Joleen Ballendine is a mixed-blood Métis writer, actor, improviser, and educator based on Treaty 6 Territory. She has been a core member of Canada’s third-oldest improv company -- Rapid Fire Theatre -- since 2009 and currently serves as Director of Outreach and Welcome. In 2011 she launched the companies first Outreach program, working extensively with Indigenous youth and communities to share stories through improv and comedy.
Joleen’s work has taken her across North America and on seven European tours, performing and teaching. Her writing includes projects with CBC, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Mosaic Entertainment, and Historica Canada where she penned a Canadian Heritage Minute on Mary “Bonnie” Baker.
Following the birth of her child, she turned her focus to young audiences. She is thrilled that her latest project, Kohkom’s Babushka—adapted from a children’s book in collaboration with Lianna Makuch—is being premiered with the support of Punctuate! Theatre, Pyretic Productions, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.