Games’ opening dance tells Indigenous story
Producer says choreography leads to ‘truth and awareness’
Dances during the opening ceremony of the North American Indigenous Games could have been perceived as only that to some spectators, but powerful stories were told beneath the surface, the event’s choreographer says.
Dancers used their bodies to express Indigenous narratives, said Santee Smith, an internationally acclaimed producer.
The July 16 performance at York University’s Aviva Centre celebrated connections to lands, water, creation stories and the original sports of North America, such as lacrosse.
These tenets were represented “through interpretive movements and the energy of our bodies, pretty epic concepts to try to embody,” Smith said.
Using interpretative dance to tell Indigenous stories is Smith’s specialty, as the founder of the Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, which operates out of her home of Six Nations of the Grand River, near Brantford, Ont.
Since 2005, Smith has delivered Indigenous teachings across the world to countries such as New Zealand and Mexico. The work is multidisciplinary, she said, but dancing is the primary form.
“It becomes about educating or opening and expanding people’s concepts of Indigenous culture, breaking down stereotypes, or maybe some preconceived notions,” she said. “Through art, we can open doorways to remembering, opening doorways to reawakening our stories. All work I do is a movement toward healing in a way, or truth and awareness.”
NAIG brings together Indigenous youth between the ages of13 and19 to compete and celebrate their cultures.
Despite Smith’s international travels, Six Nations draws her back, she said, adding that it’s a place that grounds her spiritually and inspires her work.
“For me, it’s the land,” she said. “It’s the energy of being in the country.”
Smith comes from a long line of visual artists — as a Mohawk woman, her community is matrilineal and matrifocal, the latter meaning that women hold superior roles in the family than men.
“My family has a long legacy of sharing culture, I guess I fall into that,” she said. “I have female ancestors who I’m following in their pathway.”