- 250-585 Dundas Street East Toronto, ON M5A 2B7
- 416-531-1402
- Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
- For ticket inquiries, email [email protected].
Inspired by the founding of the Métis nation, two siblings are tasked by their Onoshenyan (Auntie) to imagine the future. Joyful moments and battles transpire when they propose what will be.
Creator and Performer Cole Alvis
Mentor Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Movement Facilitator Jeanette Kotowich
Knowledge Keeper Pauline Shirt
Actors Tara Sky, Tavia Christina, Theresa Cutknife, Joelle Peters
Cole Alvis (she\her) is a Turtle Mountain Michif (Métis) artist based in Tkarón:to with Chippewa, Irish & English ancestors. She is one of the leaders of lemonTree creations, manidoons collective, and AdHoc Assembly, and is on the board of the Dancers Of Damelahamid. Previously, Cole performed in Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company & National Arts Centre), directed the Dora-nominated bug by Yolanda Bonnell (manidoons collective & Luminato), Lilies by Michel Marc Bouchard (lemonTree creations, Why Not Theatre & Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and, alongside co-director Michael Greyeyes, was Dora-nominated for the Indigenous opera double bill Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit (Signal Theatre, National Sami Theatre Beaivváš & Soundstreams). Recently, she directed Salt Baby by Falen Johnson (Theatre Aquarius), a digital presentation of Toka by Indrit Kasapi (lemonTree creations & Theatre Passe Muraille), and alongside Samantha Brown, co-directed White Girls In Moccasins by Yolanda Bonnell (manidoons collective & Buddies In Bad Times Theatre). Upcoming: Cole performs in the radio drama Wasp by Rhiannon Collett (safeword, Harlot X & Nightswimming).
A creative return to the fast-flowing landscape of Saskatchewan, the robust and undulating land of my grandmothers’ mothers and great-great grandfathers. Kisiskâciwan is a journey to one’s self. Conceived and performed by Jeanette Kotowich, in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, it speaks through dance to a Métis cultural narrative of identity, land and home.
Through memories of my childhood summer, embraced by the Kah-tep-was (Nêhiyaw for river that calls) valley, the vast prairie and gently rolling landscape has echoed its lasting impression and whispered a language of inspiration. Kah-tep-was is a two-kilometre wide, 180-metre deep valley is a sacred place that calls generations of peoples for gathering, hunting, and spiritual replenishment.
Creator and Performer Jeanette Kotowich
FULL PRODUCTION CREDITS
Creative Producer, Outside Eye Deanna Peters/Mutable Subject
Lighting James Proudfoot (lighting for Vancouver premiere and Montreal performances)
Sound Design Kathleen Nisbet (fiddle, vocals)
Sound Wayne Lavallee, Moe Clark, Brady Marks
Special Thanks to: Native Earth Performing Arts, Graham Kotowich, Lisa Gelley, Raïna Von Waldenburg, Emily Solstice Tait, Stéphanie Cyr, Kelly McInnes, Jono Kim, Chengyan Boon, Sharai Mustatia
Past Mentors: Carlos Rivera, Michelle Olson, Charles Koroneho
This piece has been supported by Boca de Lupo, The Dance Centre, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Raven Spirit Dance, Art Holm, Morrow, Tangente, Tanzmesse International, Dance Saskatchewan Inc, Canada Council for the Arts
Originally from Treaty 4 territory Saskatchewan, Jeanette Kotowich creates work that reflects Nêhiyaw/Métis cosmology within the context of Indigenous performance, Indigenous futurism and contemporary dance. Her creations have been presented at theatres and festivals across so-called Canada, including Kwê at Matriarchs Uprising and The Dance Centre’s Dance In Vancouver. During the pandemic, Jeanette’s been creating a series of short experimental dance films and has been artist-in-residence at Raven Spirit Dance, NAC Indigenous Theatre, and The Dance Centre. In the summer of 2020, she conducted land-based research in her home province of Saskatchewan, fusing interdisciplinary collaboration, de-colonial practices and embodied research towards the creation and premiere of Kisiskâciwan which is touring far 2022 Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. I reside as a guest on the Ancestral and unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ/, and Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories, colonially known as Vancouver. movementhealing.ca