The Sash Maker
Choreogrpahy by Rebecca Sadowski
Poet/author - Naomi McIlwraith
About
A collaboration of dance, poetry, and traditional finger- weaving, The Sash Maker promotes the healing of long standing cultural wounds. The work communicates a collective yearning for family, understanding, and peace. By reflecting on our past, together we can move forward as people woven from diverse strands and circumstances.
“My people will sleep for one hundred years,
But when they awake, it will be the artists
Who give them back their spirit.”
The Sash Maker is an ongoing collaborative piece between choreographer Rebecca Sadowski, and poet/author Naomi McIlwraith. They met while working as historical interpreters for Fort Edmonton Park. They both felt a common pull towards exploring and researching their shared Métis heritage, and found shame and concealment surrounding their family’s backgrounds. Inspired to explore ideas about Métis identity through art, they fused together their passions for Canadian history, the Cree language, and Métis craftwork and dancing. The Sash Maker was first workshopped at Good Women Dance Collective’s “What’s Cooking?” showcase before being presented at the Nextfest Festival in June of 2017. The piece has been performed in Alberta Dance Alliance’s Feats Festival, and in Mile Zero Dance's 2017/2018 season.
The Sash Maker was promoted in The Dance Current Magazine in Jan/Feb 2018 issue, as well as in Edmonton Metro Newspaper.
Photos by Mat Simpson