NAC Foundation
To support performing artists during the pandemic, NAC Indigenous Theatre invited artists from across the country to create brief digital works using the land as their source of inspiration. The result is Dancing the Land—passionate, raw and beautiful explorations of the artists’ relationships to the land and this moment in time.
Your generous donations helped Indigenous artists produce nine new creations to-date. Lori Marchand, Managing Director of Indigenous Theatre shares, “While we are looking forward to enjoying time together in the theatre, we are grateful and proud to have been able to support artists and communities by engaging with them, in digital programming such as Dancing the Land.”
One of those artists is Sylvia Cloutier, who is originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (Northern Quebec) and now lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Her creation, Qilaut, means drum as well as “instrument of heaven” in Inuktitut.
Sylvia says “Dancing is a gift for our spirit; a human expression that allows one to immerse themselves into imagination and boundless creativity. As Indigenous People, this is how we source our own medicine alongside the music and the sounds of nature. Dance is influenced by the ground your feet stand on, the air you breathe, and nothing feels more real than to dance on the beautiful land that you were born on. Nakursaqunga!”
In the coming months, NAC Indigenous Theatre will present two more collections of videos by Indigenous artists. “It is through the generous supports of corporate and private donors that we have been able to create and offer these beautiful works broadly, free of charge,” says Lori. “Our stories are medicine and offer us a way to stay connected in these times of isolation. Kukustx for making it possible!”
