Beat to the creator: Insta filter like skin makeup base

By RainbowGlitz

Monday, April 13th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Mondays are Drag series!

Have you ever wanted an instagram filter skin IRL? Come learn how to get a blender to creator base for your makeup to look its best, so you too can be creator's favorite. In this workshop, you will learn how to get the base makeup look for stage, photo and film. RainbowGlitz is here to help everyone beat to the creator!

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RainbowGlitz is Turtle Island’s (North America’s) very own love medicine and So-called Vancouver's resident rainbow slut. This Haida, Squamish, Musqueam (Indigenous) and Black artist began her burlesque journey in 2013. She loves to mix Culture and Pussycat Doll hip-hop with a nerdy and exotic(stripper) twist. She is a founding member of Virago Nation. The Indigi-B Barbie Rainbow Doll edition is always a Beat to the creator. From her multifaceted art to teaching you how to decolonize your sexuality & gender!! She is ready to heal you with her colourful slutty medicine.

Grants for Indigenous Peoples at Canada Council for the Arts

By Isidra Cruz, Program Officer

Monday, April 13th - 4PM-5:30PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~3:55PM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom

Learn about how granting works, how to set-up your profile and what grants are offered for Indigenous artists. Get tips on applying for a grant and ask us your questions.

There may be the opportunity for one-on-one meetings in Whitehorse with the Program Officer during the second week of Awaken. If you are interested in this opportunity, please leave a comment when pre-registering for this event.

Image by Kris Moore Photography

Creation Through Performance

By Erica Wilson - Miss Carcass Caresse: Soft Waters

Tuesday, April 14th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Erica Wilson and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss Erica’s upcoming showcase performances of her new work Miss Carcass Caresse: Soft Waters. They will also talk about the National Indigenous Artist Development and Showcase Program, of which Erica is the first recipient, dive into the process of creation through performance, the role of workshopping new work at festivals and more! This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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Erica Wilson is an Indigenous Artist and community connector located in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1. All aspects of their art is rooted in Authenticity, Curiosity, Humor and Wisdom. Their work is currently focused on as an individual artist exploring solo projects for the first time. Where they normally thrive is within community spaces promoting education, communication and the arts.

Image by Vincent Wolfgang

Exploring Indigenous Play Readings

By Keira Ash

Tuesday, April 14th - 4PM-5:30PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~3:55PM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom

Join Festival Cousin Keira Ash, as they host us online during week one and in-person during week two of Awaken as we read plays created by Indigenous writers. We will share them out loud together with vigour, experience what it feels like to perform with emotion (and without the addition of sets or props!) and explore the mechanics of a group script reading. If you have ever been interested in being involved with Indigenous Summer Play Readings, this is a great way to try it out!

If you are interested in attending the in-person version of this event, it will be taking place on Tuesday April 21st from 4PM-5:30PM in Classroom A at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT!

Writing adaptive work

By Reneltta Arluk

Wednesday, April 15th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Writing Wednesdays series, sponsored by What’s Up Yukon!

Reneltta will take you through the processes of writing for adaptation. How to look at already created works through an Indigenous dramaturgical practice as a guide to making these written pieces your own.

Bring a play or story with you with a marked chapter or a scene that you are familiar with so we delve in together.

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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.

Image by Nahanni McKay

Impacts of Cultural Appropriation and How to Support Indigenous Artists - A Panel Conversation

By Stormy Bradley, Angela Code & Teagyn Aatagwéix’i Vallevand

Wednesday, April 15th - 6PM-7:30PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~5:55PM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom

Join Stormy Bradley, Angela Code and Teagyn Aatagwéix’i Vallevand as they discuss how Indigenous artists, especially within a Northern context, are impacted by cultural appropriation and what can be done to help support Indigenous artists based on their individual perspectives. This conversation will be facilitated by Teagyn Aatagwéix’i Vallevand and is inspired by an earlier conversation which was presented in January 2026 at the KDCC with the support of the Government of Yukon, with organization provided by Marie-Hélène Comeau. We are thankful to them for their presentation of this initial conversation and are also grateful to the participating artists for coming together again for this new conversation.

Scaling for the Stage - Reaching for the Stars

By Philip Jonah Logan Geller - who will save the night sky?

Thursday, April 16th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Philip Jonah Logan Geller and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss Philip’s upcoming showcase performances of their work who will save the night sky? and the process of adapting an existing work while on tour. This talk will cover how performances can change over time, with different expressions being discovered, as well as how to hold onto the centre that always remains the same. This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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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.

Image by Andy Carroll

Fund Development

By Gwaandak Theatre Staff

Friday, April 17th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Funding Fridays series!

A key component to producing a new or existing work is funding, but how do you take an idea and break it down into a grant application? This workshop will focus on that early step, followed by a brief look into the acceptance and reporting processes that follow.

Be EYEconic

By Sparkle Plenty

Monday, April 20th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Mondays are Drag series!

