‘A Night of Miigis Moments’ Brings Indigenous-Led Performance To W&L The Oct. 8 event is presented by Red Sky Performance and is part of the Lenfest Center’s Outreach & Engagement Series.
The Lenfest Center at Washington and Lee University presents “A Night of Miigis Moments,” an evening with Red Sky Performance, on Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Keller Theatre in the Lenfest Center for the Arts.
This performance is part of the Lenfest Center’s Outreach & Engagement (O&E) Series and is the center’s first Indigenous-centered and Indigenous-led event. Tickets are required and available online or in person at the Lenfest Box Office.
“A Night of Miigis Moments” is presented by Red Sky Performance, a leading company of contemporary Indigenous performance — including dance, theater, music and media — based in Canada. The company creates inspiring experiences of Indigenous arts and culture, transforming society in meaningful ways and fulfilling their motto, “More Than Dance, We are a Movement.”
Red Sky was founded by Sandra Laronde (Misko Kizhigoo Migizii Kwe, which means “Red Sky Eagle Woman” in the Anishinaabemowin [Ojibway] language), who currently serves as its artistic director. Laronde will also be delivering the O&E Series keynote address on Oct. 7; tickets are on sale through Sept. 30.
Directed and choreographed by Laronde, “A Night of Miigis Moments” incorporates both contemporary and traditional Indigenous dance and is representative of Laronde’s emphasis on story-telling and amplifying Indigenous voices through performance.
The performance will feature excerpts from Red Sky’s acclaimed “Miigis: Underwater Panther” production, which is inspired by the formidable odyssey of the Anishinaabe along the water routes from the Atlantic Ocean’s shores to the Great Lakes. Audiences will encounter Anishinaabe archetypes, mystery beings and the ancestral pull of generations as the performance explores the power of nature and catalysts for movement and migration.
“A Night of Miigis Moments” will feature Kehew and Kirby Buffalo, Plains prairie dancers from Maskwacis, Alberta-Treaty 6 territory, dancing the traditional prairie chicken style that is a benchmark in the development of their identity as Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) men. The twins have been performing since they could walk and are steeped in the cultural ways of the Plains Cree. Original music by Red Sky will also be performed live by Rick Sacks, Marie Gaudet and Ian de Souza, and can be found on Spotify.
“A Night of Miigis Moments” received a Dora Mavor Moore Award from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts in 2023, which celebrates excellence on Toronto Stages.
Order your tickets online today or call the Lenfest Center box office at 540-458-8000 for ticket purchase information. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The cost is $35 for adults, $32 for seniors, $29 for W&L faculty and staff and $8 for students.
This performance is sponsored in part by the Class of 1964 Performing Arts Fund, W&L’s Native American Indigenous Cohort within the Office of Inclusion and Engagement, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program and the Pauline B. and Paul D. Pickens Fund for the Performing Arts.
For a full list of this season’s performances, visit the Lenfest Center’s website.
The Lenfest Center for the Arts, home of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies and the Department of Music and Department of Art and Art History is a multi-use facility designed and equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including theater, musical theater, opera and operetta, choral and band music, dance and performance art in one energizing complex.
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