On Thursday, October 10th, the Chatham Capitol Theatre, in partnership with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB), welcomes internationally acclaimed Kaha:wi Dance Theatre for two live multimedia dance performances of Homelands.
This award-winning theatrical piece, created by Six Nations choreographer Santee Smith, honours our kinship connection to the natural world, its patterns, energies, and life forces. A cinematic dreamscape experience including imagery of landscape, water, and textures with three women dancers embodying the element with earthy imagery and sound design.
Homelands places Yethi’nihstenha / many womxn within Kahnyen’kehàka ancestral homelands of upper state New York and Ohswé:ken / Six Nations of the Grand River. Through joyous call & response, transcendent time/space and powerful alignments to Ka’satsténhsera’kó:wa Sa’oyé:ra / movement in the direction of the immense creation / nature, Homelands affirms human beings are made of land and water and sky.
“The show left us gobsmacked. The interplay of multimedia, dance and music was masterfully woven together by Smith and her creative team. The storytelling was beautiful, connected and deeply resonant, filled with messages of restoring balance, intergenerational connections to land, and environmental conservation,” said Sara Palmieri, Director of Programming & Marketing, FirstON Performing Arts Centre in St. Catherines, Ontario.
In 2023, Homelands received a Dora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design in Dance with nominations in the Dance Division: Outstanding Original Sound Composition, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, Outstanding Production.
“The set design is elegant with its immersive projections taking the audience through the lands and seasons. The choreography is performed with intention – it is truly a show everyone can connect with,” said Nathalie Bonjour, Director, Performing Arts, Harbourfront Centre in Toronto Ontario.
The Chatham Capitol Theatre would like to extend a special thank-you to Chatham-Kent Employment and Social Services and SCCDSB for providing support for this event. Their gracious support has facilitated special pricing of $5.00 per student for the student performance.
A performance for school groups will be given at 11:00 am, followed by a performance for the public at 7:00 pm. Each performance is approximately 65 minutes in duration.
Tickets to the 7:00 pm public performance can be purchased at www.cktickets.com or call 519-354-8338 or toll-free 1-866-807-7770. Tickets can also be purchased at the CKtickets Box Office located at the Chatham Cultural Centre, 75 William St. N. Chatham, ON. (open Monday-Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, closed for an hour lunch at 12:30 pm).
Teachers wishing to book their class into the 11:00 am school performance are advised to contact Cortnee Goure at cortnee.goure@sccdsb.net or call 519-627-6762 ext 10231.
September 30th, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, marks a day of honor for residential school survivors, family members of survivors, and remembrance of the children who never made it home. This day calls upon individuals, groups, and organizations, to stand in solidarity and to take action to uphold the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action. This opportunity to learn the true history of residential schools, the intergenerational impacts, and the impacts that exist today falls two weeks after Orange Shirt Day to continue learning and to always remember.
Media Contact – Teachers/Schools:
Cortnee Goure
Indigenous Education Lead
St. Clair Catholic District School Board
519-627-6762 x10231
cortnee.goure@sccdsb.net
Media Contact – General:
Devon Hansen
Project Manager, Chatham Capitol Theatre
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
519-360-1998 x4201
devonh@chatham-kent.ca
