Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous performing arts company.
So, what does that mean?
It means we hold a responsibility to the Indigenous artists and communities we have served in the past 42 years.
No pressure.
To us, while we acknowledge that responsibility, it means we must continue to create space for stories. Stories about identity, about culture, about us. About strength, growth, resilience, and the ways in which we see the world. It’s important to us to keep fostering emerging voices, producers, designers, and administrators; these are big reasons why I’m so jazzed about our season programming initiatives.
Our goal at Native Earth isn’t just to present ready-for-production pieces, it’s also about the journey to get there – the workshops, the residencies, mentorship and professional development. We strive to play an active role in the future of Indigenous storytelling. We are equally interested in the investment in community-building, and further solidifying our roots within t’karonto.
This season, we are honoured to present works that speak to self-expression and challenging expectations. The artists we’re working with throughout 24-25 are exploring intersectionality within dance, theatre, and lived experiences.
Our season begins with an invitation to join us around a fire. No, seriously! On September 22nd: An event for community and held in the Big Park within Regent Park: gather to celebrate the Autumn Equinox, honour loved ones that have passed on in the last year, drink some cedar tea, and spend time with the Native Earth community.
We are excited to present the 37th annual Weesageechak Begins to Dance this November at our very own Aki Studio, bringing together thirteen Indigenous artists/collectives from across Turtle Island that are exploring works in progress. Aleria McKay, Daniela Carmona Sanchez, Candace Brunette-Debassige, Kenneth T. Williams, The NDN Act (Samantha Mandamin, Denise B. McLeod, Lena Recollect, and Jamie Whitecrow), Natasha Barlow, Lacey Hill, PJ Prudat (presented in association with Nightswimming), and the wâhkôhtowin project (Yvette Nolan & Joel Bernbaum) will present new works at this year’s festival. Ancillary programming and tickets coming soon!
Our new Workshop Stream will support four playwrights in their writing processes: past Zee Zee Theatre Queer and Trans Playwriting Unit participant Smokii Sumac, Robyn Grant-Moran, past Animikiig participant Montana Adams, and Julie Lumsden. There will be no public presentation of these pieces at the festival, but they will receive support from curated mini mentorships. We are thrilled to provide these opportunities in association with Factory Theatre, with additional support from Tarragon Theatre for our Workshop Stream.
The Animikiig Creators Unit is back with a wonderful duo of artists for our 13th season of Animikiig. For this cycle, we have intentionally downsized the number of participants so we can look at ways to better support our Animikiig artists for years to come. We understand the importance of programs like this for Indigenous artists, and this year we are elated to welcome back program director Irma Villafuerte and to announce our program participants Montana Summers and Jessica Zepeda.
The need for Indigenous producers continues to grow across the country, and hearing the call, we have chosen to take action. The Indigenous Producer Training Program is a new initiative carefully crafted by Native Earth Performing Arts to offer personalized and fully supported training for three early career producers.
The Indigenous Producer Training Program (IPTP) is unique in its approach as it relies on the participants to frame the training based on their individual learning styles and needs. It is also unique in that placement organizations will not be expected to shoulder the burden of onboarding and maintaining the participants’ support, which will fall to the Program Director Samantha McDonald working closely with the placement companies.
IPTP participants to be announced soon, and they begin their training this October!
Niimi’iwe (s/he dances) Series in February and May:
In past seasons, we presented Niimi’iwe as a double-bill evening of dance. This season, we chose to expand the offerings to each hold their own space in our season, and so that we can honour the individual stories that both contain. Each piece works on its own, but in connecting them in our Niimi’iwe Series, we are inviting audiences to explore the nuances of Indigenous identity stories and highlighting the importance of self-expression in dance. It’s extra special for us too, as audiences will experience the first full, live runs of these shows in t’karonto at our Aki Studio.
We welcome A’no:wara Dance Theatre’s What We Carry, choreographed and performed by Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo. What We Carry is an expression of Diabo’s life journey as she shares experiences that she carries in her bundle of her body, mind, and spirit.
February 6-9th, 2025.
And Syreeta Hector’s Black Ballerina: a powerful exploration of the nuances within one’s identity, and the unconscious ways that we all try to fit in. Based on Syreeta Hector’s relationship to race, and her experiences in classical ballet.
May 2025.
There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow by Caleigh Crow, directed by Jessica Carmichael.
A Buddies in Bad Times and Native Earth Performing Arts Production, presented at Buddies in Bad Times. Hailing from Northeast Calgary, Caleigh is a queer Metis theatre artist, past Animikiig Creators Unit participant, and we jumped at the chance to present this work with our friends at Buddies. It’s an incredible contemporary Indigenous perspective on life and grief, gaslighting, and reclaiming your power. No wonder it was nominated for the Indigenous Voice Award (2024) and the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama (2024). We can’t wait for you to see it.
March 9-29th, 2025.
Closing out our 24-25 season is a celebration, of course!
2 Spirit Cabaret is a celebration of 2 Spirit and Indigiqueer identity and we can’t wait to see you there. Our 9th edition of the party you won’t wanna miss, held at Buddies in Bad Times. June 2025 (Date TBA).
We invite you to witness Native Earth Performing Arts’ 24-25 season. Tickets for Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival and Niimi’iwe Series shows go on sale soon!
For tickets to There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow, please visit https://www.showpass.com/o/buddies-in-bad-times-theatre/
— Joelle Peters