Rhymes, will be released in March 2022.

In June, 2021, MOSI + MOO was launched on YouTube, as well as Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and their website www.mosiandmoo.com.