The eyes are the window to the face and Sparkle will walk you through some staple steps to elevate your lewk to EYEconic status. This one hour workshop is all about the eyes and will review easy techniques to create a dramatic, winged eyeliner for all ages, cut crease eyeshadow lewks for all eye shapes, and blinging it up with rhinestones without making a mess. Sparkle will also talk about different tools and products to help you build your staple eye shape without breaking your budget. Follow along Sparkle's demonstration with your own make up or just take notes.

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Sparkle Plenty has one of the best beats in burlesque bizz... or that's what she will tell you anyway. Inspired by drag artists, she's been painting her mug to be seen from bathroom of the venue so no one misses a wink, smile, or the look of unadulterated thirst smiley devil emoji. Sparkle is always evolving her lewks, especially as she enters her middle-aged era so finding new techniques to keep her face-card from declining is a passion of hers.

Image by Jon-Christian Ashby

Sharing (Y)OUR Stories

By Yvette Nolan and Joel Bernbaum - Climate Play

Tuesday, April 21st - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Yvette Nolan, Joel Bernbaum and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss the upcoming showcase performances of their developing work Climate Play. They will talk about the multi-year national project that brought this work to where it is today and explore the process of “creating” verbatim theatre as well as the shared responsibility of presenting the words of real people on stage. This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg. Her plays include “The Unplugging”, “Annie Mae’s Movement”, “The Birds”. From 2003-2011, she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. Her book, “Medicine Shows”, about Indigenous performance in Canada was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2015.

Joel Bernbaum is a playwright, director, and journalist. From 2013-2023, he served as the Artistic Director of Sum Theatre. His dissertation is about verbatim theatre’s potential to be used as a community development process. He has co-created and co-produced multiple verbatim theatre plays.

Image by Philip Adams

Writing Fiction with Richard Van Camp

By Richard Van Camp

Wednesday, April 22nd - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Writing Wednesdays series, sponsored by What’s Up Yukon!

Come join bestselling author Richard Van Camp as he hosts a hilarious and inspiring workshop on Fiction Writing. Richard will talk about designing characters, and he'll talk about the craft of writing. Most of all, he'll answer your questions about publishing and working with editors and an agent. We are going to have so much fun - please join us!

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A recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories, Richard Van Camp is a proud Tlicho Dene from Fort Smith, NWT, now living in Edmonton: Treaty 6 Territory with his family. Richard is an internationally renowned storyteller and award winning author of 31 books for all ages. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a feature film on Prime Video, and his graphic novel with Neiva Mateus, Three Feathers, is now a feature film on APTN. He is a mentor with the Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle and he is The University of Victoria's Indigenous Storyteller in Residence where he teaches online about reclaiming family medicines. You can visit Richard on Facebook, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud and at www.richardvancamp.com

Image by William Au

Visual Art(ists) at Awaken

By Nicole Schafenacker and Heather Steinhagen

Thursday, April 23rd - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Nicole Schafenacker and Heather Steinhagen as they discuss interactive and performance art pieces included at Awaken Festival 2025 and 2026 as well as their own experiences as visual artists. They will also discuss ways to bridge theatre and visual art at Awaken, including how best to engage community and social action within this work, both online and off.

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Nicole Schafenacker is a writer, artist and researcher with euro-settler ancestry residing on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council outside of Whitehorse, Yukon. Her work explores body memory, intimate geographies, and hopeful acts/relationships between humans and place. She is passionate about creating projects in the north at the intersection of arts, social justice, and environmental stewardship. When she’s not writing or creating she’s out on the trail with her retired sled dog, Aliy.

Heather Steinhagen is an intuitive painter and fine toy maker whose work explores memory, storytelling, and emotional landscapes. Working across mediums, she creates tactile, visually rich pieces that feel both nostalgic and slightly surreal. She has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions, including Made Up Memories at the ATCO Community Art Gallery, and co-curated TETHER for the 2022 Arctic Arts Summit.

Image “Raised” by Heather Steinhagen

Writing Your Grant Proposal - Ask an Experienced Grant Writer

By Patti Flather

Friday, April 24th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Funding Fridays series!

Have you attended a previous grant writing workshop and started building your application, but ran into a wall? Are you currently mid-way through a Canada Council for the Arts application and looking for support? Then this workshop is for you! Focused on in-progress applications, we welcome your questions in advance to help plan out the session and support the attendees.

*Spaces may be limited depending on the number of advance registrations and scope of questions submitted, so registering early is encouraged. After registering, you will be asked to submit a question about your grant proposal in progress with a short summary of your proposal and 1-2 page excerpt, no later than April 18th. Submissions should be sent via email to info@gwaandaktheatre.ca.

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Patti Flather is an award-winning published and produced writer, theatre artist, and cultural producer. She is a co-founder and past Artistic Director of Gwaandak Theatre for two decades, a co-producer with Yukon Digital Theatre Collective, and a winner of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes Borealis Prize for literary and storytelling contributions in the Yukon. Find more at www.pattiflather.com.