Red Sky Performance (Toronto)

Red Sky Performance

Red Sky Performance is a leading company of contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada and worldwide.

Their mission is to create inspiring experiences of contemporary Indigenous arts and culture that meaningfully transforms society.

Now in our 20th year of performance (dance, theatre, music and media), Red Sky’s work highlights the originality and power of contemporary performance, enabling new creations to expand the breadth and scope of Indigenous-made work in Canada.

The vision of Red Sky Performance derives from its creator Sandra Laronde (Misko Kizhigoo Migizii Kwe) which means “Red Sky Eagle Woman” in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) language from the Teme-Augama Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water). Her vision is dedicated to expanding and elevating the ecology of contemporary performance informed by Indigenous worldview and culture.

Laronde’s concept of performance explores the relationship between movement, live music, theatricality, image, and culture. Her engagement in these disciplines involves collaborations with dancers, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, actors, writers, designers, researchers, and culture keepers who are integral to Red Sky Performance’s distinct productions.

Touring since 2003, Red Sky has delivered over 2,755 performances across Canada including international performances in 17 countries on four continents, including two Cultural Olympiads (Beijing and Vancouver), World Expo in Shanghai, Venice Biennale, and Jacob’s Pillow, among others. At the same time, they remain deeply rooted and invested on a grassroots level and regularly perform in urban, rural, and reserve communities across Turtle Island.

They are the recipient of 16 Dora Mavor Moore awards and nominations, two Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, three International Youth Drama Awards from Shenzhen, China, and the Smithsonian Expressive Award, among other recognitions.

Trace is a highly kinetic contemporary dance and music work inspired by Indigenous (Anishinaabe) sky and star stories, offering a glimpse into our origin as well as our future evolution. 

We are traceable to the beginnings of the universe, our ancestral origins stretching across the Milky Way to the atoms burning inside of us in the here and now. 

Trace is a sumptuous creation that looks at all things traceable and what we leave behind as humans, as a culture, as a nation, and as an individual. 

Trace leads us right back to source, to origin, so the question becomes what is our origin as Indigenous peoples? As Anishinaabe? The search for origin takes us to the beginning of time where we originated in the core of a star a long time ago. As Anishinaabe, we are known as the star people.

We deeply thank all of our relations and the Indigenous people of this land.

SANDRA LARONDE
Founder & Artistic Director of Red Sky Performance

Eliot Britton – Composer & Sound Designer
Eliot Britton integrates electronic and instrumental music through an energetic and colorful personal language. His creative output expresses an eclectic musical experience from gramophones to video games, drum machines, orchestra to electronic chamber music. A proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, Eliot recently completed his PhD at Schulich School of Music at McGill University. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the SSHRC Bombardier Scholarship, Louis Riel Scholarship, and the Hugh Le Caine and Serge Garant SOCAN awards. Eliot is the composer of Adizokan, a TSO Commission in partnership with Red Sky Performance, and is currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Toronto and co-director of the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival. Eliot won a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore for Outstanding Sound Design & Composition for Trace (Red Sky) and a 2020 Dora Mavor Moore for AF (Red Sky).

Alexis Bowles – Lighting Designer
Born in Montreal, Alexis Bowles has mastered both lighting design and music production, a symbiosis of ambiance, texture, rhythm, and timing. Always in search of new media and technologies, his range of production is vast. He has worked with Daniele Finzi Pasca since 2003 as Lighting Director for Rain, Nebbia, Donka and Icaro. He was the lighting designer with Daniele Finzi Pasca on many Operas, including L’Amour de loin, Pagliacci, Verdi’s Aïda and Requiem. Alexis was nominated for a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Trace.

Chris Malkowski – Lighting Director
Chris Malkowski is a professional lighting designer and director based in Toronto. He designs lighting for dance, drama, opera, musical theatre and live events across Canada and around the world. Selected credits include: The Black Drum (Lighting Designer, Soulpepper/Deaf Culture Centre 2019), Backbone European Tour (Lighting Director, Red Sky Performance 2019) AF (Lighting Designer, Red Sky Performance), AMAL, Last 15 Seconds (Associate Design, Tunisia/Egypt Tour 2019), Middletown (Associate Design, Crows Theatre 2018), Master Harold and the Boys International Tour (Associate Design, Shaw Festival), In The Continuum (Black Ink Collective 2017), ANTIGONE, Pantalone’s Palace (Brock U), Come Down From Up River (TNB, Foster Festival 2018), Director’s Project (Shaw Festival), Far Away (Best of Fringe 2016). Chris is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Performance Production Program and is an associate member of the Associated Designers of Canada.

Marcella Grimaux – Creative Video Director/Screen Manager
Marcella Grimaux, originally from Montreal, grew up in New York City and attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where she majored in Theatre. In 2009, she assisted Dominic Champagne (Cirque du Soleil’s Love) in Las Vegas on his multimedia theatrical presentation of Paradis Perdu. She has worked for international artists Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys, One Direction and Pink, among others. In 2016, she became an Associate Content Producer for the Montreal studio 4U2C and was responsible for screen producing the creative video content for the Kevin Hart: What Now show. She co-directed and oversaw the artistic direction of the video scenography for Jean Leloup’s Le Fantôme de Paradis City, which won awards for Best Show and Best Lighting Design at that year’s ADISQ awards.  

