SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
MASKS AND RIBBONS
Fancy shawl dancing on Toronto’s waterfront
“I DON’T SEE COLOUR”
Artists respond to this harmful statement
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Disability arts post-pandemic
Display until November 4, 2020 / $8.25
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Black people are seeing the descendants of colonization wake up to the terror their ancestors created. To add to this conversation, Ravyn Ariah Wngz asks several dance artists: How does the statement “I don’t see colour; we are all the same” make you feel?
A photo shoot on Toronto’s waterfront with fancy shawl dancer Nichole Leveck and her daughter, Nazarene Pope.
Where Do We Go From Here? When COVID-19 sent dancers home, communities quickly adapted. Can that flexibility be applied to disability arts postpandemic? Patricia Allison speaks with Justin Mii-Sum-In-Iskum Many Fingers, Jordan Sangalang and Kelsie Acton.
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(Literally) Dancing to Her Own Tune One may mistakenly refer to Bageshree Vaze, artistic director of Pratibha Arts, as a “contemporary” kathak artist; however, she insists otherwise: “Kathak, as a form, is completely twentieth century. Whatever is created is actually probably younger than western contemporary dance.” This year, Pratibha Arts’ A Hidden Princess was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards. by brannavy jeyasundaram
On the cover: Leveck / Photo by Elliott This page: Nickeshia Garrick / Photo courtesy of Garrick
photos by jonathan elliott
VOLUME 23, ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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Masks, Beads and Ribbons
features
All That We Are
thedancecurrent.com
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FRONT OF HOUSE
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6 Editor's Letter Featured Contributors 8 Online
WARM-UP 9 Movers Matthew “Creeasian” Wood: The connections between
hip hop and powwow
by jillian groening
11 From Our Archives
Zab Maboungou: Since being featured in 2003, she has been racking up awards by collette murray
in every issue
12 Check It Out
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Essays from Made in BC’s 2019 Creative Residency
Katie Cassady: participating in Made in BC’s 2020 Creative Residency by dylan schoenmakers
by anne dion
14 Practice
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Avoiding cultural appropriation in competitive dance by ming-bo lam
The Inspired List: Rosario Ancer
16 Body
Three reasons to be at peace with a less-than-perfect response to COVID-19 by onika green
STUDIO TO STAGE 44 Anniversaries 46 Poetry
Dancing the Contours of Protest
by suzanne zelazo
Cassady / Photo courtesy of Cassady Creeasian and Angela “Lunacee” Miracle Gladue/ Photo by Laura Polischuik Maboungou in her work Wamunzo / Photo by Pierre Manning and Audrée Desnoyers of Shoot Studio
the dance current SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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feature
ALL
THAT
Wngz / Photo by Sly Feiticeira
The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see – JAMES BALDWIN
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the dance current SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
WE
ARE
Artists respond to the statement “I don’t see colour” by ravyn ariah wngz
I
n this moment, Black people are seeing the descendants of colonization wake up to the terror their ancestors created. We are witnessing the dehumanization of Black people and hearing the rallying cry “All Black Lives Matter.” The recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have forced publications and institutions to craft Black solidarity statements and hire and support Black artists for the first time. But do Black stories, Black creators and Black curators actually matter to these institutions? I believe the institution of dance has divorced itself from speaking truth to power, an act that contributes to the violent erasure of Black artists. This silently violent attempt to absolve themselves from anti-Black, racist practices, while purporting inclusiveness and diversity, is in fact part of the same system of whiteness (culture of white supremacy) that the BLM protests seek to dismantle. If you don’t ask yourself about your own indoctrination into these systems and how white supremacy manifests in you, then you are part of the problem. Black creators are fighting to be seen for all that we are and all that we bring to the culture of art and humanity. To add to this conversation, I asked several dance artists: How does the statement “I don’t see colour; we are all the same” make you feel?
thedancecurrent.com
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photo essay
Masks, Beads and Ribbons Fancy shawl dancing on Toronto’s waterfront photos by jonathan elliott
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the dance current SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Sommaire Quand la pandémie de la COVID-19 s’est annoncée, Nichole Levack et sa fille Nazarene Pope ont organisé une opération de fabrication de masques. Depuis juillet, elles ont fourni plus de 1050 masques d’une part et d’autres de Turtle Island, le tout financé par des dons de matériaux et de fonds. Leveck est une artiste wyandotte de Toronto, Ontario. Elle est danseuse fancy shawl et jingle dress depuis plus de treize ans et enseigne depuis plus de onze ans dans différents organismes de la région du Grand Toronto. Elle figure dans les vidéoclips The Hills d’Amanie Illfated et I Can’t Remember My Name des Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Elle a performé au gala du prix Polaris en 2019 avec les Snotty Nose Rez Kids et sa fille, Pope. Leveck vise à être un modèle positif au sein de la communauté autochtone à Toronto. Pope est une artiste afroautochtone de descendance wendat et trinidadienne, originaire de Toronto. Elle est danseuse fancy shawl et jingle dress depuis plus de onze ans. Ses spectacles comptent le gala du prix Polaris en 2019 ainsi que le Fort York Indigenous Arts Festival la même année.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nichole Leveck and her daughter, Nazarene Pope, organized a mask-making operation. Funded by donations (supplies and funds), they have provided more than 1050 masks across Turtle Island since July. Leveck is a Wyandot artist from Toronto, Ontario. She has been a fancy shawl and jingle dress dancer for more than thirteen years and has been teaching for more than eleven years at various organizations throughout the Greater Toronto Area. She was featured in Amanie Illfated’s music video The Hills and Snotty Nose Rez Kids’ music video I Can’t Remember My Name, and she performed at the 2019 Polaris Music Prize Gala (for Snotty Nose Rez Kids) with Pope. Leveck strives to be a positive role model within the Indigenous community of Toronto. Pope is an Afro-Indigenous artist of Wendat and Trinidadian descent, born and raised in Toronto. Pope has been a fancy shawl and jingle dress dancer for more than eleven years, and her performances include the 2019 Polaris Music Prize Gala and the 2019 Fort York Indigenous Arts Festival. thedancecurrent.com
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poetry
Dancing the Contours of Protest For Louise Lecavalier
by suzanne zelazo
A hole in the sky where she fell the cosmic gift of her plunge infrared and burning chance fusing constellation
Self-whirl syncopated to the stars in her mouth she posits the realm and catches the light calves of topaz toe turning an octave of humming staccato insistence into language
Her body, a voice that swallows hips cradling a hurricane an allegro uprising barrel jump unfolding in protest of the walls and the floor and the holding fluid and trailing the rupture unswerving Hair blazing through the century planetary blur of her sweep stillness unthinkable unmeasured in steps that collide and ignite Her knees the valiant seduction of arrival her water-green stirring declares itself unfurling she floats the cities cheek to cheek rising to hollow the fill the hole in the sky where she fell This oracle of liftoff she is winging and ready and boundless. Photo by Mohamed Nohassi, courtesy of Unsplash
Mother of a thousand moving metaphors floodmouthed and winding a wound that flowers en tournant but the bruise is a dance that castigates phosphorous fingers carve the detour