Kaha:wi Dance Theatre
720 Bathurst Street M5S 2R4 Toronto, ON, Canada

The Unfurling is a short film featured in Kaha:wi Dance Theatre's "Call & Response to Spring" co-presented by Woodland CulturalCentre "The Unfurling is a response to the offer of Ian R. Maracle. I was inspired by his use of flowers and antlers in creating an image of new/old, life/death, growth/decay. I imagined SkyWomxn’s first Spring. Her name is Iotsitsisonh or Atsi'tsiaka:ion in Kanienkéha which translates to "fertile flower" and "mature flower." Santee Smith Created/performed by Santee Smith; cinematography/editing by Shane Powless; music by Donald Quan featuring vocals by Semiah Smith

https://capacoa.ca/en/international/connections/ Check out the last of the Connections series by CAPACOA! Maintaining international connections during the pandemic and beyond

Re-Quickening - Te piha creation https://www.kahawidance.org/requickening photo by Tony Nyberg

The Unfurling - Spring performance. Photo by Ian R. Maracle

Call & Response to Spring is now on vimeo for a free & pubic limited release. Check it out. See and hear the beautiful work of: Katsitsionni Fox, Mike Doxtater, JP Longboat, Janet Rogers, Cheri Maracle, Ian R. Maracle, Montana Summers, Shane Powless, Tehahenteh Miller, Donald Quan, Semiah Smith, Jennifer Kreisberg, Artistic Director Santee Smith & more. Co-presented by Woodland Cultural Centre https://vimeo.com/534561103

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre is super excited to share our "MidWinter Dreaming" as a part of the National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts - School Programs! Teachers, Schools check out the link and book a session featuring one of the digital offering collaborators. Please share this link https://nac-cna.ca/en/program/midwinter-dreaming

Posted @withregram @rematriation.magazine We are excited to announce that 5 of our films will be showcased in the upcoming Haudenosaunee Filmmakers Festival! ...All of the films being screened in the festival are part of our extended Indigenous Women's Voices Series which features 10 short films in total. The films that will be screened at #HFF2021 are: Rematriation: Marion Delaronde Rematriation: Santee Smith Rematriation: Carla Hemlock Rematriation: Angela Ferguson Rematriation: Joanne Shenandoah #Rematriation #RematriationMedia #HFF2021 #HaudenosauneeWomen #IndigenousWomen #FilmFest #FilmFestival

Touring? Changing ecosystems? KDT's Artistic Director Santee Smith in conversation with colleagues Crystal Pite and facilitator representing CAPACOA Jim Smith - April 6th

Nia:wen to everyone who tuned in to watch the FBLive stream of Call & Response to Spring! It will stay up on FB and also on vimeo for a few months to enjoy and we are planning a Live Zoom Panel with collaborators coming up in April, so stay tuned for that announcement. Today, is also the last day to watch our 1st online offering - MidWinter Dreaming. https://vimeo.com/509218525 tomorrow it will be retired but a part of the National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts education outreach for schools with Q&A's with artists. More info coming soon.

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s Call and Response to Spring is an online offer acknowledging Kakwitè:ne nikahá:wi / Spring time. This call and response exchange is inspired by the awakening of and transition period of Spring, honouring transformation, rejuvenation, renewal, re-birth and cycles of natural and living universe, and actions sacred alignments with the creative force.

#TBT - Here's a little throw back vid for inspiration for what's coming soon. KDT's Artistic Director Santee Smith is cooking up a new dance to teach online. We can't wait to share it and with original music by Classic Roots! #indigenizeyourexercise https://vimeo.com/167203289