Daniel Faubert – Head Motion Designer
Born in Outaouais, Quebec, Daniel Faubert lives and works in Montreal. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Design from the University of Quebec. He directed his first animated short “Scène Primitive” which has won numerous prizes in festivals. Video designer, director and animator, he joined the Geodezik team as a senior motion designer in 2013. Since then, Daniel has collaborated with numerous teams on large scale productions including Cirque du Soleil shows and tours for Pink, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Cher to name a few. 

Alexandre Barette – Technical Designer
Alex Barette launched a successful career in information technology by leveraging his capacity to teach himself and problem solve with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. During his stint as a technical lead with VYV, Alex contributed to the development of a number of projects including Alicia Keys’ As I Am tour, Britney Spears’ Circus, Franco Dragone’s House of Dancing Water, Cirque du Soleil’s Totem, Iris, and Zarkana, and Michael Jackson’s One. He later became a freelancer video technical designer, director and integrator for shows such as Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience, Celine Dion’s Vegas residency, Prince’s Hit and Run tour, Abu Dhabi’s 44th National Day, and Cirque du Soleil’s Love revamp. Alex joined the ranks of 4U2C to lend a hand in Beyonce’s Grammy performance, Intel’s 2018 CES keynote and Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods tour.

Kinoo Arcentales – Costume Designer
Kinoo Arcentales is of South American Indigenous (Kichwa) and Mestizo heritage. Born into a family of artists, Kinoo was exposed to arts from an early age. His main role models are his grandmothers on both sides of his family- one being a hotel business owner and the other a retired fashion designer. Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle for most of his life, he has travelled throughout Canada and Ecuador which has inspired most of his work. Kinoo has worked with Red Sky Performance as the costume designer for Trace and as associate costume designer for Miigis.

Sarah Miller – Production Stage Manager
Sarah Miller is a freelance stage, event and production manager based out of Toronto, Ontario. She has worked with performing arts organizations across Canada including: 6th Man Collective, Art of Time Ensemble, Canadian Opera Company, Carousel Players, City of Toronto Arts and Culture Services, Crow’s Theatre, Factory Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Project Humanity, Shaw Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Theatre New Brunswick, Theatre Passe Muraille, Thousand Islands Playhouse and the Toronto International Film Festival. Sarah is also an instructor and mentor of emerging theatre professionals. Most recently, she worked as a Production Manager on the web series CHILD-ISH and as a COVID Health and Safety Monitor on the television series Y: The Last Man.

Sarah Di Iorio – Dancer
Sarah Di Iorio received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2018 from Ryerson University’s Performance Dance Program. Sarah was chosen to create two ten- minute pieces that were showcased at Ryerson’s first ever Springworks show. In her final year, she was the recipient of the Nadia Potts Heart and Soul Scholarship Award. Sarah recently had the opportunity to showcase her choreography in the Fall for Dance North 2018 Festival, Cawthra Parks 2019 Springfest show, Ryerson University’s performance of The Penelopiad, and at the premiere of Impromptu at the 2019 Parodos Festival. As a dancer, Sarah has performed in work created by well-known choreographers in Toronto as well as on the Greek islands. She is one of three principal dancers in a film that will premiere in Toronto’s 2020 Luminato Festival. Sarah had the privilege of performing with Red Sky at the Canadian Museum of History and is now grateful to also take part in the company’s performance of Trace.

Miyeko Ferguson – Dancer
Miyeko Ferguson is a Tkaronto (Toronto) based dance artist. In 2016, she received her BFA degree in Performance Dance from Ryerson University. Since graduation, Miyeko has had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Naishi Wang, Jera Wolfe, Kate Hilliard and Allen Kaeja. She has also attended professional training programs with Springboard Danse Montréal, Adelheid and Peggy Baker Dance Projects where she performed the works of Ohad Naharin and Chuck Wilt, and worked closely with Jessie Garon and Peggy Baker. Miyeko is an active member of Nostos Collectives. She has performed in Canada and the United States with Red Sky Performance and in early 2020, she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her performance in Red Sky’s production, AF, a part of Canadian Stage’s 2019-2020 season.

Lindsay Harpham – Dancer
Lindsay Harpham began training in Saskatchewan where she was inspired to further her development at Harbour Dance Centre’s Intensive Training Program in British Columbia. Lindsay completed The Conteur Academy’s two-year training program in Toronto where she worked with distinguished artists Eryn Waltman, Shoena Bell, Kelly Shaw and Ryan Lee. She joined Red Sky Performance for the world premiere of Backbone at Canadian Stage in Toronto and then toured with the company to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Poland and at the Danse Danse Festival in Montreal. Lindsay performed in Gadfly’s production of UNBXBL 2 and represented Canada alongside Saskatchewan Dance Projects dancers at the International Dance Congress in Adelaide, Australia. She is currently training alongside Larchaud Dance artists as an apprentice and is very grateful to be a part of Red Sky Performance for Trace.

