Importance of Indigenous-led Processes - In the Performing Arts and Beyond

By Reneltta Arluk, Philip Jonah Logan Geller & Christine Genier

Join three Indigenous creatives with national theatre and performance experience as they discuss the importance and benefits of Indigenous-led processes in the performing arts - and beyond! This is a key component in supporting anti-racist and decolonization efforts across the performance industry, including among audience members. Arts organizations have a role to play in righting historical wrongs through supporting Indigenous performance as ceremony; by exploring their individual perspectives as well as the broader landscape of performing arts nationally, we hope that this conversation leads to a greater understanding of the need to include Indigenous-led processes in all facets of the creative landscape as well as the “day-to-day”.

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Reneltta Arluk, D.Litt., is Inuvialuk, Gwich’in and Denesuline, Cree from the Northwest Territories, raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age. This early nomadic life provided Reneltta with the unique skill set to become the multi-disciplinary nomadic performing arts artist she is. In 2008, she founded Akpik Theatre, the only professional Indigenous Theatre company existing from the Northwest Territories. Adhering to its namesake, the cloudberry, Akpik Theatre strives to flourish in the northern climate it reflects by developing, mentoring and producing performance-based work that is northern Indigenous inspired and created.

Philip Jonah Logan Geller (they/them) is a Jewish and Red River Métis theatre creator, performer, director, dramaturge, producer, and clown. They have worked across Turtle Island with companies including The Stratford Festival, Native Earth Performing Arts, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Gwaandak Theatre, and Centre for Indigenous Theatre. They are a graduate of the MFA directing program at York University and the BFA Acting Program at the University of Alberta.

Christine Genier is a Wolf Clan citizen of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. (Yukon) She is a writer, poet, performer, storyteller, and a lifelong worker in language and culture. Her latest work, Dear Star Trek, ran for two nights in February at the Old Fire Hall, bringing the piece home after performing for audiences in Vancouver, BC and Wolfe Island, Ontario. Christine works to help keep her family and ancestral languages, Tageesh Koshé and Dawkwanjé. She is a gatherer of stories and moderator of talks.

Weaving a Path Forward - Keynote Presentation

By Michelle Olson

This keynote will address how engaging in traditional and contemporary practices is an act of resilience and how it is important to weave in the multiplicity of stories, perspectives and experiences to building a strong path forward.

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Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and Co- Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance. She studied dance and performance at the University of New Mexico, the Banff Centre, with Full Circle and completed her MFA in Directing at UBC. Michelle works in areas of dance, theatre and opera as a choreographer, performer and movement coach and her work has been seen on national and international stages.

Image by Emily Solstice