For Immediate Release
July 27, 2001
BIOGRAPHIES
The Performers
- Jody Gaskin (Ojibway), musician, songwriter, storyteller, recording artist
and traditional dancer from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- Faron Johns (Mohawk), singer and member of the new blues band, Pappy Johns
Band at Six Nations, Ohsweken, Ontario, performing on "Buffalo
Tracks," for the Aboriginal People’s Television Network.
- Jani Lauzon (Metis/Ojibway/Cree), award-winning actress, songstress, Juno
nominee, recently appointed artistic director of Toronto’s Centre for
Indigenous Theatre.
- Muriel Miguel (Kuna/Rappahannock), actress, director, and founder/artistic
director of New York City's Spiderwoman Theatre.
- Soni Moreno (Mayan/Apache/Yaqui), international performer on Broadway and
throughout Europe; played Chrissie in the original 1975 New York production
of Hair; a member of Ulali, a singing group that has performed around
the world.
- Kalani Queypo (Blackfoot/Hawaiian), actor, dancer and singer, soon to be
caught in a compromising position with Gwyneth Paltrow in the upcoming film,
Royal Tenebaums.
- Carlos Rivera (Mixteco), dancer, choreographer and teacher from Mexico;
has toured nationally and internationally with Teatro Nahauutl de Mexico.
- Santee Smith (Mohawk), multidisciplinary artist:: dancer, choreographer,
actor, and pottery maker; with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from McMaster
University; trained at the National Ballet School of Canada.
- Penny Couchie (Ojibway/Mohawk), dancer and choreographer; performed and
toured with Chinook Winds Aboriginal Dance "Throw Away Kids";
currently a dance teacher for the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto.
- Tracey Lloydd (Ngati Kahu Te Rarawa/Waitaha), dancer, musician, and
choreographer with a business in trade-screen-printing and fashion design
trained at the Auckland Performing Arts School.
- Cherith Mark (Nakoda), dancer and actor; toured with Red Thunder Native
Dance Theatre; inaugural graduate of the Indigenous Theatre School in
Toronto.
- Brandon Oakes (Mohawk), dancer and actor; toured with Red Thunder Native
Dance Theatre; recently seen in the award winning film Blood River
with Tantoo Cardinal.
- Jeremy Proulx (Ojibway), actor, dancer, writer and visual artist;
inaugural graduate of the Indigenous Theatre School in Toronto.
- Allan Blake Tailfeathers (Kainai First Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy),
traditional grass dancer, actor, and singer; toured with the Kainai
Grassland Singers and the Kehwin Native Performance and Resource Network
- Maku-I-Te-Rangi-Hoana Huata (Te Arawa/Tuhoe/Ngati Kahungunu), teacher,
singer and dancer; has a Bachelor of Arts in Maori Performing Arts from Te
Wananga Whare Tapere O Takitimu, New Zealand. Maku Huata– Earth Singer
- Joel Te Maro (Ngati Porou), dancer and singer; has toured New Zealand and
throughout the United States and Canada with the Kahurangi Maori Dance
Theatre
The Creative Assistants
- Aroha Crowchild (Ngati Kahungunu/Tsuu T’ina) – Assistant to composer
– Aroha Crowchild is the co-founder and artistic director of the Red
Thunder Native Dance Theatre of Canada, and worked with the Kahurangi Maori
Dance Company of New Zealand. Crowchild graduated with a bachelors degree in
Maori Performing Arts from Te Wamauga Whare Tapere o Takitimu Performing
Arts School
- Rulan Solis-Diala Tangen (Plains/Euro/Asian/Hispanic) – Assistant to
Choreographer has been featured in dance productions in New York,
California, Canada, and has toured both the United States and Europe. Tangen
has 23 years of professional dance, performing, teaching, and choreography
experience in the fields of ballet, modern, and Northern Plains traditional
pow-wow dance. Tangen currently teaches dance workshops on various
reservations in New Mexico for the National Dance Institute.
- ElizaBeth Hill (Mohawk) – Vocal Coach is a singer-songwriter and
storyteller from Six Nations Grand River Territory in Ontario. A Juno
nominee and recording artist, ElizaBeth has performed at folk festivals in
Canada and the United States, and for writers’ night performances in
Nashville’s songwriting community. Hill writes for major publishers since
1986, and continues to write for commercial music.
The Design & Stage Management Assistants
- Martin Kinnane – Assistant Lighting Designer’s lighting design credits
include over 50 productions in Sydney, Australia in the Sydney Opera House
and for all the city of Sydney events for New Year’s Eve 2001.
- Laura South – Assistant Lighting Designer is currently an undergraduate
at the University of Victoria. Her previous lighting designs were for the
University of Victoria’s Student Alternative Theatre Company and theatres
in Victoria.
- Christine Williston – Assistant Set/Costume Designer is originally from
the city of Montreal and now resides in Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
Williston is a graduate of John Abbott College Design, and a freelance
costume designer working in TV, film, and the theatre ranging from Fringe
Festivals to Cirque du Soleil.
- David Osawabine (Ojibway) – Assistant Stage Manager is of the Bear Clan
from Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Osawabine has worked
with De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, Native Earth Performing Arts, Canadian
Stage Company and Young Peoples Theatre.
- Shainna Laviolette – Assistant Stage Manager is a recent graduate of the
University of Ottawa, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Arts
Administration. She works with the Great Canadian Theatre Company in
stage-management and in the office.
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