Tyler Layton-Olson – Dancer
Tyler Layton-Olson was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and is currently based in Vancouver, BC. He trained in various styles growing up and moved to Vancouver to train with Arts Umbrella’s pre-professional program and then with Modus Operandi: School of Contemporary Dance. He has had the honour of performing and touring with Shay Kubler: Radical System Art, 605 Collective, Wen Wei Dance, and other dance companies. Tyler loves creation and expression in other art forms including acting, acrylic/mixed media painting, and music production.

Jessica Mak – Dancer
Jessica Mak holds a BFA from Ryerson University’s School of Performance. She is a company member with Red Sky Performance and is excited to be touring the company’s performance of Trace on this North American tour. Through her continuous search for chances to learn, grow and develop, she has had the opportunity to participate in intensives such as Springboard Danse Montreal, B12 Festival, Domaine Forget, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance Summer Intensive and more. She is humbled by the opportunities she has been given to work with renown artists who generously share their knowledge, greatly influencing her progression and life as a dancer. Jessica is currently interested in exploring movement-based concepts to research the human experience.

Connor Mitton – Dancer
Connor Mitton is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Performance Dance Program and a 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee for Outstanding Performance, Ensemble, for Jusqu’à Vimy (choreographed by Laurence Lemieux). Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Connor has toured with ProArteDanza, Citadel & Compangnie, Human body expressions and has performed in James Kudelka’s Fifteen Heterosexual Duets, Elvis and the Man in Black and Romeo and Juliet before Parting. Recognized by Now Magazine as one of 2017’s breakthrough Toronto stage artists, Connor has had the privilege of working with renowned choreographers and artists William Yong, Hanna Kiel, Kate Hilliard, Heidi Strauss, Apolonia Valesquez and Ofilio Portillo, Robert Glumbek, Roberto Campanella, Release Dance Project, ACE Dance Theatre, Zata Omm Dance Projects, Avinoam Silverman and Allan Kaeja. Connor’s passion for dance has taken him to SpringBoard Danse Montreal where he had the opportunity to work with Victor Quijada and members of RUBBERBAND. 

Rick Sacks – Collaborator, Musician
After receiving a Master’s degree in Music from SUNY Stony Brook Rick Sacks performed at Carnegie Recital Hall, NY Shakespeare Theatre and Alice Tully Hall. He regularly performs in Toronto and tours worldwide (Vancouver and Beijing Olympics, Shanghai Expo, Mongolia, Europe). His Water Music (Victoria Symphony) utilized remote controlled flying fish and a deep- sea diver costume. With Red Sky Performance, Rick received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Tono and again with Eliot Britton (2020) for AF (Red Sky). From 2011 to 2016 he was Artistic Director of Arraymusic. Rick freelances as a conductor, percussionist, sound designer and composer and broadcasts weekly as Soundpilot.

Ian De Souza – Musician
Born in Kampala, Uganda into a musical family, Ian De Souza has had music as a constant companion his entire life. He has been a professional musician  or 35+ years and has traveled the world as a touring musician, having performed venues and festivals on almost every continent in as many idioms. He has composed, arranged and produced music for and with, amongst others, Toronto-based instrumental band Sisters Euclid (with whom he won a Juno and National Jazz Award) and electronica duo, LAL. Ian has composed music for film and produced music for theatre which earned him a Dora Mavor Moore nomination. Ian has also composed music for dance, contributing several works for his wife, dancer, Joanna de Souza’s Chhandam Dance Company.

Nadene Pita – Musician
Nadene Pita is an acclaimed experimental multi-instrumentalist using vocals, viola, orchestral strings and traditional indigenous instruments to make creative music. Nadene is of Māori and Irish descent, with a splash of Portuguese on her father’s side. Born in Aotearoa (New Zealand), her iwi is Ngātiwai from Northland. She grew up in Australia and is now based in Los Angeles.

Ora Barlow-Tukaki – Collaborator, Vocalist and Musician (recorded)
Ora Barlow-Tukaki has toured professionally for 15 years and is a highly skilled musician, singer, workshop facilitator, and storyteller. She co-founded and toured the world with three successful collaborative music projects – Manuhiri, Planet Woman, and Pacific Curls. She has co-created with many international artists and projects. Maori Television produced a documentary about her political activism against oil exploitation in her tribal lands in the series called I know a sheila like that. Ora was a vocalist and musician in two world premieres of Red Sky’s works including The Great Lakes (2018) and Trace (2018). Ora lives in Te Kaha and is of Te Whanau-a-Apanui and English Descent.

Nelson Tagoona – Vocalist (recorded)
Nelson Tagoona improvises with traditional throat singing and beat-boxing, developing a technique he has termed “throat boxing”. This unique performance style has garnered high praise throughout Canada where he has been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and named one of the “Top 10 Canadian Artists under 20” by CBC Music. Nelson performed during the opening of the Northern Scene Festival at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, and was the featured vocalist in Red Sky Performance’s Adizokan.