30 mins until the FBLive of Call & Response Online Offer! March 31, 2021, FB Live at 12:00pm - a lunchtime treat for the body, mind, spirit. The 4th pair: The Call - "Old Growth" by Ian R. Maracle The Response - "The Unfurling" by Santee Smith... Who are these creative Rotinonshonni people? What's their piece about? Ian R. Maracle is a Tuscarora Bear Clan photographer, writer, and communications specialist from Six Nations of the Grand River who strives to highlight the voices of the Indigenous community. He works fervently with Indigenous youth and encourages them to stand for themselves against tokenism in the arts and to blossom as artists in their own right. To understand their lived experience is what makes their work Indigenous and what they create needs no validation is the most valuable lesson to share. Production Credits: Cinematography/Editor: Ian R. Maracle Music: Nocturne by Elision Location: Townline Road, Six Nations of the Grand River Santee Smith / Tekaronhiáhkhwa is a multidisciplinary artist from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River. She trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, completed Physical Education and Psychology degrees from McMaster University and a Dance MA from York University. Santee premiered her inaugural work Kaha:wi in 2004 and later founded Kaha:wi Dance Theatre which has grown into an internationally renowned company. She is a sought after teacher and speaker on Indigenous performance and culture. Through embodied storytelling and performance her work speaks to Indigenous identity and continuance. Smith is the 19th Chancellor of McMaster University. Statement about Video: The Unfurling is a response to the offer of Ian R. Maracle. I was inspired by his use of flowers and antlers in creating an image of new/old, life/death, growth/decay. I imagined SkyWomxn’s first Spring. Her name is Iotsitsisonh or Atsi'tsiaka:ion in Kanienkéha which translates to "fertile flower" and "mature flower. She danced her world into existence, I embodied her joy and reflections of the first Kakwitè:ne nikahá:wi, and the germination of the seeds she carried with her from SkyWorld. Production Credits: Performance/Design: Santee Smith Cinematography/Editor: Shane Powless Music: Donald Quan from MidWinter Dreaming (2004) Vocals: Semiah Kaha:wi Smith Location: Smith Family lands, Six Nations of the Grand River, ON

Are you an Indigenous Artist who needs funding? Canada Council for the Arts has upcoming deadline dates for the "Knowing, Creating, and Sharing" grant that off...ers funding for up to $300,000 Who can apply? - Cultural Carriers - Aspiring Artists - Artists working in traditional, customary and/or contemporary practice - Arts/Cultural Professionals - Groups or Collectives - Indigenous Organizations (not-for-profit or for profit) See the Artists Resource page on our website for details: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/artist-resources/ Tag a friend! Photo credit: Biine Elijah, Unplugged 2019, WCC

Theatre in the Era of Climate Crisis: Part of the 2020-21 Walker Cultural Leader Series presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts in partnership with the Fir...stOntario Performing Arts Centre Sunday 14 February 2021, 2pm Honouring Balance in Times of Crisis and Change: Strength in Indigenous Women’s Perspectives A discussion panel featuring Audra Maloney, Diane Simon and Santee Smith. Lyn Trudeau is moderating the panel with the generous support of the Well Earth Collaborative (WEC). About The Walker Cultural Leader Series Beginning in 2011 the academic programs of the Marilyn I. Walker School have celebrated the legacy of Marilyn, her gift and her vision by programming the Walker Cultural Leaders (WCL) Series. The ongoing development and refinement of the WCL program facilitates invitations to recognized cultural leaders, top researchers, visiting artists, scholars, professionals, theatre companies, producing and presenting organizations, associations, and others to contribute to the intellectual and creative life of the School and the Niagara region. To learn more, please visit https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/walker-cultural-leaders-series/

In 2050, Onkwe’shón:’a/the people are on the edge of collapse. Yethi’nihsténha tsyonhwentsyà:te/Mother Earth moved, stretched her limbs, shook off the disease and decay. She doesn’t depend on humanswe depend on her. Skén:nen - On the Edge of Collapse - The Prequel Trailer backdrop to the Skén:nen production. Post environmental catastrophe, 6 people collide in Kahnyen’kehàka homelands in the Adirondack mountains. Escaping rising and virus filled waters, they take refuge at a bunker camp; condoling with the land and re-aligning to the newly shifted Earth. Premiering July 2021

