Trace - Program

BERKELEY STREET COMPANY-IN-RESIDENCE

trace

Red Sky Performance CONCEIVED + DIRECTED BY Sandra Laronde CHOREOGRAPHY BY Jera Wolfe MUSIC BY Eliot Britton

OCT 30 - nov 11, 2018 Berkeley Street Theatre

A RED SKY PERFORMANCE PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH CANADIAN STAGE

CONCEPT & DIRECTOR

DANCERS

Sandra Laronde

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Eddie Elliot Miyeko Ferguson Cameron Fraser-Monroe Lonii Garnons-Williams Julie Pham Jera Wolfe

Alexis Bowles

MUSICIANS

CREATIVE VIDEO DIRECTOR/ SCREEN MANAGER

Bryant Didier Rick Sacks

CHOREOGRAPHER

Jera Wolfe COMPOSER

Eliot Britton

Marcella Grimaux HEAD MOTION DESIGNER

RECORDED VOCALIST

Nelson Tagoona

Daniel Faubert COSTUME DESIGNER

Kinoo Arcentales TECHNICAL Director

55 minutes , no intermission Season Sponsor

Alexandre Barette MAKEUP ARTIST

Alice Norton PROPS DESIGN & BUILD

Bonni Burns PRODUCTION manager/ STAGE MANAGER

Pip Bradford PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Jason Aviss

Berkeley Street Companies-in-Residence sponsor dance programming supporter

E N G AG E Pre-show chats Friday, nov 2 @ 6:15pm

Post-show talkbacks Nov 7 (matinee), Nov 8

CREATOR’S note From the stars, we are born. 97% of the mass of our human bodies is stardust.

We are traceable to the beginnings of the universe, our ancestral origins stretching across the Milky Way to the very atoms burning inside of us here on earth. Trace maps our Anishinaabe sky and star stories, offering a glimpse into our origin as well as our future evolution.

For tens of thousands of years, the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island have mapped the night sky, studied the stars, and established an expansive multiverse view of the world. Our sky and star stories hold our worldview, our cultural psyche, and illuminate our deep belief that we are related to all of creation. We are a part of the universe, and it is a part of us.

Defined by our temporality, humanity occupies a finite place and time in this multiverse. In this new work, we explore all “traces” of what has come before us, and what is yet to come: mapping the past, tracing our lineage, demystifying the secrets of our DNA, and uncovering the visible marks of what we leave behind, such as a footprint, a fossil, or a scar.

A huge thank you to Brendan Healy, Sherrie Johnson, Lynanne Sparrow, and all of the incredible Canadian Stage staff for having us in our second year as a Berkeley Street Company-in-Residence. Chi-miigwetch to the artists involved in the creative process and for their generosity of spirit, dance and music and more.

Chi-miigwetch to Jason Aviss for being part of it all. Chi-miigwetch to wisdom keepers, cultural astronomers and astrophysicists Wilfred Buck, Annette Lee, Daniella Scalice and Michael Wassegiizhig Price, and to all of my relations.

SANDRA L ARONDE, Teme-Augama Anishinaabe Founder & Ar tistic Director of Red Sky Performance

artistic director's note We are pleased to welcome you to Red Sky Performance’s latest creation, Trace.

Among the exciting aspects of Red Sky Performance is how their works contextualize Indigenous art, aesthetics, and ideas within currents in contemporary performance. Artistic Director Sandra Laronde has a restless curiosity that leads her to reconfigure ideas in art, science, spirituality and politics in new and fascinating ways - always with an Indigenous perspective at the centre. Like many other artists who are finally achieving the recognition they deserve, Sandra’s creations are expressions of the vitality and strength of Indigenous artists working in culture today.

Trace exemplifies what we have come to expect from Red Sky Performance: it is a vision for our future that is deeply rooted in the past. With this show, Red Sky looks to the wisdom contained in Anishinaabe cosmology to unlock truths about our condition as humans and guide our steps as we move into an uncertain future. It is a gift to have this new work in our space.

Thank you for joining us!

BRendan He aly, Ar tistic Director

Sandra Laronde

Jera Wolfe

Eliot Britton

Alexis Bowles

Marcella Grimaux

Daniel Faubert

Kinoo Arcentales

Alexnandre Barette

Eddie Elliot

Miyeko Ferguson

Cameron Fraser-Monroe

Lonii GarnonsWilliams

Julie Pham

Bryant Didier

Rick Sacks

Nelson Tagoona

Alice Norton

Bonni Burns

Pip Bradford

Jason Aviss

SANDRA LARONDE

ELIOT BRITTON

Concept + Director Sandra Laronde is from the TemeAugama-Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water) and an accomplished arts innovator and leader in Canada.

