light breaking broken

Karen Jamieson and Margaret Grenier

2017

About

Peeling back the layers of the unknown, and forging a path to understanding, light breaking broken is the personal journey of two artists reconnecting with language, culture, and identity. With different cultural perspectives and individual histories, Karen and Margaret Grenier (Dancers of Damelahamid) use their distinct dance styles to push each other’s boundaries and find an opening to the light.

Karen and Margaret’s association began in 1991 when she was one of the original Harris Family Dancers (Dancers of Damelahamid) in Gawa Gyani. This cross cultural work was created in collaboration with Chief Kenneth Harris, Hagbewegathu, and Margaret Harris, Margaret’s parents, with Margaret as a young dancer. Margaret was one of the 8 artists who partnered Karen in her research for the creation of solo|soul (2012 & 2013).

“Our ‘danced conversation’ focused on the juxtaposition of our radically different dance traditions, a dialogue on post colonial dance. Our work resulted in very strong potential so we committed to developing it further.” - Karen

“For me this project presents a rare and important opportunity to work with another artist where the relationship spans two generations. The complexity of this collaboration lies in the longevity of this relationship. This project is different from other works of the Dancers of Damelahamid as it is truly about bridging perspectives and the self-awareness that derives from exploring both the ‘light’ and the ‘brokenness’ of relationships.” - Margaret

Light Breaking Through BROKEN reflects a complex reality of shifting valences, positive and negative, and radically opposing world views. This dance work seeks to honour the past, while locating itself in the creative present. The evolving movement language of our research was, of necessity, a hybrid language, a physical poetry. Through our collaborations we extended our exploration into intersecting narratives in time and space: broken historical narratives and contemporary connections of hope.

The People

Choreography and Performance: Margaret Grenier and Karen Jamieson

Elder Advisor: Margaret Harris Maskawasew Iskewew (Cree Nation)

Composer: John Korsrud

Drums: Andrew Grenier

Videographer: Josh Hite

Dramaturg: DD Kugler

Elder Language Carrier: Betsy Lomax

Lighting Designer: James Proudfoot

Technical Director/Lighting: Andrew Pye

Photographer: Chris Randle

Stage Manager: Colleen Totten

PAST Performances

Vancouver - 11th Biennial Dance in Vancouver
November 24, 2017
8:00 Scotiabank Dance Centre - Faris Theatre
Double bill with Lesley Telford / Inverso
Dance in Vancouver

Vancouver - Vancouver International Dance Festival
March 23, 24, 25, 2017
Vancouver International Dance Festival

Toronto - Niimi'iwe Indigenous Dance
March 30, 31, April 1, 2017
Native Earth | DanceWorks Presents
Niimi'iwe Indigenous Dance Double Bill
with the NDN way - Brian Solomon Electric Moose Prod.

A Karen Jamieson Dance & Dancers of Damelahamid Production
Funded by: Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver, Hamber Foundation and Individual Donors to KJD

A work-in-progress showing took place March 1, 2016 as part of the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival at the UBC Museum of Anthropology under the working title Light Breaking Through BROKEN.

Screen:Moves 2017

We were invited to participate in Screen:Moves – a curated screening program of dance video and film based in Toronto, conceived by the RT Collective and presented in collaboration with DANCEMAKERS.

Screen:Moves invites 20 artists from across Canada to create original short dance films for a one-night-only program. The program features a wide range of formats – experimental, narrative, animated and comedic works, offering a unique cross section of Canada’s diverse dance communities on screen.

Featured works included those by: Katie Ewald, Robert Kingsbury, Nova Bhattacharya, William Yong, Karen Jamieson & Margaret Grenier, Brandy Leary, Natasha Powell, Rodney Diverlus, Frances Chudnoff, Emma-Kate Guimond, Aria Evans, Molly Johnson, Peter Kelly, Shakeil Rollock, Melanie Gordon, Nita Bowerman, Nico Contreras, Zachary Nicol, and others.

Multi-disciplinary artist Sammy Chien created a 4-minute short from existing footage of past performances of light breaking broken.