SABRINA EVERTT, RTC(c) EXAT
This is me! And, a little bit more about my story & background.
I am many things (friend, daughter, sister, to name a few) but what probably matters most to you is that I am an Artist, Expressive Arts Therapist and Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (Candidate) located in Vancouver, BC on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I am grateful every day to have the priviledge to live, work & play on these beautiful Coast Salish lands.
From a young age, I grew up immersed in the arts. Much to my chagrin, I started taking piano and voice lessons at the age of 6. Practicing was not something I liked to do but today I can read music so that’s an awesome skill in my toolbox! Around the same time I also started taking ballet, jazz and other dance styles. Rather than catch the fly ball on my baseball team I was the girl who would make up dances in the outfield. Sorry Dad!
In high school, I joined the drama club and fell in love with the performing arts. My first role was as the Hoursecourser in a production of Dr. Faustus. I still don’t understand why we were doing that play?! I mean really. For 14 year olds?! Seems odd to me but what do I know…
After high school graduation, I left home and lived on campus at the University of Victoria where I turned my performing arts hobby into a professional pursuit. I graduated with a BFA in Theatre in 2004, and from there I moved back to Vancouver and started a theatre company.
I had no idea what I was doing but I jumped in with both feet and started what would become Twenty Something Theatre in 2006. During the following 12 years, as the Artistic Director, I lead the company from a small collective of twenty-something artists to a Jessie award-winning independent theatre company.
As the Artistic Director, I helped to develop the voices of many young Canadian theatre artists as well as developed & produced the world premiere of 3 new Canadian plays: Prodigals (2011) and Us & Everything We Own (2013) by Sean Minogue, and The Out Vigil (2016) by Julie McIsaac.
As a theatre director, I directed numerous productions including both Tender Napalm by Philip Ridley and the world premiere of The Out Vigil by Julie McIsaac in 2016. These two productions were nominated for a combined total of 8 Jessie Richardson Awards including Outstanding Production and Direction.
During this time, I also worked as a designer and technician on over 30 productions with companies from across Canada including Robert Lepage’s Ex Machina. I trained & studied the movement languages of Viewpoints & Suzuki with the SITI Company's Anne Bogart & Ellen Lauren in NYC (and beyond); as well as, Mary Overlie's original Viewpoints. And, I was the Executive Producer for the adaptation of Prodigals into a feature film that had its world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival in November 2017.
Phew, that’s a lot, I know. I was a busy young lady, that’s for sure. And, the reason I kept so busy was because that way I wouldn’t have to deal with my pain.
Then in 2017 everything began to change, I started to work on Resilio, a devised interdisciplinary work that explored trauma and resilience. This experience truly changed my life. I do not exaggerate. As a trauma survivor, it was the healing journey of this creative process that ultimately led me to the Expressive Arts Therapy program at Langara College.
Today, I am now dedicated to working with trauma survivors and all individuals on their own personal journey’s from surviving to thriving. I truly believe that within each & every one of us is a core essence & self that is creative, playful & curious. Somewhere along the way, that gets lost.
I believe in you, and the light that exists within all of us.
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”
— LEONARD COHEN
