EXchanges: Santee Smith
Co.ERASGA, in partnership with Santee Smith and The Dance Centre, presents
Moving in the Direction of the Forever Workshop
May 5-7, 2023
12-5 PM
Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie St, Vancouver)
Kraul Studio
LIMITED CAPACITY—REGISTER NOW ON EVENTBRITE!
Moving in the Direction of the Forever
In her workshop Santee Smith shares insight and aspects of her performance, movement and energetic practices inspired by natural patterning, knowledge encoded within cultural symbols, and the grounded pulse of Onkwehon:we style of dance: supple and activated spine with call and response as a reciprocal process.
Workshop time will be spent working outside in the land (site to be confirmed) and in studio focusing on grounding, full bodied movement, activation of energies from inside and outside of the body with guided imagery and free form movement exploration. A multidisciplinary aspect will be included in work with clay as an embodied expression of "we are made of the earth" and Santee's thematic creative research on "Claywomxn".
Santee Smith / Tekaronhiáhkhwa is a multidisciplinary artist from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Turtle Clan, Ohswé:ken (Six Nations of the Grand River). She trained for 6 years at Canada’s National Ballet School, completed Physical Education and Psychology degrees from McMaster University and a M.A. in Dance at York University. Sharing her dance experience and classes for over 20 years, Santee teaches around the world, within diverse communities, at all levels of schooling, and designs and facilitates workshops. She spearheads “Inviting the Land to Shape Us” Creation Labs at Six Nations, Talking Earth Studio and other sites. Recently, she taught master classes in the Dance Department at Cornell University, community classes at University of Buffalo. In 2021, she was guest faculty at Soulpepper Academy, Toronto and guest teacher for the Banff Centre/Citadel Theatre Training, Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity in 2019. From 2009-2017, Smith programmed and taught at Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s Summer Training Intensive. Santee shares her choreographic aesthetic and physical training techniques gathered from the span of her career as a dance artist with a focus on Indigenous movement languages, purpose and celebration.
EXchanges with Santee Smith is supported through The Dance Centre’s Special Projects & Partnerships program.
Thank you for your continued donation and support that helps Co.ERASGA’s annual arts programming and provides economic support to all participating artists.
We humbly acknowledge that most of Co. ERASGA's work, including the Studio Salon Series, takes place on the traditional and unceded lands of the Coast Salish people including the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ) and Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Nations, the original stewards and caretakers of these lands.