Sandra founded Red Sky Performance in 2000, and she has conceived, developed, produced, and disseminated award-winning productions that are Indigenous, multi and inter-disciplinary, and intergenerational. As an arts leader, Sandra creates exceptional new work and programming that expands and elevates the ecology of Indigenous arts and culture, contributing to building vibrant Indigenous communities across Canada and worldwide. In 2017, Sandra was also a Curator for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra celebrating Canada’s diverse musical landscape.

She was also the Director of Indigenous Arts at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity from 2007 – 2016. During her nine-year tenure as Director, she created exceptional cutting-edge programming informed by Indigenous cultures and worldviews and excelled at bringing world-class faculty to the Centre. Substantial growth for Indigenous Arts at the Banff Centre was achieved under her leadership including place-based culture and an innovative new approach to programming involving hundreds of Indigenous artists from across Canada and the globe.

Composer Eliot Britton integrates electronic and instrumental music through an energetic and colorful personal language. His creative output expresses an eclectic musical experience from gramophones to video games, drum machines, orchestra to electronic chamber music.

A proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, Eliot recently completed his PhD at Schulich School of Music at McGill University. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the SSHRC Bombardier Scholarship, Louis Riel Scholarship, and the Hugh Le Caine and Serge Garant SOCAN awards. Eliot is the composer of Adizokan, a TSO Commission in partnership with Red Sky Performance, and he is currently the composer-in-residence at Red Sky. Eliot is currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Toronto, co-director of the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival, and continues to produce music for a variety of labels and music companies.

JERA WOLFE Choreography + Dancer Jera is of Métis heritage. He is a choreographer, performer, and Associate Artist with Red Sky Performance. His choreographic works have included Red Sky’s Backbone presented by Canadian Stage and Miigis which has been featured at the Venice Biennale and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. His upcoming choreographic works will be presented

by Canada’s National Ballet School and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

ALEXIS BOWLES Lighting Designer Born in Montreal, Canada. Alexis has mastered both lighting design and music production, a symbiosis of ambiance, texture, rhythm, and timing.

Always in search of new media and technologies, his range of production is vast. His limitless style demonstrates a modern sensitivity. He has worked with Daniele Finzi Pasca since 2003 as Lighting Director for Rain, Nebbia, Donka and Icaro. He was also the lighting designer with Daniele Finzi Pasca on many Operas, including L’Amour de loin, Pagliacci, Verdi’s Aïda and Requiem.

MARCELLA GRIMAUX Creative Video Director/Screen Producer Marcella Grimaux, originally from Montreal, grew up in New York City and attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where she majored in Theatre. In 2009, she assisted Dominic

Champagne (Cirque du Soleil’s Love) in Las Vegas, on his multimedia theatrical presentation of Paradis Perdu. Marcella has worked for international artists like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys, One Direction and Pink among others. In 2016, Marcella became an Associate Content Producer for the Montreal studio 4U2C and was responsible for screen producing the creative video content for the Kevin Hart: What Now show. She co-directed and oversaw the artistic direction of the video scenography for Jean Leloup’s Le Fantôme de Paradis City, which won awards for Best Show and Best Lighting Design at that year’s ADISQ awards. In 2017, Marcella joined the Silent Partners Studio team where she worked on Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl Halftime show and for the new MGM Theatre in Macao. Marcella now creative directs her own projects.

DANIEL FAUBERT Head Motion Designer Born in 1983 In Outaouais, Daniel Faubert lives and works in Montreal. He has a Bachelor in Arts and Design since 2006 from the University of Quebec in Outaouais where he directed his first animated short “Scène Primitive”, which has won numerous prizes in festivals around the world. Video designer, director and animator, he joined the Geodezik team as a senior motion designer in 2013. Since then, Daniel collaborated with numerous teams on large scale productions like Cirque du Soleil shows and rock n’ roll tours such as Pink, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Cher to name a few. He is currently freelancing as an Art Director and Motion Designer.

KINOO ARCENTALES Costume Designer Kinoo is of South American Indigenous (Kichwa) and Mestizo heritage. Born into a family of artists, Kinoo was exposed to arts from an early age. His main role models are his grandmothers on both sides of his family: one being

a hotel business owner, and the other a retired fashion designer. Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle for most of his life, he has travelled throughout Canada and Ecuador, which has inspired most of his work. Kinoo worked previously with Red Sky as an associate costume designer on Miigis.

