Margo Kane started Full Circle: First National Performance! in 1992 because she craved collaboration with other aboriginal artists.
"I was touring for over 10 years as a solo artist. There were no playwrights to speak of - there was a few people out east, Toronto - so I created this so we could have a gathering of artists to work with and develop and train with and do things with as a community," Kane said. "Our traditional teachings, our traditional knowledge speak of the gathering of all peoples, so I loved the metaphor of us coming together, from all directions and working together."
Now the performing arts company that sparked the one-night Talking Stick cabaret in 2001 will celebrate Full Circle's 20th anniversary with a gala, Feb. 19, to launch the now two-week-long Talking Stick Festival.
Short performances at the gala at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre will provide a taste of the festival to come, and a multi-media retrospective exhibit will highlight some of the works created by Kane and her ensemble of aboriginal artists.
Talking Stick is just one of Full Circle's celebrated projects. Full Circle has provided opportunities for aboriginal artists, writers and performers to express the reality of First Nations experiences and to work in harmony with First Nations traditions. It has initiated, developed and produced performance works that have toured internationally, furthered professional development and works to foster new talent.
Full Circle's projects include Moonlodge, an archetypal tale of a child's journey to find her authentic aboriginal voice, which toured internationally for 10 years, was adapted for radio and published in 1994; an aboriginal artist series of workshops, master classes and mini performances, and The Rez Show.
Kane says Michelle Olson, artistic director of Raven Spirit Dance, who choreographed and helped direct Vancouver Opera's upcoming production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, choreographer and dancer Yvonne Chartrand, artistic director of Me-tis contemporary dance company Compaigni V'ni Dansi, and playwright Kevin Loring, winner of the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama are a few of the "stars" that hail from Full Circle.
To help cultivate new aboriginal artists, the performing arts company partners with organizations that include W2: Community Media Arts, the Urban Native Youth Association and the University of B.C.'s First Nations House of Learning. Full Circle is also working with aboriginal resource teachers at the school board and sending aboriginal artists into schools for the third year.
This is the second year the festival has featured a "predominance" of theatre. "Which is really great, because it takes years to develop," Kane said. "This year we have three one-person shows, which is really fantastic because I, myself, started out doing one-person shows."
Cafe Daughter, written by Kenneth T. Williams, is a one-woman show about a young Chinese-Cree girl growing up in Saskatchewan during the 1950s and '60s. Agokwe, written and performed by Waawaate Fobis-ter, is a queer love story about two teenaged boys from neighbouring reserves, and TUMIT, written and performed by Reneltta Arluk, tells the story of a young woman from the north who finds herself alone with a big decision to make.
Kane anticipates the Circumpolar Soundscape Concert at the Roundhouse Feb. 23 will be "lovely," with songs from aboriginal women artists from the Northwest Territories, Greenland and the Yukon.
Kane is also pleased comedy is returning to the festival with the 1491s sketch comedy troupe from Oklahoma. "That'll be different for us," she said. "It's a developing field still."
Other events include slam poetry, fiddling and dancing, a celebration of powwow culture, a film screening and family storytelling.
Kane noted Full Circle aims to keep prices to shows low and many are pay-what-you-can.
"We try also to ensure that if people want to come and they don't have the resources, that we find the resources to do that," she said.
TALKING STICK FESTIVAL
Feb. 19 to March 3 Info: fullcricle.ca
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