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| Performances in the 2010 Festival: |
| THEATRE PERFORMANCES |
| EDGE One EDGE Two EDGE Three EDGE Four Gathering Light Michelle Olson/ Raven Spirit Dance Ihtsi-pai-tapi-yopa: Essence of Life Byron Chief Moon/Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Le Retour au foret Davida Monk/M-body Prairie Davida Monk/M-body Mountain Serge Bennathan, Davida Monk/M-body MoveIt and Dusk Joe Laughlin/Joe INK Music meets Dance Co. Erasga and Ion Zoo Music Ensemble Quell Lin Snelling Remembering Room Roundtable Lin Snelling & participating artists Room Lin Snelling Schreibstuck Thomas Lehmen Sold Doubt Josh Beamish/ Move: the company Status Quo Amber Funk Barton/ Shay Kuebler The Vision Impure Noam Gagnon/ Co.Vision Selective |
| SITE WORK |
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Mal
de Mer Dusk
Dance Parade
to the Sunrise Market Rooftop for a Dance Party |
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Byron Chief-Moon
Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association
Vancouver, BC
Ihtsi-pai-tapi-yopa: Essence of Life
Explorations of a Tribal Paradigm
The Sun-dance ceremony of the Blackfoot people is the focus of daily rituals that are observed throughout the year; a culmination of preparations through song, dance, and meditations, of and on the tribal lands, reflecting a choice of freedoms which are communicated in daily activities. For Blackfoot tribes, the relationship between the natural world as conscious-earth and the conscious earth-human is explored through the animals, elements, and spirits of the land. This experience has always provided an immense connection and understanding of the cosmic relationship to Mother-earth; and for the Blood-Kainai tribe, this is Ihtsi-pai-tapi-yopa: Essence of Life.
Our current inter-disciplinary dance/media project is closely translated as Essence of life, echoing the root inspiration of the Blood-Kainai tribe through the intimate details of landscape. To the tribe there is an appreciation that as long as there is honour for Mother-earth as a living soul then there is a choice, as her children, to continue to hear her stories and evolve towards becoming earth-human, for a better tribal-community.
This is a story is of creation, of conceptual interference and forgetfulness, disconnection and disharmony, and in quiet moments of remembering; through the natural environment there is thought; and she is Earth-woman.
With guidance from elders, Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association (CAPPA) explores Blackfoot/Blood-Kainai culture, and where possible First-nations and Aboriginal storytelling more generally, in the context of explorations of relationship with Mother-earth/conscious-earth, and earth-consciousness. In this way we explore story as windows between distinct, but potentially complementary worlds in balance, and in consideration of elder/youth relationship.
CAPPA endeavours to maintain the integrity and depth of Aboriginal storytelling; presenting that which may be interpreted to be the past as the present, immediate experience, through an inter-disciplinary language of movement, sound, visuals, and meaningful, cultural exploration in development of opportunities for pluralism, as a window between worlds.
Byron Chief-Moon
Byron Chief-Moon of the Blood-Kainai, Blackfoot Nation has traditional, Blackfoot dance training and was encouraged by his maternal grandparents, elders in their community. Byron studied contemporary dance and film arts at Simon Fraser University; University of Lethbridge; and with mentors Karen Jamieson, Barbara Bourget, Gisa Cole, Henry Daniels and Lisa Doolittle.
Byron founded Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association (CAPPA) to explore dance, incorporating nuances of storytelling and his blood memory. Through contemporary movement, consciousness of plains environment, plains music and drums, new media music and visual techniques; he expresses his inner and outer realities and the memory of stories told to him by his grandparents.
His works Elmer and Coyote, Blood Alley, Butte, and Quest led to dance films and a Gemini nomination. These works are the foundations of his current work entitled
Ihtsi-pai-tapi-yopa: Essence of Life—Essence.
Byron has also worked as an accomplished and respected actor for over 20 years and, though numerous, his film credits are only a hint of his tenacity: his dedication to his family and tribe, and consideration for Mother-earth as the centre of all being.
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