Last updated: September 12, 2019
We are thrilled to be co-presenting Mînowin by Dancers of Damelahamid as part of the Mòshkamo: Indigenous Arts Rising festival. We see this as a start to a great relationship between NAC Dance and Indigenous Theatre to foster our mutual desire to bring more Indigenous dance artists to our stages.
Margaret Grenier’s work evokes the natural and spiritual worlds of the potlach societies of the Northwest Coast of British Columbia and their relationship to the environment. By sourcing traditional Mask Dance, contemporary dance and ancient forms and understandings of creation, Dancers of the Damelahamid take us on a journey into the Northwest Coast Indigenous ontology, through movement and stunningly beautiful visions.
Margaret Grenier and Dancers of Damelahamid have been bringing important stories of their home to audiences across Canada to magical effect, and we are so proud to have the world premiere of their newest creation.
KEVIN LORING, Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre du CNA
CATHY LEVY, Executive Producer, NAC Dance
Growing up in a small community on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, I was immersed from a young age in the practice of song and dance that had been passed down for countless generations. As Executive and Artistic Director for the Dancers of Damelahamid, I treasure dance as the most significant inheritance I have from my ancestors and it will be a life journey to strive to develop the art form to its potential. For myself, dance, song and story have provided a protective environment to address the limitations placed on our Indigenous peoples and to create a healing space. Our bodies, thoughts, emotional attachments and prayers are connected through the ceremony of dance.
In our performances we are not only turning to our ancestral knowledge for our own reconciliation but we are sharing and supporting others through our art.
Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, founded upon over five decades of extensive work of song restoration. Their rich history of masked dance inspires a compelling performance, celebrating the diversity and time depth of the many beautiful Indigenous cultures across Canada. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks and elaborate regalia, the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space, and bridge the ancient with a living tradition.
For countless generations song and dance played an integral part in defining art and culture, and was banned by the Canadian government for several decades, though it was still privately maintained. The Dancers of Damelahamid emerged in the 1960s out of an urgency to ensure that the knowledge of their ancestors was not lost. Over the 50 years that followed, a changed society created the context for the dances to survive through a new role: dance as a performance for public audiences.
Since 2003, the Dancers of Damelahamid has established itself as a preeminent professional Indigenous dance company that has self-produced several theatre based productions and choreographed dance works. The company has produced the annual Coastal Dance Festival since 2008, presenting Indigenous dance from throughout the BC Coast, as well as hosting guest national and international artists. It is the current directive of the Dancers of Damelahamid to redefine and characterize their practice so that the dances may continue to be tangible and accessible for the next generations.
Margaret Grenier is the Executive and Artistic Director for the Dancers of Damelahamid and is the producer of the annual Coastal Dance Festival, established in 2008. Her choreographic works bridge Gitxsan and Cree dance forms with current expressions, contributing to a redefining of contemporary Indigenous dance. Margaret holds a Masters of Arts in Arts Education at Simon Fraser University. She received her B.Sc. from McGill University with a Geography major and Environmental Science minor. She has extensive experience as a lecturer and presenter, leading workshops and master classes for dance training programs. She was a sessional instructor for Simon Fraser University (2007) and faculty at the Banff Centre (2013). Margaret presented at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in Peru (2011), Hawaii (2015) and Australia (2008 and 2023). She received the Reveal Award (2017) and the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts (2020).
Andrew spent 20 years training with the company and has performed with the company since 2004. Andrew has worked with cedar and textiles, creating the sets for the Dancers of Damelahamid productions since 2004 and for the annual Coastal Dance Festival since 2008. Andrew oversees all the technical and set requirements for the Dancers of Damelahamid and is the Production Manager for the Coastal Dance Festival. Andrew has a BSc from McGill University and Masters in Environmental Education from Simon Fraser University.
Andy Moro is the Artistic Co-director of ARTICLE 11 with Tara Beagan. Their work upholds the 11th Article of the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Selected Theatre Credits: The Unnatural & Accidental Women (NAC); Rise Red River (ARTICLE 11/Theatre Cercle Moliere/Prairie Theatre Exchange); PISUWIN (Atlantic Ballet); Sleuth, Extractionist, Gaslight (Vertigo Theatre); NOMADA (Diana Lopez Soto); F WORD (Downstage/Alberta Theatre Projects); Ministry of Grace, Reckoning, ROOM, Declaration, Deer Woman (ARTICLE11); Little Women, Honour Beat; (Theatre Calgary); Hookman (University of Calgar/Chromatic); The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time (NAC/Neptune Theatre); Post Mistress, Rez Sisters (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Blackhorse (Caravan Theatre); The Herd (Citadel Theatre/Tarragon Theatre); Frozen River (Manitoba Theatre for Young People); Third Colour, Spacegirl, War Being Waged (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Ministry of Grace, Time Stands Still, O’Kosi (MT7); Sky Dancers (A'nó:wara Dance Theatre); Raven Mother (Dancers of Damelahamid); Finding Wolastoq Voice (Theatre New Brunswick); Blood Water Earth, Blood Tides, The Mush Hole (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre).
Hawilkwalał, Rebecca, is of Kwakiuł, Musgamagw Dzawada’enuwx, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ancestry. She is a multidisciplinary artist with a BA from the University of British Columbia. Rebecca is the Artistic Associate for the Dancers of Damelahamid and the Festival Associate for the Coastal Dance Festival. Rebecca has been dancing with the company since 2014 and is a pow-wow dancer with over 20 years of experience. She is the Regalia Designer for the Dancers of Damelahamid’s productions Flicker (2016), Mînowin (2019), Spirit and Tradition Remount (2020), Raven Mother (2024). She began fashion design in 2021, apprenticing under Pam Baker and attended the Banff Centre for the Arts, Indigenous Couture Program 2022. She was the recipient of the YVR Art Foundation, Emerging Artist Award, 2021. Rebecca debuted her first collection at New York Fashion Week, 2022. Her most recent collection “we are warriors” debuted at SWAIA Fashion Show – Santa Fe Indian Market, August 2023, followed by Vancouver Fashion Week, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2023, and Indigenous Fashion Arts Toronto, May 2024. Her work has been on exhibit at the Bill Reid Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, YVR Vancouver Airport, and featured in Vogue, Vogue Italia, and Elle Canada. Her piece “Held by Generations” will be at the American Museum for Natural History in New York, 2024-25.
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