Cornell University welcomes the internationally-renown indigenous Canadian dance troupe Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, to perform their poignant and powerful theatrical dance performance, The Mush Hole.
Friday, October 28th at 7:30 p.m.
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, Kiplinger Theatre
430 College Ave. Ithaca, NY
The Mush Hole is a theatrical dance performance about the truths of Canada's first Indian residential school - The Mohawk Institute. From 1828-1970, State and Church attempted to forcefully assimilate children from Six Nations and surrounding First Nations into Euro-Christian society and sever the continuity of culture from parent to child. The Mush Hole weaves through the traumatic memories of two generations of Survivors. Visceral performances by an all-Indigenous cast, cinematic imagery, and musical score catapult audiences into the bricks and mortar of the school.
"The Mush Hole is a story about hope and finding light in dark places, as much as it speaks to intergenerational trauma, it screams resilience. Every single element represented on stage comes from survivors sharing their experiences with us." - Santee Smith, Founding and Managing Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre
Santee Smith is an internationally recognized leader in the performing arts, a multidisciplinary artist and producer from the Kahnyen'kehàka (Mohawk) Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario. She is one of Canada's leading dance artists and holds McMaster University degrees in Physical Education and Psychology along with a Master of Arts in Dance from York University. Santee Smith is the 19th Chancellor of McMaster University.
The Kaha:wi Dance Theatre will also host multiple workshops and master classes throughout the Cornell campus during the week of The Mush Hole performance. The Kaha:wi Dance Theatre workshop/master class schedule is as follows:
Monday, October 24th, 4:50 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.
Master dance class for PMA 3210 Dance Technique III - Classical dance students.
Tuesday, October 25th, 4:50 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.
Master dance class for PMA 3220 Dance Technique III - Modern dance students.
Wednesday, October 26th, 7:15 p.m.
"Inviting the Land to Shape Us" workshop at the Carl Becker House.
Friday, October 28th, 12:25 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
"Intactness/Fracture - Embodying Shard Knowledge," a talk by Santee Smith as part of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program Speaker Series
Saturday, October 29th, TBD
"Indigenize your Exercise," a Powwow Boot Camp at Ganędagǫ: Hall
Kaha:wi Dance Theatre's residency is sponsored by the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, the Department of Performing and Media Arts, The Provost's Office for Faculty Development and Diversity, the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, the West Campus House System (WCHS), the Department of Art History and the American Studies Program.
Watch The Mush Hole trailer
Read more about The Mush Hole
https://www.kahawidance.org/the-mush-hole
Reserve your free ticket at SchwartzTickets.com
https://bit.ly/TheMushHole
