Santee Smith’s first choreographic work, Kaha:wi premiered in the zocalo of Puebla, Mexico on Saturday, March 20th at 7pm in the first of two free performances organized by the 2nd State Festival of Indigenous Arts and Culture of Puebla (Spanish language press release here) next to Mexican luminaries such as Lila Downs and Jaramar.
Santee also led 8 hours of dance workshops due to overwhelming demand on the 23rd and 24th at the Benemeritas Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP). I will post some photos from the first workshop later this week.
Enough of the chat…check out the gallery of photos of the company & friends (Emily Law, Mariana Medellin-Meinke, Santee Smith, Meredith Thompson, Alaina Perttula, Robert Halley and myself) in rehearsal, performance and exploring Puebla on our day off! More galleries to follow plus some hilarious Youtube captured in Puebla with the dancers.
About Michelle Olson: Michelle is a member of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation and the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance. Her work as a performer and creator embrace dance, choreography and theatre. Her new work Gathering Light was recently seen at Weesageechak Begins to Dance – 22 and the piece will premiere at Dancing on the Edge 2010. Other credits include WCT’s and NAC’s co-production of George Ryga’s The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, Native Earth’s and the NAC’s co-production of Death of a Chief.
About Michelle’s Class:
The foundation of the class is a combination of contemporary dance technique and somatic principles. The developmental movement patterns are the base for movement, and tapping into the inner experience of the body is the path to finding outer expression. Michelle will be teaching Raven Spirit Dance repertoire as an extension of these explorations.
Trusting yourself is the most rewarding and the most challenging aspect about a career in dance.
Santee sent Michelle, the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance, the following questions about what dance means to her.
S: What is it that drew you to a career in dance?
M: When I was at university, training to be an elementary school teacher, I joined Orchesis an on-campus amateur modern dance company. In this company, I was given the dancers, rehearsal space and a week in the theatre. I had no clue what I was doing but I kept on creating and loved it. Needless to say, the next semester, I dropped all my education courses and signed up for all the dance courses.
S: What are some of your goals in life and in dance?
Santee recently participated in on the MOVE/danse TRANSIT, a two-day conference presented by the Dancer Transition Resource Centre and partnering national arts service organizations on February 12-13 at the National Ballet School here in Toronto.
on the MOVE tackled some of the unique issues and challenges in attaining and maintaining a professional career in dance. How can you have a vibrant and rewarding, stable career in dance? What are some solutions and tactics that will assist you in building a strong career?
Santee was invited to speak at the “Portfolio Career Sessions”, the “Creating and Producing Panel” and to teach a master dance class over the weekend. There was vibrant energy everywhere, great questions and enthusiastic participants.
Santee found her participation at on the MOVE enriching for a number of reasons. In her own words,
Santee Smith, the Artistic Director and Choreographer of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre is going to offer a company class every Sunday @ the National Ballet School studios. Unfortunately this class is for experienced dancers only… Santee has taught workshops and masterclasses around the world…her full bio is here.
All experienced dancers in Toronto who have danced with or are curious about the kind of fusion choreography being created by Santee (or just want to take a FREE class) are invited to join Santee this Sunday March 7th for our inaugural class (see my jpeg flyer above). Yes, that’s right – this class is 100% free and will continue to be free for our core dancers.
For the rest of you interested public, the price for the class will be $10 beginning in April & $5 for the rest of March outside of this Sunday. It’s drop in – cash only. Hope to see you there!
Just a quick update for you now that we are back in the office post-performing arts conference. I will post some photos of our recent trip to Pittsburgh and performance at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. At IPAY, Santee and I had an amazing time meeting presenters and artists from all over the world. I saw a lot of interesting youth theatre/dance – a pretty piece by a dance company that makes work exclusively for youth audiences, Destilte from Holland; an intriguing show using paper called “Kraft” by a Spanish company; Frankenstein as interpreted by a clowning/theatre group, 500 Clown from Chicago (which shocked most of the audience); a bromance called “Boats” by Terrapin Puppet Theatre from Australia. Pittsburgh is actually a pretty nice city with lots of old buildings, and I don’t think I would have ever visited if not for this conference.
Santee tells us about her visit to the 2009 Canadian Aboriginal Festival, Nov 28-29:
The Canadian Aboriginal Festival moved from the Roger’s Centre in Toronto to Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum this year. At this year’s powwow, I played host to visiting colleague and KDT’s choreographic intern, Louise Potiki-Bryant. Louise is a Maori choreographer and filmmaker working with the collective, Atimira based in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Sharing her first powwow with her made the whole experience extra enjoyable for me. I was fueled by her enthusiasm and respect for the dancing and the drum. At one point she said, “I wish I was from here!” [“Here” being Canada and being First Nations]. When I traveled to New Zealand a few years ago and was enchanted by the island the culture, I held a similar sentiment: “I wish I was Maori.”
Tickets for A Story Before Time in Oneonta, NY and Pittsburgh PA.
A Story Before Time USA Performances
Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
Performance: January 18, 2010 at 8:00pm
Location: Slade Theatre, Yager Hall on the Hartwick campus
Tickets for the performance are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens (free for Hartwick students, faculty, and staff). Tickets can be reserved by calling 607-431-4902
***ALL ARE INVITED TO AN OPEN REHEARSAL OF A Story Before Time ***
KDT will soon begin preparing to take its award nominated work for young audiences, the fabulous A Story Before Time, to Hartwick College and the International Performing Arts for Youth conference. We are inviting all members of the public to attend an OPEN REHEARSAL of A Story Before Time at Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre .
The open rehearsal will begin at 7pm on Friday January 15th, 2010 and take place in Studio C. For those who are not familiar with CCDT’s layout, one of our staff will meet you in the lobby at 7pm and lead you to the studio. This session will last approximately 1 hour and you will have the opportunity to speak with Santee Smith, Choreographer and Artistic Director and participating dancers.
This BEHIND THE CURTAINevent is PWYC (Pay What You Can) – all contributions are considered donations that support the ongoing work of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre. Come out and have a look at how one of our most popular dance/theatre productions comes together!
