Native Women in the Arts
Spring E-Nounce
Spring 2007 is here and Native Women in the Arts
(NWIA) has much to celebrate! This past year has
truly been a testimony to the outstanding achievements
of Indigenous peoples in Canada and beyond. This
year we have presented an exceptional Catalyst
Cafés
Series, music concerts, dance presentations, speaking
engagements, and an outstanding line-up of Indigenous
artists and leaders including: Tania Willard,
Waneek Horn-Miller, Tanya Tagaq, Leela Gilday, Lucie
Idlout,
Nukariik Throat Singers, Natalia Toledo, Michael
Greyeyes, Derek Miller, Tamara Podemski, Nathan Cheechoo,
Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill, and Joni Shawana.
Our Catalyst Cafés Series stimulate creative
and intellectual courage, and the appreciation of
Indigenous art and culture. Our first cafe was held
In April 2006 and exhibited the work and performance
of Tania Willard. Dancing on the Water, held at A
Space Gallery, is a body of work inspired by the
history of Aboriginal longshoring in BC. Her exhibition
and artist presentation illustrated the stories,
personal histories and experiences of Aboriginal
people on the waterfront. Her work is grounded in
her experience as a Secwepemc woman and urban Native,
and stems from her passion for Aboriginal rights,
illustrating a picture of an unspoken history of
Aboriginal working people.
In February 2007, NWIA held a Catalyst Café featuring
Michael Greyeyes who spoke openly to a captivated
audience about his Indigenous Life in Dance, Film
and
Theatre. Topics included the image of Native peoples
in Hollywood and the advancement of Indigenous performance
art in Canada. Michael spoke candidly about his career
and experiences, generously responding to all of
our audience's questions.
Co-produced by the Women's Art Resource Centre in
March 2007, NWIA presented Flower of the Zapotec
Word with poet Natalia Toldeo of the Zapotec nation
from the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Natalia
is the first woman to be awarded the National Prize
for Indigenous literature and her writing has received
international acclaim.
One of our most moving Catalyst Cafés explored
the story of one woman's journey From Oka to the
Olympics. Waneek Horn-Miller shared with our audience
her experiences during the final hours of the 1990
Oka Crisis. Surviving this trauma greatly inspired
Waneek to work towards her athletic dreams, becoming
Co-Captain of the Canadian Women's Water Polo Team
at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This café included
a full screening of the documentary Chiefs and Champions
(hosted by Tom Jackson, created and produced by Annie
Frazier Henry, and produced by Big Red Barn Entertainment
and Full Regalia Productions) that told Waneek's
astonishing story.
NWIA produced an exciting Up Close & Personal
music concert with Lucie Idlout & Tamara Podemski
held at Little Italy's Bar Italia in March, 2007.
These two award-winning artists performed for a packed
capacity house. The evening opened with the smooth
sound of Tamara Podemski, and Lucie Idlout amazed
the audience with her fierce performance. Our special
guest was 20-year-old Nathan Cheechoo, an exciting
new voice on the Aboriginal music scene from the
Moose Cree First Nation. All three artists gave a
stellar performance filled with the utmost passion.
In March 2007, NWIA's Artistic Producer Sandra Laronde
was a guest speaker at Brock University's second
Annual Aboriginal Women's Day that celebrates positive
Aboriginal women in today's society, leadership,
social justice and artistic expression. She was also
a guest lecturer at University of Toronto's Philosophy
of Feminism class, speaking on Aboriginal women and
contemporary artistic expression, and has been seen
at various events in the community at large
In April, our Catalyst Café featured Juno-award-winner
Derek Miller. Throughout this intimate performance,
Derek took time to reflect and share with our audience
some of his inspirations, experiences on the road
- the good and the bad - and why Music is the Medicine.
This capacity house café at Toronto's NOW
Lounge was sponsored by NOW Magazine.
One of the highlights of our 2006/2007 season was
NWIA's Songs from Above the Treeline concert series.
These two concerts introduced the rarely heard sounds,
sights and talents of Inuit and Dene women artists
who are from the north: above the treeline. These
top artists represent traditional, electronic, rock,
folk and contemporary musical genres all influenced
by their distinct northern cultures. Included in
this innovative line-up was three-time Aboriginal
Music Award winner, Tanya Tagaq, Aboriginal Music
Award Winner Lucie Idlout, Nukariik Inuit Throat
Singers, and Juno and Aboriginal Music Award winner
Leela Gilday. These concerts were part of an exciting
city-wide initiative, Live With Culture. Live With
Culture is a celebration of Toronto's extraordinary
arts and cultural communities, shining a spotlight
on the vibrant and diverse activities happening in
the city each and every day.
In June 2007, rehearsals will commence for Ten Thousand
Waves, a dance project for ten Aboriginal women with
a focus on Aboriginal women's relationship to the
natural world and especially to water - seas, oceans,
rivers, fresh lakes, waterfalls and streams. Led
by renowned choreographer Denise Fujiwara, Ten Thousand
Waves is interested in exploring this centuries old
connection to water by linking contemporary Aboriginal
dance expression to ecological knowledge and integrity.
When she is not hosting one of NWIA's concerts or
Catalyst Cafés, Associate Producer Melissa
Chetty is supporting Indigenous artists around Toronto.
She attended Burnt Project 1's performance at Revival.
Melissa was also there for Big Soul Production's
celebration of Leela Gilday's 2007 Juno award, and
at Toronto's Indie Trade Forum at York Quay Centre,
a valuable source of information for inquisitive
independent artists.
Upcoming events include our Catalyst Café in
May entitled Out of the Shadows, with Dr. Dawn Martin
Hill and traditional powerhouse singer Joni Shawana.
Join us for an evening of song, dialogue, and an
overview of colonial constructions of Native American
women. This café will infuse traditional song
with Indigenous knowledge and power. NWIA will produce
a Deep Water Blues concert in Temagami and Bear Island
in northern Ontario and in Temiskaming, northern
Quebec in August 2007. In October 2007, we will be
hosting our first Playwright in Residency for two
weeks at the beautiful Gibraltar Point on Toronto
Island.
Native Women in the Arts is proud to continue to
foster the careers of thousands of Aboriginal women
artists for nearly fifteen years. In 2008, we will
be celebrating 15 years of artistic discovery, perseverance
and excellence. This incredible Anniversary Gala
will feature an outstanding lineup of Aboriginal
women artists and performers - stay posted, this
is certain to be an unforgettable evening.
FOR MORE INFO
email [email protected]
or call 416-598-4078
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