Indigeneity in the Now - Panel Discussion

Indigeneity in the Now - Panel Discussion

Indigenous dance artists have become an important part of British Columbia’s dance ecology: Bringing their voices to the rehearsal rooms, stages and performance spaces, did not only shift and transform the aesthetics, values and practices of the region’s dance sector - it also gave audiences the opportunity to see and feel dance from a perspective that has been previously neglected, ignored and underestimated. At the same time, Indigenous dance can be seen as a political act and part of a continuous struggle for recognition and respect. The artists speak about their communities’ connectedness with land and ancestors and seek to raise pressing questions of decolonization, redress and reclamation.

Indigenous artists Margaret Grenier (Dancers of Damelahamid) and Michelle Olson (Raven Spirit Dance) have been invited to join the panel and will offer insights into the practices and values of their own work. Indigeneity in the Now is part of the Vancouver Day organized by The Dance Centre.

Raven Spirit Dance creates and produces contemporary dance that is rooted in Indigenous worldviews and honours the communities and artists we work with. The company shares stories through Indigenous perspectives and practices and create opportunities for others to do the same.

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The Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of Canada. The company is founded upon over five decades of extensive work of song and dance revitalization that awakened an art form that was outlawed for almost 70 years. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, and elaborate regalia, the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space and bridge the ancestral with contemporary practice.

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