ALEXNANDRE BARETTE Technical Director Alex launched a successful career in information technology by leveraging his innate capacity to teach himself and impeccable problem solving skills with an insatiable appetite for knowledge.

During his stint as a technical lead with VYV, Alex contributed to the development of a number of projects including: Alicia Keys' As I Am tour, Britney Spears' Circus, Franco Dragone's House of Dancing Water and Cirque du Soleil's Totem, Iris, Zarkana and Michael Jackson’s One. He later became a freelancer video technical designer, director and integrator for shows such as: Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience, Celine Dion's Vegas residency, Prince’s Hit and Run tour, Abu Dhabi's 44th National Day and Cirque du Soleil's Love revamp. Alex joined the ranks of 4U2C to lend a hand in crafting the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Beyonce's Grammy performance and Avenged Sevenfold 2017 tour. Now, back as freelancer, he had the privilege of working for Intel's 2018 CES keynote and Justin Timberlake's Man of the Woods tour.

ALICE NORTON Makeup Artist Alice Norton has worked in the Trinidadian Carnival tradition, helping to design and build masquerade (“mas”) bands in Port of Spain and Toronto. This experience and knowledge is complemented by more formal schooling and more traditional theatre settings such as Video Cabaret: The History of the Village of Small Huts, among others. Alice was the make-up artist for Red Sky’s Backbone, Miigis, and Great Lakes.

BONNI BURNS

EDDIE ELLIOT

Props Design & Build Bonni Burns is a freelance artist and seamstress, who works out of her studio on the west end of Toronto. Her education started in fashion design at Sheridan College way back in the 80's, but she found creative costuming was her passion. She has built in every scale from miniature to massive and now builds costumes and props for television, film, and stage, as well as her own art of fabric sculpture. She has also recently started a doggy apparel business with her adopted Chihuahua Josie! This is Bonni's first engagement with Red Sky.

Dancer Eddie Elliot is currently on a full-year cultural exchange as part of Red Sky Performance’s Associate Artist Program.

Eddie is of Maori descent from Tainui, New Zealand. He discovered hip-hop in Wellington, where he trained in contemporary dance. A graduate of UNITEC in 2013, he was nominated for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and the 2014 “I Am Auckland Awards” which won him the Youth Active Award.

Eddie has worked with leading dance companies in New Zealand, including Black Grace, Atamira, Okareka Dance Company, Douglas Wright Dance, New Zealand Dance Company. He is 2017 recipient of the Ellen Norris Scholarship and Creative New Zealand’s Toi tipu rea grant. This is Eddie’s second season with Red Sky Performance, and he has performed in Backbone, Miigis, Adizokan, and Great Lakes.

PIP BRADFORD Production / Stage Manager Pip Bradford is a production manager, and stage manager for many companies in Toronto, including Why Not Theatre, the Blyth Festival, Toronto Dance Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, Summerworks Performance Festival, Red Sky Performance, Stand Up Dance, Native Earth Performing Arts, and The Theatre Centre. Pip also creates installation art with Rebecca Vandevelde as Art Is Hard Productions and is one of the founders of The Bellows, a monthly mixer aimed at brings artists and production staff together.

JASON AVISS Production Coordinator Jason Aviss joined Red Sky Performance as Production Coordinator in August 2017 after five years as a senior event producer at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Previously, he was Production Manager at The Music Gallery from 2009-2011, and Director of Operations from 2011-12.

Jason is co-chair for Humber College’s Arts Administration-Cultural Management Program Advisory Committee and has worked with independent musicians and ensembles as a grant-writer, budget administrator and fundraising consultant.

Jason received his Hons. BA from the University of Toronto and his Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration–Cultural Management from Humber College.

MIYEKO FERGUSON Dancer Miyeko Ferguson is a Toronto-based artist.

In 2016, she received her BFA degree in Performance Dance from Ryerson University. In previous years she has attended professional training programs with the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Kenny Pearl, ProArteDanza, Springboard Danse Montréal, Kaeja D’dance, Adelheid, and Alias Dance Project. She has also performed works by Ohad Naharin, Chuck Wilt, Hanna Kiel, James Kudelka, Kate Hilliard, Apolonia Velasqez, David Earle, and Robert Glumbek. Miyeko previously danced with Red Sky Performance for the world premiere of Miigis in 2017.

CAMERON FRASER-MONROE Dancer Cameron Fraser-Monroe is a member of the Tla'amin First Nation in Powell River, BC. Growing up in Vernon, BC, he received training and performance with World Champion Hoop Dancer Dallas Arcand, and studied Grass Dance from a young age.

