Writing Black Joy

Dionne Draper - Finding joy on stage and in life

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My guest today is Dionne Draper - and here is some more about her.

Dionne Draper is the executive producer and host of DAWTA The Podcast, founder of Sing With Soul, and a professional writer, actor and singer. Winner of the Women of The West Award, and the Lord Mayors Medal, Sing With Soul’s productions include DAWTA The Podcast, DAWTA a one woman musical, Bristol Take The Knee (Online Protest 2020) and Sing With Soul Choir. Dionne’s acting and recording credits include; ’The Cure’ (C4), ‘Trollied’ (Sky 1), Holby City (BBC 1), ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ (Doran Productions), and ‘Rooty’ (Basement Jaxx). Guest appearances and features include, The Jeremy Vine Show, BBC Spotlight, London Live and The Stage online.


Combining academia, racial justice and music, to empower diverse voices, is central to Dionne’s creative work. And, in 2021 she studied diversity in the music industry in a Masters in Popular Music Practice. Following her masters Dionne was appointed as Head of Music and Singing at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, leaving after one year to pursue her passion to decolonise music spaces. Alongside her acting and music career, Dionne is collaborating in a multi-agency network with fellow creatives and professionals to study, promote and embed soulful African-based music practices across the music industry.


One thing that she and I talked about during this call was the idea of joy being something that can be and is present in the midst of so many other things going on in the world - including a pandemic lockdown, a civil uprising - and in a life that is composed of every possible emotion.


 Dionne and I also talked about:

  • The song she wrote during the pandemic lockdown to build community and capture a moment of joy in a shared experience (share link) and you'll hear her singing on the podcast 
  • Creating an online protest during the pandemic and the power of technology to bring communities together.
  • The synergy between the music of people of African descent and protests. 
  • Bringing Black Joy into all parts of life including protests 
  • Writing her one woman musical Dawta - what inspired her to tell hee story of being a transracial adoptee. 
  • The value of being seen and telling your story 
  • How a change in language and understanding around decolonisation and issues of supremacy can change the experiences of individuals being impacted by racism.
  • How writing and performing the play as fiction allowed her to build empathy for those in her life - even those she had never met.
  • Bringing an alter ego onto the stage
  • Switching characters during her performance as she played multiple characters 
  • What she is thinking of for her next creative adventure 
  • And she talked about her podcast Dawta and I’ve dropped the link below.


    • You can fid Dionne at:

    Website: www.dionnedraper.com

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soullife05/

    Email: [email protected]

    DAWTA The Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YaTAbRX4mOW4u8DeFEWZP?si=350d0a6fb3dc4a8b

    And you can follow the Writing Black Joy podcast:

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writingblackjoy/

    Substack: https://writingblackjoy.substack.com/


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    Writing Black JoyBy Safiya Robinson