1 hr and 25 mins until the launch of our Call & Response to Spring. FBLive will send an 1 hr pre-announcment and then at 12pm it will start. Please share with your friends: The 3rd Call & Response features: The Call - "Spring Cull" by Janet Marie Rogers The Response - Gently She Arrives Again by Cheri Maracle... Who are these creative Rotinonshonni people? Janet Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora poet, media producer, performance and sound artist living on Six Nations of the Grand River territory. She is the current McMaster University and Hamilton Public Library Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence. Her seventh poetry collection, Ego of a Nation, released in May of 2020 was published on her new publishing label Ojistoh Publishing. Statement about Video: Since having to isolate, I have been experiencing the seasons, as they change through long drives, isolated in my car, in and around our territory of Six Nations. I love to photograph old barns and get a thrill when I see one abandoned because that means I get to go inside and explore the shell of a thing that means to so much to our food sources and which still vibrates with energy from when it was in full use. This reflects the seasons to me. A time when we are part of the outside natural world, and a time when we retire, indoors. This is great inspiration for my poetry. Production Credits: Poem writer/Narrator: Janet Rogers Film Footage/Editing/Music: Janet Rogers Location: Six Nations of the Grand River and Surrounding Area Cheri Maracle is an actor singer songwriter of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Cheri has been performing on stages across Turtle Island and abroad for 25 years, and has numerous stage, tv, and film credits to her name. One of the highlights of Cheri's career is performing Paddle Song, a one woman show based on the life and times of famed poet Pauline Johnson, which Cheri will be reprising at the Firehall Arts Centre in the Fall. Also upcoming Cheri plays the lead in series, "UNSETTLED", out in the Spring on APTN and TVO, a series shot over the course of the pandemic. Throughout her career Cheri has had the pleasure of working with Santee Smith, an inspiring artist, and visionary.... and here we go again!! Statement about Video: I wanted to focus on water, fresh starts, youth, inclusion, and seclusion. Simplicity & natural beauty. Circular concepts of time and renewal. Most of all the Circle for women, of regrowth, of newness. The singing voices are family; my sister Sheila Maracle, and my niece Alora Asham Maracle, and myself. A response of quiet appreciation of assured arrival, hosted by our beautiful Mother: Nature. Singers : Cheri Maracle, Sheila Maracle, Alora Maracle-Asham Actors: Cheri Maracle, Alora Maracle-Asham Editor: Brendan Peltier Location: Video footage shot at Dundas Conservatory Park, Sherman Falls-Hamilton, Ontario, and the Grand River, Six Nations, ON

Io ianereh Karl Dockstader for the feature on CBC Indigenous. Nia:wen to the Kaha:wi Dance Theatre Continuance team and to our partners: Woodland CulturalCentre, National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts, NAC English Theatre https://www.cbc.ca//mohawk-institute-continuance-dance-1.5

In 2050, Onkwe’shón:’a/the people are on the edge of collapse. Yethi’nihsténha tsyonhwentsyà:te/Mother Earth moved, stretched her limbs, shook off the disease and decay. She doesn’t depend on humanswe depend on her. The trailer is the backdrop to the Skén:nen production - post environmental catastrophe, 6 people collide in Kahnyen’kehàka homelands in the Adirondack mountains. Escaping rising and virus filled waters, they take refuge at a bunker camp; condoling with the land and re-aligning to the newly shifted Earth. Premiering July 2021

! ! Create an original song with Shawnee Kish (CBC Searchlight Artist 2020) and per...form/record it in Ottawa with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra | l'Orchestre du Centre national des Arts. We are calling all aspiring First Nation, Inuit and Metis youth - singers, dancers, drummers, writers, storytellers, creative spirits, Two Spirit youth, traditional and contemporary - to creatively tell your story, your inspiration and your journey. To apply, create a short 1-minute video and send it to us directly at [email protected] : February 5, 2021. Honorarium provided and expenses paid if selected. Due to Covid-19, preference will be given to residents of Ontario/Outaouais area. --- Créez une chanson originale avec Shawnee Kish (artiste CBC Searchlight 2020) et interprétez-la à Ottawa avec l’Orchestre du Centre national des Arts. L’appel est lancé à tous les jeunes Inuits, Métis et membres des Premières Nations qui aiment chanter, danser, jouer du tambour, écrire, raconter et créer. Que vous ayez une approche bispirituelle, traditionnelle ou contemporaine, nous vous invitons à raconter votre histoire, votre inspiration et votre parcours de façon créative. Pour soumettre votre candidature, créez une courte vidéo d’une minute dans laquelle vous présentez votre talent et faites-nous la parvenir à l’adresse suivante : [email protected] pour soumettre votre candidature est le 5 février 2021. Si vous êtes retenus, vous recevrez un cachet et une indemnité de voyage. En raison de la Covid-19, la préférence sera accordée aux résidents de l’Ontario et de l’Outaouais.

Condolences and Nia:wen for sharing NEPA.

We striking a pose with Bernie - The Honouring style :)

Join Safe Harbors NYC and NYTW Literary Director & Dramaturg Aaron Malkin for an artist conversation on how the company and its artists have pivoted to produce ...its annual Reflections of Native Voices Festival online. The virtual two-week festival is curated by Safe Harbors NYC and hosted in partnership with NYTW and La MaMa Indigenous Initiative. It runs from January 25th February 7th, and will feature theatre, music, and native dance performances by visionary Indigenous artists from across the country. See more

No:yah! No:yah! Happy New Year from The Aunties Dandelion. Ribbon skirts by Nikaronhyaa Wakhskarewake. Dance inspired by Auntie Santee Dancer Chancellor Santee Smith - from her Powwow Bounce video (posting in the comments) Karen Hill #listentoyouraunties.

