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Okinum : podcast series
April 20, 2021In the Anishnabemowin language, Okinum means dam or barrier. Inspired by the recurring dream of a giant beaver, Okinum is an intimate reflection on the notion of inner barriers, an ode to the power of dreams and intuition. Speech is liberated in order to go up the river of the ancestors'…
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Honouring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
February 12, 2021February 14 is a day to honour the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA (Two-spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual) people, and acknowledge the grassroots initiatives that continue to raise awareness and…
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NAC Indigenous Theatre seeking artists & memory holders for new storytelling project
February 2, 2021NAC Indigenous Theatre is seeking artists and memory holders to submit to participate in a new storytelling project. This project is based in three cities: Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Vancouver. Each region’s project will be artistically led by NAC Indigenous Theatre (Ottawa), Gordon Tootoosis…
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The inaugural season of Indigenous Theatre
August 24, 2020Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival officially launched on September 14 with an emotional canoe voyage on the Rideau Canal to the National Arts Centre, hosted by the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation to the National Arts Centre. Sixty Indigenous leaders, artists, and community members from across…
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National Indigenous History Month with Samanqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier)
June 23, 2020Samanqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier) of Tobique First Nation is a leading voice in New Brunswick’s thriving Indigenous art scene. Her first play, Finding Wolastoq Voice, appeared as part of Mòshkamo: Indigenous Arts Rising, the two-and-a-half week festival that opened Indigenous Theatre’s…
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Celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and National Indigenous History Month at the...
June 4, 2020This National Indigenous Peoples Day and National Indigenous History Month, we honour the distinct perspectives and cultures of Indigenous artists through storytelling and performance. September brought the Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival, a resoundingly successful start to the…
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NAC Indigenous Theatre: Unikkaaqtuat brings Inuit stories to a wider world
January 6, 2020Guillaume Ittukssarjuat Saladin has a suggestion for audiences attending the upcoming world premiere of Unikkaaqtuat (meaning to tell stories), an all-ages show which opens the second half of NAC Indigenous Theatre’s inaugural season. The cross-cultural production fuses circus, theatre,…
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Inuit Myths Come Out of the Shadows
November 7, 2019Inuit founding myths are the inspiration for Unikkaaqtuat, a cross-cultural blending of circus arts, theatre, music, and video. The actors, musicians, and acrobats of Unikkaaqtuat perform in a world of shadows and video projections, transporting us to an ancient realm where life did not…
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A Meeting Place Between Nations
September 11, 2019The kick-off for the National Arts Centre’s new Indigenous Theatre is the high point of a years-long transformation of the NAC into a welcoming space for Indigenous peoples, particularly the Algonquin Anishnabeg on whose unceded territory the NAC is located. In 2016, the NAC reached out to…
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“Our Stories are Medicine”: Indigenous Theatre Takes Flight
September 11, 2019Indigenous Theatre is here. The highly anticipated inaugural season has taken flight with the Mòshkamo festival, a two-and-a-half week “takeover” of the National Arts Centre, showcasing some of the best Indigenous music, theatre and dance. “In a season focused on themes of…
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The Land: A Gathering Place
September 11, 2019We recognize the Algonquin Nation, on whose traditional, unceded territory the National Arts Centre is located. The NAC is taking to heart the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to preserve and promote Indigenous languages and cultures through actions such as creating the first…
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Q&A: Kevin Loring, Artistic Director, NAC Indigenous Theatre
September 11, 2019Q. You’re about to launch the first national Indigenous theatre of its kind in the world. How do you feel? A. I’m excited. I take my position as a sacred trust to the Indigenous storytellers across this land. Q. What do you hope to achieve? A. My hope is that NAC Indigenous Theatre will…
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The spectacular launch of Indigenous Theatre
May 15, 2019Don’t miss Mòshkamo: Indigenous Arts Rising, the two-week All-Indigenous Takeover at the NAC this fall Lori Marchand and Kevin Loring first met almost 20 years ago and quickly connected over a shared vision. It’s a vision they continue to share today as together they set the stage for the…
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Q&A: Lori Marchand, Managing Director, Indigenous Theatre
February 7, 2019Q. You became the first-ever Managing Director of the NAC Indigenous Theatre in April 2018. What has been your focus so far? A. I’ve been working closely with Artistic Director Kevin Loring and our growing Indigenous Theatre artistic team to choose the works to be presented as part of our…
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The journey is the destination: Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified...
October 5, 2017Over the past couple of months, the name Sir John A Macdonald and the question of whether he should be revered or vilified have been widely discussed in the media, sparking numerous debates across the country in regards to one of Canada’s most important historical figures. Commissioned by…