Red Sky Performance

Trace

Length: 55 minutes, no intermission

DIRECTION/CONCEPT	Sandra Laronde
CHOREOGRAPHY	Jera Wolfe
DANCERS	Sarah Di Iorio, Miyeko Ferguson, Lindsay Harpham, Tyler Layton-Olson, Jessica Mak, Connor Mitton
COMPOSER	Eliot Britton
RECORDED MUSIC	Rick Sacks, Bryant Didier, Ora Barlow-Tukaki
RECORDED VOCALS	Ora Barlow-Tukaki, Nelson Tagoona
COSTUMES	Kinoo Arcentales
LIGHTING DESIGNER	Alexis Bowles
LIGHTING DIRECTOR	Giulia D’amanzo
CREATIVE VIDEO DIRECTOR	Marcella Grimaux
HEAD MOTION DESIGNER	Daniel Faubert
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER	Kate Redding

Trace is a highly kinetic contemporary dance and music work inspired by Indigenous (Anishinaabe) sky and star stories, offering a glimpse into our origin as well as our future evolution.

 

We are traceable to the beginnings of the universe, our ancestral origins stretching across the Milky Way to the atoms burning inside of us in the here and now.

 

“Trace” is a sumptuous creation that looks at all things traceable and what we leave behind as humans, as a culture, as a nation, and as an individual.

 

Trace leads us right back to source, to origin, so the question becomes what is our origin as Indigenous peoples? As Anishinaabe? The search for origin takes us to the beginning of time where we originated in the core of a star a long time ago. As Anishinaabe, we are known as the star people.

 

We deeply thank all of our relations and the Indigenous people of this land.

 

SANDRA LARONDE

Founder & Artistic Director of Red Sky Performance

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Premiere of “Trace” at Canadian Stage

US Premiere of “Trace” at Jacob’s Pillow

Sandra Laronde

Director and Concept

 

A highly accomplished arts leader, creator, and innovator, Sandra Laronde (Misko Kizhigoo Migizii Kwe) which means “Red Sky Eagle Woman” in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) language, Sandra is from the Teme-Augama-Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water) in Temagami, northern Ontario and is based in Toronto.

 

Sandra plays a pivotal role in the ongoing Indigenous cultural resurgence of Canada. She is the Artistic Director of Red Sky Performance, a company she founded in 2000. She has conceived, developed, produced, and toured award-winning productions that are Indigenous, multi and inter-disciplinary, and intergenerational.

 

All of her work is fundamentally based on ‘story’, and the exploration of story, cultural identity, and ongoing experimentation is paramount to her work. The body of work that Sandra has created or co-created has led to powerful, transformational arts experiences as she makes a profound difference and impact.

 

Jera Wolfe

Choreographer

 

Jera Wolfe is a dancer and choreographer. His choreographic works have been presented by Canadian Stage, Fall for Dance North, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and the Venice Biennale. Jera has worked extensively with Red Sky performing in Backbone in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Poland. His choreographic work will include new creations for Canada’s National Ballet School, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and Company, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, School of Contemporary Dancers, and Tulsa Ballet Centre for Dance Education. Jera won the 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreographer for Trace.

 

 

Eliot Britton

Composer & Sound Designer

 

Eliot Britton integrates electronic and instrumental music through an energetic and colorful personal language. His creative output expresses an eclectic musical experience from gramophones to video games, drum machines, orchestra to electronic chamber music. A proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, Eliot completed his PhD at Schulich School of Music at McGill University. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the SSHRC Bombardier Scholarship, Louis Riel Scholarship, and the Hugh Le Caine and Serge Garant SOCAN awards. Eliot is the composer of Adizokan, a TSO Commission in partnership with Red Sky Performance, and is currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Toronto and co-director of the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival. Eliot won a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore for Outstanding Sound Design & Composition for Trace (Red Sky) and a 2020 Dora Mavor Moore for AF (Red Sky).

 

 Alexis Bowles

Lighting Designer

 

Born in Montreal, Alexis Bowles has mastered both lighting design and music production, a symbiosis of ambiance, texture, rhythm, and timing. Always in search of new media and technologies, his range of production is vast. He has worked with Daniele Finzi Pasca since 2003 as Lighting Director for Rain, Nebbia, Donka and Icaro. He was the lighting designer with Daniele Finzi Pasca on many Operas, including L’Amour de loin, Pagliacci, Verdi’s Aïda and Requiem. Alexis was nominated for a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Trace.