Moment Capture - Blood Tides 2018. An international Indigenous collaboration creating a space reaffirming the power of women, and the importance women play between worlds. #Kahawi15

congratulations Sara Palmieri

2020 In review - The Mush Hole Tour; Skén:nen, in creation; Continuance, Yonkwa'nikonhrakontáhkwen / Our Consciousness Continues Unchanged; Blood, Water, Earth and Blood Tides - Lightning Womxn. Nia:wen and gratitude to our production teams, presentation partners, audiences and our sponsors. Embodying strength and resilience of our production themes has helped us to push through the challenging times of 2020. All of our works in 2020 spoke to survivance and continuance. We will continue to exist and create and share our work in 2021. Blessings to all for the new year and welcome 2021.

Coming Soon - Kaha:wi Dance Theatre's MidWinter Dreaming Online Offer. The offering acknowledges the cycle of renewal and Indigenous dreaming and storying related to Winter. We're commissioning a series of short videos marking the Haudenosaunee spiritual new year "MidWinters" and highlighting the artistry and Winter stories of fellow kin Nations. Stay tuned to experience the winter land offerings by: Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (Iqaluit); Feryn King (Akwesasne); Semiah Sm...ith (Six Nations of the Grand River); Laura Grizzlypaws & Grizz (Lilloet, BC); Penny Couchie (Nipissing First Nation); Artistic Director Santee Smith (Six Nations of the Grand River) with music commission Classic Roots and others. Photo/Video Credits: Columpa C. Bobb for Penny Couchie Shane Powless for Semiah Smith Jamie Griffiths for Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory

Check out these classes being hosted by Raven Spirit Dance Society

Moment Capture - Blood Tides 2018. Blood Tides opens up space to question, retrieve pre-colonial Indigenous knowledges, weaves Indigenous women’s narratives and experiences. Moving through transformative states it calls to awaken the sacred feminine, acknowledges women as the thresholder's of life/death, navigates her sacred alignments, centring the power of the womb, blood and reproductive body Santee Tekaronhiáhkhwa Smith #Kahawi15

#tb fall #convocation at McMaster University @mcmasteralumni1887 2019 #chancellor installation with #davidfarrar then the acting university #president now the official #congratulations President David Farrar and also all of the Fall 2020 #graduates! Oh what a year it’s been.

Winter wonderland past on Six Nations. I remember this day well, sitting in the living room with Louise Potiki Bryant dreaming up our collabo when it started a ...beautiful snow...quick change into Blood Water Earth wardrobe and we shot this video. Video by Louise, original song by Semiah Smith. Costume by Adriana Fulop. Stay tuned for an online Blood Water Earth offer winter 2021. See more

Moment Capture 2007 - A Story Before Time 2007. An enchanting interpretation of the Haudenosaunee Creation Story created by Santee Smith, narrated by acclaimed Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. This production explores the Sky World and the Earth World: the antics and courage of the muskrat, otter, geese, deer and, the story of Sky Woman, Hanging Flower, West Wind, The Bent One and Holder of the Heavens. #Kahawi15

Moment Capture - Re-Quickening 2016. The performance touches and moves forward through themes of dislocation from land, body and voice, the history of violence against Indigenous women since contact, residential schools, assimilative process of the Indian Act towards reclaiming women’s medicine, power and connection to land and creative force. #Kahawi15 Pictured: Monique Mojica; photo by David Hou Photography

Today's Native American History Month #GoogleDoodle celebrates Osage American ballerina Maria Tallchief, who is widely considered to be America's first prima ba...llerina and one of the best dancers of the 20th century. Go behind the making of the Doodle, which follows Tallchief’s life by showing three of her most iconic performances"The Nutcracker," "Firebird" and "Swan Lake"and was created in collaboration with three Osage guest artists. See more

Blood Tides - Lightning Womxn excerpt for Dusk Dances. Nia:wen for the stunning photo capture by Yehuda Fisher! Shout out to Dusk Dances for making supporting our Grand River Blood Tides tribute. Tribute to sacred waters and lands inner and outer worlds. Tribute to our kin from Aotearoa and Mexico who helped to build the world of Blood Tides as well.

