Vancouver dance company celebrating National Indigenous History Month with new performance about Métis plant medicines
Vancouver dance company celebrating National Indigenous History Month with new performance about Métis plant medicines
Vancouver-based Métis dance company V'ni Dansi — which translates to "come and dance" in Mitchif — is celebrating National Indigenous History Month through a new dance performance called La Mitchin di Mitchif ("Mitchif Medicines").
The company partnered with another Indigenous dance group in New Mexico called Dancing Earth, collaborating on cultural knowledge and Métis plant medicines.
Wiping tears from her eyes, V'ni Dansi's artistic director Yvonne Chartrand said it felt so good to watch her creation come to life, having first thought of the concept in 2014.
"I feel like my spirit has just been so fed," she said. "We have so much beauty and joy and love to share with people and that's what it's about for me."
She said the piece celebrates people's connection to earth and highlights the importance of plant medicine in Indigenous cultures.
"A lot of the elders are saying right now that you need to go back to the land and you need to have a relationship with the land and the plants," Chartrand said. "Before you can move forward, you need to go back."
"Plant medicines are part of all the cultures," said dancer Eloi Homier. "A lot of different cultures have the same teachings, but it's been lost or it's been patented and sold for profit … So, it's really nice to be able to sort of dance and express it in an artistic way — just the connection to the land and the connection to plants and the medicine."
For fellow dancer Madelaine McCallum, the narrative of the piece is especially significant, as she went through cancer and surgery during the creative process.
"Some of the process that we did was very healing for me — to be with the plants and the trees," she said, adding that the dance also celebrates the resilience of her Indigenous peoples.
"It really allows us to say that we're still here. We still have our culture. We still have our dances, our songs, our spirit. And they couldn't kill the spirit inside of us," she said.
The group said the development of the contemporary dance work involved consultations with elders and cultural keepers.
"It's always nourishing to remember our relationships to so many relatives," said dancer Esmé Olivia.
Audiences can watch the performance this week at Scotiabank Dance Centre. The final performance is on June 21 — National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.
Mounties in Port McNeill violated a suspect's Charter rights by failing to allow him to contact a lawyer promptly after his 2019 drug trafficking arrest, a judge has ruled.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in 'What Happened to Ben' on CTV W5.
March 20 marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, and, after a long, grey winter, Torontonians can soon look forward to warmer temperatures and sunnier days.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Two families were displaced early Monday morning after a fire ripped through a building in Montreal's Quartier Latin. No one was injured, according to the Montreal fire department (SIM).
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
Travel nurses go from place to place, all over the world, filling in wherever help is needed. To assist with current shortages, some are in Saskatchewan.
Pile O Bones hosted their 18th annual tattoo convention at the Turvey Centre on the weekend where artists from around the country were able to highlight their talent.
Some residents of Saskatchewan's capital city have been vocal with their disapproval of Tourism Regina's latest rebrand, prompting an apology from the organization.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
The University of Prince Edward Island coach is defending the team’s actions, after the University of Alberta team skated off the ice without handshakes at the U Sports Men’s Hockey National Championship in Charlottetown.
Lane restrictions are now in place on Wellington Street as construction gets underway on Phase 1 of the Wellington Gateway and Municipal Infrastructure Improvements project.
The first day of spring in the London region will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 6 C, slightly warmer than the average high for this time of year.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
