Down by the River
The piece began before I knew why I was standing in the middle of a bridge filming the water below. I was considering the rivers of the country and how they were the past highways of how our ancestors arrived to where they settled. My focus again shifted when the opportunity to be supported by Young Lungs Dance Exchange in Winnipeg-the centre point of Canada, home of the Red River. The original piece had four self identified Indigenous women together on the stage. Our discussion would centre around bloodlines with our movement around healing. Can we heal not only the fluids in our bodies but the water collected from the Red River on stage with us, representing lost sisters as well as the spirits that brought us here.
Chi Miigwetch to my co-collaborators- Emily Solstice Barker, Lise McMillan, and Rayanna Seymour.
photo credit: Leif Norman, last four photos are from the artist