#Skennen in creation Kaha:wi Dance Theatre what are the harmonizing pathways to balance re-balance in an unbalanced world? Moving #meditations #premiere will... be an immersive interactive site specific multimedia #performance details coming up #cinematography Shane Powless #composer Jesse Zubot #inthecreationprocess #director #performer @santeesmith See more

Moment Capture - TransMigration 2012. TransMigration is a visually raw and engaging story inspired by the life and paintings of iconic Ojibwe artist Norval Morrisseau. The performance displays vibrant colours and bold imagery as intensely as the images depicted in his paintings. #Kahawi15

Moment Capture - Skén:nen 2021. Sneak peak at a Post-Apocalyptic Adventure - Indigenous futurism production coming in 2021. #Kahawi15 in collaboration with AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc, photo as a part of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre's tech/production residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Feb 2020.

Posted @withregram Kaha:wi Dance Theatre @continuance #grandactsoftheatre National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts is in the editing process by Jon Ell...iott, @kahawidance @santeesmith and the whole #productionteam look forward to sharing a short #video montage of the #multimedia #performance #3dmapping #animation by AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc #mohawkinstituteresidentialschool Woodland CulturalCentre @ Six Nations of the Grand River See more

If you missed Streaming*!! Dusk Dances 2020: A Virtual Edition LIVE|Online launch last night, you can see it for the next month. It will be airing on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18a-sYPayB4&feature=youtu.be All 4 dances/choreographers are stunning and with the amazing cinematography by William Yong. These still photos captured on set by Yehuda Fisher Nia:wen and Congrats to: Dusk Dances and choreographers Gerry Trentham , Carmen Romero, Julia Aplin and KDT's AD Santee Smith.

News Flash!!! 30 mins til Streaming*!! Dusk Dances 2020: A Virtual Edition LIVE|Online launch!

Dusk Dances Virtual Edition Launches tonight - 1 hr count down. Get the link.

Acknowledgement, Activation, Transformation! Video launch coming soon. https://www.kahawidance.org/continuance KDT presents in association with the Woodland Cultural Centre - Continuance: Yonkwa'nikonhrakontáhkwen / Our Consciousness Continues Unchanged. As a part of the National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts #grandactsoftheatre We're honoured once again to be working creatively & in response to the site of The Mohawk Institute. We acknowledge the Survivors who atten...ded the school & their ancestors & descendants. We acknowledge the treaty lands of the Six Nations of the Grand River. Continuance is the state of remaining in existence. Our Grand Act of Theatre is an embodiment of resilience. Disintegrating the façade of the school into images portraying cultural strength, beauty and iconic Haudenosaunee imagery. Coded within our iconographies are meaningful ways to live in the world with balanced harmony. The concept of continuance in Kanien'kéha - Yonkwa'nikonhrakontáhkwen (Yonh-gwah-knee-gon-rla-goon-dah-gwen) is an important the concept as it references the continuance in mind, body and spirit. Photos by Ian R. Maracle

Congratulations Tara Beagan <3 <3 <3

Moment Capture - The Mush Hole 2019. The Mush Hole is a story about hope and finding light in dark places, as much as it speaks to intergenerational trauma, it screams resilience. Every single element represented on stage comes from survivors sharing their experiences with us. Santee Tekaronhiáhkhwa Smith

CONTINUANCE: Yonkwa'nikonhrakontáhkwen - our consciousness continues unchanged Continuance as a Grand Act is an embodiment of resilience. A celebration of Indigenous continuance the drive-in theatre shines light, 3D mapping on the dark oppressiveness of the Mohawk Institute Residential School.... Nia:wen to the entire Kaha:wi Dance Theatre team, Woodland Cultural Centre and the commission by National Arts Centre #grandactsoftheatre, AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc for their collaboration on the epic 3D Mapping Animation of Canada's first Residential School, photographer Ian R. Maracle, and videographer Jon Elliott For full production credits go to the Kaha:wi Dance Theatre website.

Founding and Managing Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Santee Smith, shared on the moving experience of creating "Continuance".

Moment Capture - Blood, Water, Earth 2018. Weaving live performance, video projection and music, Blood, Water, Earth activates sacred alignments from cosmos to womb, its symbolic ritual renewal, and conscious stripping away of colonial impacts on Indigenous women. The trajectory of the performance is rebirth, remembering our sacred origins and reconnection to women’s power/mana. #Kahawi15

Yes, looking forward to Dusk Dances 2020: A virtual edition!