The indigenous identity of Canada in "Minowin": La Voz de Michoacan

El Universal / La Voz de Michoacan

Guanajuato.— Dancers of Damelahamid, a Canadian company, debuts in Mexico today with the choreography Minowin, which talks about reincarnation, time, but also the importance of traditional dances.

Dancers of Damelahamid is an indigenous group from northwestern Canada that is around 50 years old. Its artistic director is choreographer Margaret Grenier.

“The piece integrates traditional dances with contemporary elements, such as multimedia projections. The work speaks of the importance of indigenous identity. The idea is to see our new and old stories and represent the difficulties we have gone through, ”Grenier told a news conference.

Margaret Grenier, artistic director and choreographer of the Canadian group.

The idea of ​​including old and new stories, explained the choreographer, arose from her concern for indigenous communities, because she has observed that in recent times traditions have been lost.

“My grandmother lived a change because they moved from the traditional to other ways of life. This generation has the responsibility for these traditions to recover, ”he said.

Margaret Grenier added that this piece is the first one they do in a monumental way, something they achieved with the support of the Canadian government.

The Minowin work will offer two unique functions in Guanajuato, today and tomorrow, in the State Auditorium, where indigenous dances will be presented through contemporary elements such as multimedia resources, masks and drums.

“Minowin is a piece focused on time (however) an emphasis is placed so that there is a dialogue between the traditional and the contemporary, which is a challenge, although it is very important that both things coexist, otherwise it also runs the risk that some elements are lost, ”he emphasized.

In addition to technology, dancers will wear masks, as well as drums of two types: one that is carried in the hand and another that is surrounded by flowers.

“The drum is an instrument for us because it does not have a genre. Masks are also important because we conceive time as something linear, so the mask represents someone who lived with us in another time. We believe in reincarnation and with the mask we can give life to that person again, ”he said.

The entire family of Margaret Grenier, including her children and her husband, Andrew Grenier, also creative director of the company, collaborates in Dancers of Damelahamid. Together, all members make masks that have aspects of animals such as killer whales, eagles, wolves and crows.