SR: Starr, can you tell me about IndigeDIV? SM: It started as a play on words before it became official. This will be our third IndigeDIV since Raven Spirit produced it in partnership with The Dance Centre in 2017. It has always been our main focus to create a space for conversations around Indigeneity, more specifically around Indigenous process and sharing of work. We felt that in the past, not only through Dance in Vancouver but other platforms as well, that there was not enough context given to presenters or to audience members on what they were seeing or how artists’ works were being shared. So we wanted to create an environment that supported the Indigenous artists’ voice and work. This has translated into a sharing of new works by Indigenous artists whom we curated and programmed. We specifically chose new works or excerpts of them and offered that place in between the dance studio and the performance. It is not necessarily a full-length, polished piece with all the production elements on a main stage, but that in-between-space where artists can try on different ideas. We also purposefully give artists funding support or tech time support to try out lights and sound or bring in a mentor. The idea is such that they have more than just an hour of tech time to get something up and ready for a show. We have been noticing, particularly for Indigenous artists, when they are sharing their work at festivals, they do not get a lot of tech time, so they rush to put something on. Let us give them time and space. Key to IndigeDIV has been the conversation circles that happen before and after the showing, where we put out ideas or provocations to a panel of guests artists. In the past, we had Indigenous artists and non-Indigenous presenters who have been strong allies, talk about what worked and what did not around the work before the presenters come and see the works-in-progress. The last two DIVs we intentionally had an Indigenous keynote speaker to give it a larger context of the location and space. This year, we are stepping into a more active role in terms of being a part of the conversations earlier on in the process, such as now being engaged with Angela as the international curator. I will be the Indigenous curator this year, which we have not had before. This is something that we see happening in the future as well. We are looking to bring DIV into the Indigenous circles, and vice versa. One of the issues that came up during our initial conversation with the Dance Centre several years ago was how Indigenous dance tends to be separate from the mainstream programming, but Dance Central Winter 2021
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