During the workshop, she will introduce you to the history and culture of this First Nations dance style, and teach you the dances that her elders and loved ones have passed on from her earliest years.

More and more artists who practice the ritual of dance are giving it a new social significance.

Some invite young people from diverse abilities and backgrounds to be part of dance companies, to present works that transcend their physical state, and help redefine expectations. 

Discover, through the three films of this double-program, how Ottawa choreographer Shara Weaver and her company Propeller Dance, LazyLegz of Montreal and the French Virginie Combet breathe new life into dance.

Circuit explores societal and individual transformation, a journey through lands past and present. It is a call to get out of our heads and back to the heart of why we exist. Circuit is Propeller Dance’s premiere dance film, the result of a soulful collaboration with DRUMHAND.

Dir.: Ed Hanley | Music Composition by Larry Graves | Chor.: Shara Weaver | Canada | 2018 | 31’29

Lazylegz, a professional b-boy, has a condition that makes it almost impossible to use his legs. Pas d’excuses, pas de limites tells his incredible journey and his commitment to young people through his Project RAD, which trains urban-dance teachers how to work with children with physical and intellectual challenges.

This film is in French only.

Dir.: Christian Lalumière | With: Luca « LazyLegz » | QC | 2016 | 60′

The First Nations peoples have always held their processions, and Catholics and Protestants still organized theirs with pomp and ceremony, barely half a century ago. 

The Procession, choreographed by Nacera Belaza, is a stroll to which the public is invited, including them in the work in an innovative way that allows them to participate in the artistic process. It invites the public to question what constitutes the essence of a place and the constant bombardment of images in our lives.

Students from the University of Ottawa Theatre Department will join Nacera and her sister Dalila to bring you The Procession, which will move from Nepean Point to the LabO at Arts Court, through the alleys of the Byward Market and Ogilvy Place.

Next stop for The Procession – New York, in the spring of 2020.

Important note: The first 120 people to show up to Nepean Point will be able to follow the procession all the way to the LabO.

Dir.: Lionel Escama | Chor.: Nacera Belaza | FRANCE | 2017 | 45′

Resistance is expressed through art, be it for an individual or a whole community. The intimate becomes political. 

In this program, we hear the calls of young Indigenous artists, the cries of homosexuals abused in Chechnya, and the hope of migrants who cross our seas and our borders. These films are dedicated to the marginalized, the abused, the outsider – so that they know that we are there with them!

In the program:

You Can take the Streets and Rule Them
A short-film by Eduardo Patrick and Lloyd Brennan (Montréal)

Ode of a dancer to the many civil uprisings of the last years: “If I can not dance, I do not want to take part in your Revolution” (Emma Goldman, Russian activist, 1931).

Dir.: Lionel Escama | Chor.: Nacera Belaza | QC | 2014 | 12’47

Inheritor Recordings
A short-film by Josh Martin, Lisa Gelley, Brian Johnson (Vancouver)

Quiet uplifting of a new generation. This work distorts time and space, and brings out the raw physicality of the 16 dancers that combines urban and contemporary dance.

Dir.: Brian Johnson & Lisa Gelley | Chor: Josh Martin | Canada | 2014 | 6‘20

Return of the Warrior’s Sword
A short-film by Naomi Recollet, Ogimaa Duke Peltier (Wikwemikong)

The story of Mookomaanish’s sword, an artifact of the 1812 Anglo-American War, which embodies the power and protective will of the Anishnaabe.

Dir.: Naomi Recollet | Nation: Anishnabe | Wikwemikong, Canada | 2017 | 5‘26

Reclaiming my Culture
A short-film by Lisa Kenoras (Splatsin)

A young woman’s efforts to reclaim her Indigenous culture and build stronger bonds with her family.

Dir.: Lisa Kenoras | Nation: Shuswap | Splatsin, Canada | 2017 | 5‘8

Zuya / The Journey
A short-film by Ariel Waskewitch (Stoney, New-York)

Defying depression, a young woman by the name of Nakoda seeks a balance between her traditional way of life and the modern world around her. By returning to dance, she will go to the United Nations to defend the rights of the Indigenous peoples.

Dir.: Ariel Waskewitch | Nation: Nakoda | Stoney, Canada | 2017 | 6‘

When Spirit Calls
A short-film by Terrie McIntosh (Pine Creek)

This is an experimental film on the spiritual trajectory of a young Indigenous woman. By highlighting themes such as intuition, faith and perseverance, Terrie takes us on a mystical journey – her spiritual journey.

Dir.: Terrie McIntosh | Nation: Ojibwe | Pine Creek, Canada | 2014 | 4’10

Onimiskiskaw Nitehik / There’s A Storm In My Heart
A short-film by Marie-Christine Petiquay (Manawan, Québec)

Often, after a break-up, the butterflies in the stomach leave to give way to the storm in the heart.

Dir.: Marie-Christine Petiquay | Chor.: Angélique Dumet-Kerherno | Canada | 2017 | 1’35

Move, Pilgrimage, & The Storm
A series of three short films by Sandy Siva, Marlene Millar (Montréal)

Conceived out of the Migration Dance Project, the films of this Montreal duo reveal the plight of immigrants and have received worldwide acclaim.

Dir.: Marlene Millar | Chor: Sandy Silva | Canada | 2017 | 10′
Dir.: Marlene Millar | Chor: Sandy Silva | Canada | 2017 | 10′
Dir.: Marlene Millar | Chor: Sandy Silva | Canada | 2016 | 3′

Mass
A film by Fu LE, Adrien Gontier (France)

This film shows the confrontation of the movements of the individual with that of the crowd’s, in order to show how we might both resist and become immersed in the larger group. 

Dir.: Fu LE & Adrien Gontier | Chor.: Fu LE | Paris, France | 2019 | 12’00

Limbes
A film by Natalie-Anne Downs