Kaha:wi Dance Theatre 
Homelands

Friday, September 27th | 8:00 PM | Artist Talkback
Saturday, September 28th | 8:00 PM 

Dalhousie Arts Centre – Dunn Theatre

Co-presented with

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre is a Rotinonhsyón:ni led company renowned for exquisitely produced and viscerally impactful performances, embodying stories that cultivate space for transformation, dialogue, and connection to Indigenous knowledge and experience. Founded in 2005 by Ohswé:ken / Six Nations of the Grand River based Artistic Director, Santee Smith, Kaha:wi (Ga-HA-Wee) means “to carry” in Kanyen’kéha. Sharing new Indigenous performance, embodied, and multidisciplinary storytelling, Santee’s work is focused on Indigenous methodology, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational work. Artistic and community research for performances delve into ancestral memory, Onkwehónwe:néha mind-set, and strive to align with and share truth, creativity, and story. The company plans and hosts land-based creation labs such as “Inviting the Land to Shape Us” and offers educational opportunities through masterclasses and workshops. Reaching audiences regionally and globally, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre ignites awareness and sparks opportunities for collaborations and exchange.

Homelands

Homelands is a dance honouring our kinship connection to the natural world, its patterns, energies, and life forces. A multimedia dreamscape creates the landscape: water, textures with three women dancers embody the elemental. Offering and aligning with earthy imagery and sound design, Homelands places Yethi’nihstenha / many womxn within Kahnyen’kehàka ancestral homelands of upper state New York and Ohswé:ken / Six Nations of the Grand River. Making joyous, transcendent, and powerful embodied alignments to Ka’satsténhsera’kó:wa Sa’oyé:ra / movement in the direction of the immense creation / nature, Homelands affirms human beings are creation made – we are land and water.

Personnel

Production: Kaha:wi Dance Theatre
Creator/Director/Designer/Performer: Santee Smith
Performers: Katie Couchie, Sarah Prosper
Composer/Singer/Songwriter: Pura Fé
Composer/Mix/Master: Adrian Dion Harjo
Recorded Singers: Biine Kwe Elijah, Jennifer Kreisberg, Santee Smith
Shane Powless: Projection Design/Editor
Louise Potiki Bryant: Projection Design – selected scenes
Animation: AVA Animation and Visual Arts Inc. / Emma Lopez, Pedro Narvaez Cinematography: Shane Powless, Katsitsionni Fox, Jaiden Mitchell, Ian Maracle, Ami Kokui Tamakloe, Santee Smith
Live Performance Costume Designers: Elaine Redding, Santee Smith
Pottery: Steve T. Smith
Lighting Designer/Technical Support: Sebastian Marziali
Technical Consultant: James Kendal
Tour Stage Manager: Senjuti Sarker
Video Performers: Julianne Blackbird, Feryn King, Santee Smith
Video Costume Designers: Bruno Henry, Elaine Redding, Adriana Fulop

Kaha:wi Sponsors