Image by Anna Springate-Floch

MÎNOWIN

Mînowin immerses audiences in a narrative that illustrates moments of connection, understanding, and renewal.

Mînowin illuminates the process of finding direction and explores understandings of organic moments that arise when we connect with one another. These connections breathe new life into our artistic practices and offer critical inquiries with performance spaces.

Through integrating narrative, movement, song, performance, and new multimedia design, Mînowin connects landscapes and Coastal form line with contemporary perspectives of customary Indigenous dance forms. The Dancers of Damelahamid draw from origin stories and explore ways to translate these perspectives through a contemporary lens.

Through multimedia elements, this production balances the performance space by adding contemporary reflections of Indigenous identity, immersing audiences in a narrative that illustrates moments of connection, understanding, and renewal.

Mînowin is a striking piece of work.

Creative Credits

Artistic Director/Choreographer: Margaret Grenier
Creative Producer/ Set & Visual Design: Andrew Grenier

Collaborating Director: Charles Koroneho
Projection & Lighting Design: Andy Moro
Dramaturg: Peter Rockford Espiritu
Regalia: Rebecca Baker-Grenier
New Media: Sammy Chien

Collaborating Composer: Ted Hamilton
Flute: Jessie McMann

Collaborating Director of Animation: Dallas Parker
Animator: Kristen Campbell

Technical Director: Jeff Harrison
Collaborating Producer: Eponymous

Indigenous Artwork: David Boxley, Jim Charlie
Cultural Consultants: Elder Betsy Lomax, Lawrence Trottier, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, Meghann O’Brien

Dates

14–17 June 2023

Wed-Sat 7.30pm; Sat 2pm

Venue

Te Whaea National Dance & Drama Centre
11 Hutchison Road
Wellington
www.tewhaea.org.nz

Tickets

Adults $45

General Admission $35

Students $15

Performance contains Haze, Strobe Lighting and Loud Noises.

Learn More About the Collective

Nō West Vancouver, Canada.

Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company founded upon over five decades of extensive work of song and dance revitalization. For countless generations Indigenous dance played an integral part in defining art and culture. In response to the lifting of the Potlatch Ban (1884 – 1951), was the resurfacing of dance and the awakening of an art form that was outlawed for almost 70 years. The Dancers of Damelahamid emerged in the 1960s out of an urgency to ensure that these artistic practices were not lost.

The Dancers of Damelahamid has since established itself as a leading professional Indigenous dance company. The company’s artistic approaches have contributed to its abilities to bridge creative practices and to work with innovative mediums, while maintaining commitment to the integrity of their artistic legacy. It is through continual and diligent practice that this dance form endures as non-static and relevant to current innovation, influence, and insights.

The Dancers of Damelahamid has produced several theatre-based productions and choreographed dance works, with their most recent production, Mînowin, premiering at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, ON. The company has produced the annual Coastal Dance Festival since 2008, presenting Indigenous dance from the Northwest Coast as well as hosting guest national and international Indigenous artists.