Carol Leeming
Carol Leeming (born in Leicester) is a British female singer-songwriter who lives in Leicester, East Midlands England. She also goes by the alias KYO and works with other acts, mostly as a featured vocalist. She is the lead singer of Staxx Of Joy, where she scored two number one tracks on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Joy" in 1994 and "You" (which she co-wrote) in 1995. She collaborated with Bedrock with "For What You Dream Of" in which became a UK hit in 1996 after featuring in the film "Trainspotting" (film). She performs with several bands Random Acts of Senseless Beauty (Nu Jazz Soul Funk World) and Carol Leeming & The Vagabonds Band (Eastern European Folk/World) as well as working as a poet and playwright, having had her literary work produced for BBC radio and appearances at Nottingham Playhouse, Haymarket Theatre.
Carol Leeming having been previously shortlisted for the Imison Tinniswood Award, for a debut radio drama titled "Reality Check" broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Now works as a writer/director, poet & multi-artist freelance for Dare to Diva productions. Her poetry is featured in the Out of Bounds Poetry Anthology Black & Asian Poets Edited by Jackie Kay Newcastle/Bloodaxe books published in 2012.
Her innovative new work made for theatres titled "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Diva A Choreopoem" (poetry physical theatre music still and moving image). Made its world debut at Curve Theatre June 2012 as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad . A solo work led by narrative, set in Leicester East Midlands, about a Black Diva, it was very warmly received and described as deeply moving by audiences that attended. The monologue poetic prose, fusing Jamaican Patois, Polari and Romany with Leicester dialect. Featured, music, physical theatre still & moving digital visuals which made a considerable impact . Other components of the Choreopoem arts project include a digital installation and music concert with choir, based on the narrative. The choreopoem project was inspired by Ntzake Shangwe's For Coloured Girls Who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow was Enuf and also Alan Sillitoe's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner set in Nottingham also in the East Midlands.
In 2012 Carol Leeming received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Caribbean Citizens Forum in Leicester for her contribution to the Arts and the African Caribbean Community. Subsequently in 2013 Carol was made a Fellow of the RSA, in recognition of her work in the arts and generally acknowledged as a polymath by her contemporaries.
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
http://www.discogs.com/artist/53029-Carol-Leeming