He was a delegate for Stage Dance and Modern Dance at the BC Provincial Festival of Performing Arts before moving to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Cameron has created two short pieces through the First Steps Competition at the RWB School, winning the Paddy Stone Scholarship for Choreography, and the Audience Choice Award. He has worked directly with choreographers Mauricio Wainrot, Josh Beamish (The Telus Mentorship Program), Mark Godden, Jera Wolfe, Margaret Grenier, and Santee Smith. Most recently Cameron performed on APTN and CBC in the Indspire Awards and choreographed and performed for APTN’s Indigenous Day Live! 2018. This is Cameron’s debut with Red Sky Performance.

LONII GARNONS-WILLIAMS Dancer Lonii Garnons-Williams was born in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, until she moved at age 15 to pursue her growing passion in dance. She began her full-time training at Queensland Dance of School of excellence in Brisbane, and graduated with a Certificate in Dance, having received the Contemporary Dancer Scholarship.

She furthered her training in Perth at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Lonii joined Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) as a full-time ensemble member, premiering Beginning of Nature and Habitus, for which she was nominated at the Helpmann Awards for Best Female Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production. This is Lonii’s second season with Red Sky Performance, and having performed in Backbone, Miigis, Great Lakes, and Adizokan.

JULIE PHAM Dancer Born and raised in Prince Rupert, BC, Julie Pham is graduate of the Arts Umbrella’s Professional Dance Program in Vancouver.

She has worked under the direction of teachers Artemis Gordon, Marquita Lester, Lynn Sheppard, and Curtis Foley. For three years, Julie also danced and toured professionally with Ballet Kelowna and has

performed with numerous choreographers.

This is Julie’s third year with Red Sky Performance as an Associate Artist under the tutelage of Sandra Laronde, she performed in Backbone, Miigis, and Adizokan.

BRYANT DIDIER Collaborator, Musician Bryant Didier is an active live performer, as well as a skilled and experienced Producer and Studio/Live Sound Engineer. Presently, Bryant performs with Poppa Weele, John T Davis, and THE 60SXPERIENCE. Over the years, he has performed with such well-known artists as Tom Cochrane, Bruce Cockburn, Billy Bragg, Jane Siberry, Carole Pope, Molly Johnson, Shakura S'Aida, Jackie Richardson and many more. Bryant joined Red Sky as a music collaborator for Great Lakes in June/July 2018.

RICK SACKS Collaborator, Musician Rick Sacks is a percussionist and composer who has performed new chamber music worldwide, composed for chamber ensemble, solo and orchestra, and created sound design for many Toronto theatre companies as well as being a long-time collaborator with Red Sky. His sound composition for Red Sky’s Backbone was nominated for a Dora Award, and he was co-nominated for the Indigenous Music Award for Red Sky’s Miigis collaboration.

NELSON TAGOONA Vocalist (recorded) Nelson Tagoona improvises with traditional throat singing and beat-boxing, helping to pioneer a hybrid technique called “throat boxing”. This unique performance has garnered Tagoona high praise throughout Canada, including being awarded at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and named one of the “Top 10 Canadian Artists under 20”

by CBC Music. Tagoona performed during the opening of the Northern Scene Festival at the National Arts Centre, Pan Am Games, and was the featured vocalist in Adizokan, a collaboration between the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Red Sky Performance.

About Red Sky Performance Red Sky Performance is a leading company of contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada and worldwide. This multi-award-winning company was founded in 2000 by Artistic Director Sandra Laronde of the TemeAugama Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water). Red Sky’s mission is to create inspiring experiences of contemporary Indigenous arts and culture that transform society. Anchored in Toronto's vibrant arts community, Red Sky creates, produces, and disseminates new creations and events that illuminate themes, aesthetics, and values of importance to Indigenous peoples.

Touring since 2003, Red Sky has delivered 2,255 performances across Canada and 198 international performances in 17 countries on four continents, including two Cultural Olympiads (Beijing and Vancouver), opened for Canada at World Expo in Shanghai, and performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Venice Biennale, and Montreal’s Danse Danse Festival, among others. Red Sky is the recipient of 8 Dora Mavor Moore Awards and nominations (2018, 2016, 2012, 2010, 2006, 2004); Indigenous Music Awards nomination (2017); Lt Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation (2017); three International Youth Drama Awards, Shenzhen, China (2017); among others. Red Sky significantly influences the artistic evolution of Indigenous-made work that is shared across provinces and territories and with the world. www.redskyperformance.com

Thank you to TD Bank Group sponsor of the Berkeley Street Companiesin-Residence