Red Sky Performances' 2017 Season Features MIIGIS, ADIZOKAN, and BACKBONE

Red Sky Performance, Canada's leading company of contemporary Indigenous performing arts, founded by executive and artistic director Sandra Laronde, is proud to announce their fall 2017 season of World Premieres featuring three multidisciplinary shows MIIGIS, ADIZOKAN, and BACKBONE.

Kicking off the fall season is the World Premiere of MIIGIS from September 15 - 17, 2017 at Fort York National Historic Site. Fusing contemporary Indigenous dance with powerful live music, MIIGIS explores the catalysts, trade routes and stories of a journey from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes, and the seven prophecies marked by miigis.

Red Sky Performance will present Music for the Great Lakes on June 21 - 25, 2017 at Fork York as part of National Aboriginal Month celebrations, and on June 27, 2017 for Multiculturalism Day at Harbourfront Centre. Excerpts of MIIGIS will be presented at the prestigious dance festival, Jacob's Pillow in the USA, on August 26, 2017.

Red Sky Performance and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra have partnered to celebrate Canada 150 with the World Premiere of ADIZOKAN on October 7, 2017 at Roy Thomson Hall, curated and directed by Sandra Laronde. ADIZOKAN is a one-night only genre-bending creation that explores Indigenous connections to ancestral origins through dance, video, and music. ADIZOKAN is an image-rich experience of Indigenous, electro-acoustic and orchestral music by Canadian composer Eliot Britton (Métis) performed by throat boxer Nelson Naittuq Tagoona (Inuk) with conductor Gary Kulesha. Opening for ADIZOKAN will be vocalist Fara Palmer (Saulteaux-Cree) and musician/dancer Michel Muniidobenese Bruyere (Anishinaabe).

From November 2 - 12, 2017 Red Sky Performance, in partnership with Canadian Stage, will present the World Premiere of BACKBONE at Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto, with performances at The Arden Theatre in St. Albert, Alberta on October 28, 2017 and Live Art Dance in Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 17, 2017. BACKBONE is a cutting-edge new dance show inspired by the 'spine' of the Americas, charting the vast and rocky terrain of our human landscape. Through contemporary Indigenous dance and raw athleticism, eight dancers bring to life the electricity and impulses of our rocky mountainous backbone. Red Sky Performance is the Berkeley Street Theatre Company-In-Residence for the 17/18 and 18/19 seasons at Canadian Stage.

Sandra Laronde, founder of Red Sky Performance, is a renaissance woman from the Teme-Augama-Anishnaabe (People of the Deep Water) in Temagami, northern Ontario. Sandra Laronde is an accomplished innovator, director, producer, choreographer, and leader in arts and culture. Sandra's leadership has provided dynamic direction to Red Sky Performance, offering 13 original productions, and a robust slate of 1,736 performances across Canada and 178 performances worldwide. Sandra has put contemporary Indigenous dance on the world map.

In addition to her work at Red Sky Performance, Sandra was the Director of Indigenous Arts at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she achieved substantial growth for the Banff Centre during her nine-year tenure. Sandra is a curator and advisor for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the Civic Theatres Toronto Board of Directors. She has also served on the National Executive Committee for the Governor-General's Canadian Leadership, as an advisor to OCAD University, Canada Dance Festival, Western Arts Alliance, and much more.

Internationally renowned, Red Sky Performance is Canada's leading company of contemporary Indigenous performance in dance, theatre, music, and media. This multi-award winning company founded in 2000 has significantly influenced the artistic evolution of contemporary Indigenous performing arts in Canada and around the world. They have garnered an international reputation for collaborating on landmark projects with some of the most prestigious artists and companies from around the globe. Touring since 2003, Red Sky Performance has delivered over 2,000 performances across Canada and international performances in 12 countries on four continents, including two Cultural Olympiads (Beijing and Vancouver), and opened for Canada at World Expo in Shanghai. They are the recipient of 5 Dora Mavor Moore awards and nominations, two Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, among others.

---

Red Sky Performance • 2017 Canadian Dates:

TO Canada with Love Event:
National Aboriginal Day and the Indigenous Arts Festival
Music for the Great Lakes • Outdoors
June 21 - 23, 2017 • Wednesday at 1:40pm, Thursday - Friday at 1pm
Music Concert, and "Getting On Our Feet Workshop" • Blue Barracks Hall
June 25, 2017 • 2:30pm
Fort York National Historic Site, 250 Fort York Boulevard, Toronto
Free

Here in the 6ix: Celebrate Multiculturalism Day
Great Lakes Music & Dance • Outdoors
June 27, 2017 • 7am
Harbourfront Centre Natrel Pond, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
Free
harbourfrontcentre.com/festivals/multiculturalismday

Miigis (World Premiere)
September 15 - 17, 2017
Fort York National Historic Site, 250 Fort York Boulevard, Toronto
More Information To Be Announced Summer 2017

Adizokan (World Premiere)
Red Sky Performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, October 7, 2017 • 7:30pm
Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto
Tickets from $79, Single tickets on sale July 2017
tso.ca/concert/adizokan

Backbone
Saturday, October 28, 2017 • 7.30pm
The Arden Theatre, St Albert, Alberta

Backbone
November 2 - 12, 2017
Thursdays, Saturday, Tuesday at 8pm
Fridays at 7pm, Sunday and Wednesday at 1pm
Canadian Stage, Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto
Tickets from $35 and can be purchased online, by phone at 416.368.3110
or in person at the Berkeley Street Theatre Box Office (26 Berkeley Street)
canadianstage.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=backbone

Backbone
Friday, November 17, 2017 • 8 pm
Live Arts Dance at the Spatz Theatre, Halifax

For more info visit www.redskyperformance.com, or follow on Facebook: FB/redskyperformance and Twitter: @redskyconnect.

To post a comment, you must register and login.