15th Anniversary Coastal Dance Festival Celebrates Diversity of Northern Indigenous Artists, in Partnership with Nordic Bridges
In-person festival program showcases international exchange with visiting Indigenous Sámi artists from Norway and Sweden, as well as Indigenous artists from Canada.
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 15, 2022
Dancers of Damelahamid will celebrate the 15th annual Coastal Dance Festival, showcasing Indigenous stories, song, and dance from across Canada and around the world, April 20-24, 2022 at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster.
This year's festival will participate in Canada's yearlong Nordic Bridges initiative, fostering cultural exchange between Canada and the Nordic region through the multidisciplinary presentation of contemporary art, culture and ideas. To honour the festival's milestone anniversary, Dancers of Damelahamid will also create a short documentary available online, sharing stories about its community of dancers and highlighting themes of cultural revitalization and resiliency.
"We are overjoyed with the opportunity to once again gather together at the Anvil Centre to celebrate and honour the cultural sharing from Indigenous artists from the Northwest Coast, as well as across Turtle Island and globally," says Margaret Grenier, Festival Executive & Artistic Director. "As we celebrate Coastal Dance Festival's commemorative 15th anniversary, we are immensely grateful to showcase a Northern focus in our festival programming. By bringing together Indigenous artists from across the Northern hemisphere, we attest to the diversity and strength of Indigenous arts, language, song, dance and regalia from these regions. This collaboration not only strengthens our artistic practices, but encourages collective understanding of our unique histories and cultures, which is something we can all benefit from in our increasingly divided world."
As part of Nordic Bridges, Coastal Dance Festival will premiere works from four Indigenous Sámi artists from Norway and Sweden. An evening dedicated to contemporary Indigenous dance - a festival first - will feature a duet from Swedish Sámi contemporary dancers Liv Aira, artistic director of the Sámi-based Invisible People Contemporary Dance, and Marika Renhuvud, a dance educator and member of Aira's dance company. Joining the contemporary program are local Indigenous artists who will both make their festival debut: Kristy Janvier (Dene), a Flin Flon-based dancer and choreographer who has pursued contemporary Indigenous dance after spending 15 years abroad in the entertainment industry with Disney, and Tasha Faye Evans (Coast Salish), a Port Moody dance and theatre artist, who will share an excerpt of her latest work Cedar Woman.
The festival will also present several traditional Indigenous artists, including Norway's Sámi singer and activist Sara Marielle Gaup and Sámi singer and poet Lawra Somby, as well as introduce Theland Kicknosway (Potawatomi, Cree), an 18-year-old youth activist, influencer and hoop dancer from Walpole Island, Bkejwanong Territory, in Ontario.
In addition to signature presentations from Sámi artists from Norway and Sweden, this year's festival welcomes performances from 15 Indigenous groups from throughout British Columbia, Washington, Alaska, the Yukon, and Ontario. Returning to the program includes numerous festival favourites: dynamic dance group Chinook Song Catchers (Skwxwu7mesh, Nisga'a); Squamish-based Spakwus Slolem (Skwxwu7mesh); mask-dancing groups Git Hayetsk (Nisga'a, Tsimshian) and Git Hoan (Tsimshian); a family group from many First Nations Xwelmexw Shxwexwo:s (Stó:lō, Musqueam, Sts:ailes, Snuneymuxw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Skwxwu7mesh); Rainbow Creek Dancers (Haida), in celebration of traditional Haida ceremonial dances; the return of Tooma Laisa and Leanna Wilson, drum dancers and throat singers of traditional Inuit songs; the award-winning Inland Tlingit Dakhká Khwáan Dancers; Yisya̱'winux̱w, a group representing many of the 16 tribes of the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw people; Chesha7 iy lha mens (Skwxwu7mesh, Stó:lō, Tsimsian), a family group of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters; Kwhlii Gibaygum, a highly energetic group representing the Nisga'a people of the Nass River valley in Northern British Columbia; and Dancers of Damelahamid (Gitxsan, Cree), whose performance will focus on the strength of Indigenous Elders in carrying artistic practices through the generations.
This year, Coastal Dance Festival will introduce an Artist Sharing, which promises to complement the festival's signature evening and festival stage performances. The series will serve as a platform for cultural sharing, featuring panel discussions and short presentations to deepen our understanding of Indigenous artistic practices, histories and sources of inspiration. Included in the Artist Sharing are Sámi artists Liv Aira, Marika Renhuvud, Sara Marielle Gaup, and Lawra Somby, as well as local artists Terri-Lynn Williams Davidson and Robert Davidson (Haida), fashion and jewelry designer Pam Baker (Skwxwu7mesh, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw), fashion and regalia designer and Dancers of Damelahamid dancer Rebecca Baker-Grenier (Skwxwu7mesh, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw), and contemporary Indigenous artist Andy Everson (K'omoks, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw).
2022 Coastal Dance Festival Program:
ONLINE LAUNCH | damelahamid.ca
Wednesday, April 20
Welcome to territory
Message from Margaret Grenier, Festival Director
ARTIST SHARING | Free
Thursday, April 21 | 6:30 PM, doors open at 6:15 PM
Welcome to territory
Liv Aira and Marika Renhuvud - Sámi
SIGNATURE EVENING PERFORMANCES | Ticketed gala event
Thursday, April 21 | 8 PM, doors open at 7:30 PM
Welcome to territory
Tasha Faye Evans - Coast Salish
Liv Aira and Marika Renhuvud - Sámi
Kristy Janvier - Dene
ARTIST SHARING | Free
Friday, April 22 | 6:30 PM, doors open at 6:15 PM
Welcome to territory
Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby - Sámi
Terri-Lynn Williams Davidson and Robert Davidson - Haida
SIGNATURE EVENING PERFORMANCES | Ticketed gala event
Friday, April 22 | 8 PM, doors open at 7:30 PM
Welcome to territory
Spakwus Slolem - Skwxwu7mesh
Dancers of Damelahamid - Gitxsan and Cree
Rainbow Creek Dancers - Haida
Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby - Sámi
FESTIVAL STAGE PERFORMANCES | By donation
Saturday, April 23
Program 1 at 1pm:
Tooma Laisa and Leanna Wilson - Inuit
Dakhká Khwáan - Inland Tlingit
Program 2 at 2pm:
Yisya̱'winux̱w - Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw
Theland Kicknosway - Potawatomi and Cree
Kwhlii Gibaygum - Nisga'a
Program 3 at 3pm:
Git Hoan - Tsimshian
Chinook Song Catchers - Skwxwu7mesh
ARTIST SHARING | Free
Saturday, April 23 at 4:30 PM
Pam Baker - Skwxwu7mesh, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw
Rebecca Baker-Grenier - Skwxwu7mesh, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw
Andy Everson - K'omoks, Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw
FESTIVAL STAGE PERFORMANCES | By donation
Sunday, April 24
Program 1 at 1pm:
Chesha7 iy lha mens - Skwxwu7mesh, Stó:lō, Tsimshian
Dakhká Khwáan - Inland Tlingit
Program 2 at 2pm:
Yisya̱'winux̱w - Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw
Theland Kicknosway - Potawatomi and Cree
Xwelmexw Shxwexwo:s - Stó:lō, Musqueam, Sts:ailes, Snuneymuxw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Skwxwu7mesh
Program 3 at 3pm:
Git Hayetsk - Nisga'a and Tsimshian
Tooma Laisa and Leanna Wilson - Inuit
Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby - Sámi
Tickets from $25. For more information on the festival and Dancers of Damelahamid's documentary film premiere, visit damelahamid.ca.
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