 

 

Giulia D’amanzo

Lighting Director

 

Giulia D’Amanzo was born and raised in Rome, Italy and is now based in Toronto. She has always had a passion for theatre and was involved with community theatre from a young age. During her time in Drama School in the UK, she discovered Stage Management and technical work. Her passion for travelling brought her to Canada where she worked as a Stage Manager for independent theatre companies and attended the Theatre Production Program at Humber College, specializing in Stage Management, Sound and Lighting. This summer she worked as the Head of Lighting for Dream in High Park presented by Canadian Stage, and had the pleasure of working on more than 40 shows. Giulia wants to thank Red Sky Performance for this opportunity to be a part of this tour of Trace.

 

 

Marcella Grimaux

Creative Video Director/Screen Manager

 

Marcella Grimaux, originally from Montreal, grew up in New York City and attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where she majored in Theatre. In 2009, she assisted Dominic Champagne (Cirque du Soleil’s Love) in Las Vegas on his multimedia theatrical presentation of Paradis Perdu. She has worked for international artists Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys, One Direction and Pink, among others. In 2016, she became an Associate Content Producer for the Montreal studio 4U2C and was responsible for screen producing the creative video content for the Kevin Hart: What Now show. She co-directed and oversaw the artistic direction of the video scenography for Jean Leloup’s Le Fantôme de Paradis City, which won awards for Best Show and Best Lighting Design at that year’s ADISQ awards.

 

Daniel Faubert

Head Motion Designer

 

Born in Outaouais, Quebec, Daniel Faubert lives and works in Montreal. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Design from the University of Quebec. He directed his first animated short “Scène Primitive” which has won numerous prizes in festivals. Video designer, director and animator, he joined the Geodezik team as a senior motion designer in 2013. Since then, Daniel has collaborated with numerous teams on large scale productions including Cirque du Soleil shows and tours for Pink, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Cher to name a few.

 

 

 

Alexandre Barette

Technical Designer

 

Alex Barette launched a successful career in information technology by leveraging his capacity to teach himself and problem solve with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. During his stint as a technical lead with VYV, Alex contributed to the development of a number of projects including Alicia Keys' As I Am tour, Britney Spears' Circus, Franco Dragone's House of Dancing Water, Cirque du Soleil's Totem, Iris, and Zarkana, and Michael Jackson’s One. He later became a freelancer video technical designer, director and integrator for shows such as Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience, Celine Dion's Vegas residency, Prince’s Hit and Run tour, Abu Dhabi's 44th National Day, and Cirque du Soleil's Love revamp. Alex joined the ranks of 4U2C to lend a hand in Beyonce's Grammy performance, Intel's 2018 CES keynote and Justin Timberlake's Man of the Woods tour.

 

Kinoo Arcentales

Costume Designer

 

Kinoo Arcentales is of South American Indigenous (Kichwa) and Mestizo heritage. Born into a family of artists, Kinoo was exposed to arts from an early age. His main role models are his grandmothers on both sides of his family- one being a hotel business owner and the other a retired fashion designer. Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle for most of his life, he has travelled throughout Canada and Ecuador which has inspired most of his work. Kinoo has worked with Red Sky Performance as the costume designer for Trace.

 

Sarah Di Iorio

Dancer

 

Sarah Di Iorio received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2018 from Ryerson University’s Performance Dance Program. Sarah was chosen to create two ten- minute pieces that were showcased at Ryerson’s first ever Springworks show. In her final year, she was the recipient of the Nadia Potts Heart and Soul Scholarship Award. Sarah recently had the opportunity to showcase her choreography in the Fall for Dance North 2018 Festival, Cawthra Parks 2019 Springfest show, Ryerson University’s performance of The Penelopiad, and at the premiere of Impromptu at the 2019 Parodos Festival. As a dancer, Sarah has performed in work created by well-known choreographers in Toronto as well as on the Greek islands. She is one of three principal dancers in a film that will premiere in Toronto’s 2020 Luminato Festival. Sarah had the privilege of performing with Red Sky at the Canadian Museum of History and is now grateful to also take part in the company’s performance of Trace.

