Indigenous Dance Residency

Banff Centre offers Aboriginal dance program

By Bob ClarkStepping back to dance forward: The role of aboriginal tradition in the artistic expression of our profound connection to the natural world plays out in a double bill at the Banff Centre's Margaret Greenham Theatre this weekend, when the centre's three-week summer Indigenous Dance Residency presents Indigenous Territories.

The Indigenous Dance Residency--a program providing opportunities for indigenous dancers and choreographers to share in the exchange of artistic and cultural knowledge and practice--is the brainchild of Red Sky Performance artistic director Sandra Laronde, who took over the centre's Aboriginal Arts program in 2008.

This year, six professional dancers and four emerging artists were chosen from across Canada to study with three prominent teachers of mixed aboriginal ancestry: former New York City Ballet star Jock Soto (in a teaching capacity only, and only for the first week of the residency); freelance choreographer/ performer Marie-Claude Rodrigue, a former creative mainstay of Montreal's O Vertigo Danse; and New Zealand choreographer Neil Ieremia.Comment:  For more on Native dance, see First Nations Meet Mongolians in Tono and Asham Stompers at 2010 Olympics.

Below:  "Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the Banff Centre is world renouned for its instruction in dance, music, visual arts, and theatre."