 

Miyeko Ferguson

Dancer

 

Miyeko Ferguson is a Tkaronto (Toronto) based dance artist. In 2016, she received her BFA degree in Performance Dance from Ryerson University. Since graduation, Miyeko has had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Naishi Wang, Jera Wolfe, Kate Hilliard and Allen Kaeja. She has also attended professional training programs with Springboard Danse Montréal, Adelheid and Peggy Baker Dance Projects where she performed the works of Ohad Naharin and Chuck Wilt, and worked closely with Jessie Garon and Peggy Baker. Miyeko is an active member of Nostos Collectives. She has performed in Canada and the United States with Red Sky Performance and in early 2020, she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her performance in Red Sky’s production, AF, a part of Canadian Stage’s 2019-2020 season.

 

Lindsay Harpham

Dancer

 

Lindsay Harpham began training in Saskatchewan where she was inspired to further her development at Harbour Dance Centre’s Intensive Training Program in British Columbia. Lindsay completed The Conteur Academy’s two-year training program in Toronto where she worked with distinguished artists Eryn Waltman, Shoena Bell, Kelly Shaw and Ryan Lee. She joined Red Sky Performance for the world premiere of Backbone at Canadian Stage in Toronto and then toured with the company to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Poland and at the Danse Danse Festival in Montreal. Lindsay performed in Gadfly’s production of UNBXBL 2 and represented Canada alongside Saskatchewan Dance Projects dancers at the International Dance Congress in Adelaide, Australia. She is currently training alongside Larchaud Dance artists as an apprentice and is very grateful to be a part of Red Sky Performance for Trace.

 

Tyler Layton-Olson

Dancer

 

Tyler Layton-Olson was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and is currently based in Vancouver, BC. He trained in various styles growing up and moved to Vancouver to train with Arts Umbrella's pre-professional program and then with Modus Operandi: School of Contemporary Dance. He has had the honour of performing and touring with Shay Kubler: Radical System Art, 605 Collective, Wen Wei Dance, and other dance companies. Tyler loves creation and expression in other art forms including acting, acrylic/mixed media painting, and music production.

 

 

 

Jessica Mak

Dancer

 

Jessica Mak holds a BFA from Ryerson University’s School of Performance. She is a company member with Red Sky Performance and is excited to be touring the company’s performance of Trace on this North American tour. Through her continuous search for chances to learn, grow and develop, she has had the opportunity to participate in intensives such as Springboard Danse Montreal, B12 Festival, Domaine Forget, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance Summer Intensive and more. She is humbled by the opportunities she has been given to work with renown artists who generously share their knowledge, greatly influencing her progression and life as a dancer. Jessica is currently interested in exploring movement-based concepts to research the human experience.

 

Connor Mitton

Dancer

Connor Mitton is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Performance Dance Program and a 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee for Outstanding Performance, Ensemble, for Jusqu’à Vimy (choreographed by Laurence Lemieux). Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Connor has toured with ProArteDanza, Citadel & Compangnie, Human body expressions and has performed in James Kudelka’s Fifteen Heterosexual Duets, Elvis and the Man in Black and Romeo and Juliet before Parting. Recognized by Now Magazine as one of 2017’s breakthrough Toronto stage artists, Connor has had the privilege of working with renowned choreographers and artists William Yong, Hanna Kiel, Kate Hilliard, Heidi Strauss, Apolonia Valesquez and Ofilio Portillo, Robert Glumbek, Roberto Campanella, Release Dance Project, ACE Dance Theatre, Zata Omm Dance Projects, Avinoam Silverman and Allan Kaeja. Connor’s passion for dance has taken him to SpringBoard Danse Montreal where he had the opportunity to work with Victor Quijada and members of RUBBERBAND.

 

Kate Redding

Production Stage Manager

 

Kate Redding is a professional Stage Manager based in Halifax/Kji’puktuk. She has worked

with nearly all the professional theatre companies in Nova Scotia including Neptune Theatre,

Eastern Front Theatre, Mulgrave Road Theatre, Ship’s Company, LunaSea, Halifax Theatre

for Young People, and Festival Antigonish. Last summer was her fifth season with

Shakespeare by the Sea as Production Stage Manager. Kate has a passion for touring and theatre for young audiences. She has done five provincial school tours with Neptune Theatre and recently toured with Tarragon Theatre and Theatre New Brunswick. She is excited to join Red Sky’s latest tour as Production Stage Manager for their award-winning production of Trace.

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