Introduction

0:00

[Music]

0:28

do

0:38

hello welcome to the center for

0:40

indigenous theatre’s program information

0:42

session

0:43

my name is mike and i am the office

0:45

manager at cit

0:47

just an overview of what we are going to

0:48

be talking about today

0:50

we will be speaking about the history of

0:52

cit

0:53

the program and the outline of the

0:55

upcoming school year

0:56

as well as our health and safety

0:58

protocols we will also run you through

1:00

the application

1:02

and ongoing enrollment requirements

1:05

throughout the duration of the info

1:07

session our students

1:09

will also be showcasing their skills

1:11

also

1:12

we were able to sit down with one of our

1:14

alumni

1:15

jeanette aya kwayakshi and talk to her

1:19

about her time as a student

1:21

at the center for indigenous theater

Kitsune

1:24

dancing

1:27

[Music]

1:30

my name is kitsune i am the offspring of

1:33

a residential school survivor

1:36

many of the students here have similar

1:38

stories where their parents

1:39

grandparents and great-grandparents went

1:42

to residential schools

1:44

where our culture our language and

1:46

identity was stripped from us

1:48

our practice is forbidden today i’m here

1:51

to give thanks by doing a land

1:53

acknowledgement

1:54

and thanking the caretakers that came

1:56

before us

1:57

but instead of doing a specific

2:00

acknowledgement

2:01

i put down some tobacco today for you to

2:04

have a safe journey

2:05

and to enjoy the show if you’d like to

2:08

know whose land you’re currently

2:09

occupying

2:10

check out these two resources here so

2:13

whether you’re here in ontario

2:15

in toronto like the students or

2:17

nationwide

2:18

giving thanks to those who came before

2:20

us means that we are giving thanks to

2:22

our ancestors

2:23

and the many generations who came before

2:25

us today

Center for Indigenous Theater

2:29

hi my name is kiana garcia and i’m the

2:31

health and safety

2:32

and office assistant at cit

2:35

cit was founded by james buller and was

2:38

originally a six-week program called

2:40

native theater school

2:42

the native theater school was then

2:44

renamed center for indigenous theater in

2:48

1994.

2:50

we went on to become a full-time program

2:52

in 1999.

2:55

we then expanded to a three-year program

2:57

in 2002

2:59

and then added a fourth year in 2018.

Program Overview

3:03

cit is a post-secondary program that

3:05

provides training in acting

3:07

voice and movement we also offer

3:10

cultural classes that are focused on

3:13

dance song and oral history

3:16

we have partnerships across canada that

3:18

we are able to utilize throughout the

3:20

year

3:21

our students are able to participate in

3:23

land-based teachings with the bajmajig

3:25

storytellers in manitowaning

3:27

and automatoxy and nipissing first

3:29

nations now it’s time for our first

Student Video

3:32

student video fourth year student

3:34

theresa cutknife has created a six

3:36

part series here’s part two let’s take a

3:39

look at what she’s created

3:57

hello hi

4:02

um i mean i don’t know

4:06

i’m okay i guess i

4:09

i i left the house for the first time

4:14

um yesterday had a

4:18

mild panic attack um i started crying

4:21

before i

4:23

left the block because prior to that

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i was in my house for

4:30

like a solid 15

4:33

almost 16 days

4:38

yeah i don’t i don’t know

4:41

um it’s

4:46

i don’t know it was just it was just a

4:47

lie because of like everything that’s

4:49

happening

4:49

and like i don’t know like

4:52

it’s if it feels so

4:56

crazy and i i was wearing gloves i had

5:00

my mask i even like was wearing a hoodie

5:02

and i like tied it around my neck

5:04

and just so i was completely covered and

5:10

it was it was absolute craziness just to

5:13

try and get into the grocery store

5:16

i i was trying to be as quick as

5:18

possible but trying to

5:20

be aware of people and no one

5:23

was following these these arrows or

5:26

anything and it was just

5:30

i want to come home i know who i want to

5:32

but i can’t risk that

5:35

i can’t risk being on a plane and i

5:36

don’t want to

5:38

i don’t want to get you or anyone else

5:40

sick

5:44

i don’t know

5:48

if if there’s a way we can i’ll let you

5:51

know

5:52

and i can figure it out but i no

5:56

i could barely get off the block i

5:58

highly doubt i could be on a plane

6:00

i don’t even know if planes are even

6:01

flying out right now do you know

6:07

okay i’ll i have to go

6:11

but um i’ll talk to you soon okay

6:14

love you

Program Outline

6:40

you know kiana our students are pretty

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talented

6:43

don’t you agree i agree it’s always

6:47

wonderful to watch theresa

6:49

so just an outline of the upcoming

6:50

school year now we’re going to be

6:52

talking about

6:54

the next cohort of first year students

6:56

they will start school

6:58

in september they will begin with an

7:00

orientation period

7:02

of cit and toronto students will then

7:05

enter

7:05

full-time training with a winter break

7:08

in between their studies

7:10

our first years will then return to

7:12

training from january

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until may leading up to their graduation

Class Schedule

7:16

due to proven 19 special protocol has

7:19

been put into place

7:21

this includes but not limited to

7:23

mandatory social distancing and facial

7:25

coverings

7:27

as well as sanitization and screening

7:29

before entering cit studios

7:31

the health and safety of our students

7:33

faculty and staff members is of the

7:35

utmost importance

7:38

here are two versions of what your class

7:40

schedule might look like this upcoming

7:42

school year as you can see

7:45

one schedule includes 100 in-person

7:48

training

7:48

and the other schedule includes a

7:50

mixture of sixty percent

7:51

online training and forty percent

7:54

in-person training

7:55

as our current health and safety

7:57

regulations continue to develop

7:59

your training may be influenced by kova

8:01

19.

8:03

you have a variety of classes at cit

8:06

including dance

8:07

voice physical theater singing and story

8:10

creation

Interview

8:12

now it’s time for our interview with

8:14

jeanette we were able to sit down with

8:16

jeanette and talk to her a little bit

8:18

about her time at cit

8:21

i want to ask you you’ve already said

8:24

you’ve met a few people already

8:26

herbie barnes and lee miracle um did you

8:28

make a lot of connections while you’re

8:30

at cit

8:32

cit at the time the the cohort was one

8:36

of the first cohorts where it was just

8:38

all women it was kind of a curious

8:39

cohort like they it was rare

8:42

where it was just all women it was only

8:44

when i moved back to toronto that i made

8:46

those connections

8:47

and uh with my grant success with with

8:50

uh

8:51

ampava cit became super helpful in being

8:55

able to help me identify local talent

8:57

right that we could work with

8:59

so cit became a very uh very important

9:02

to

9:03

putting me in the right direction of the

9:05

the who’s who and what was nice about

9:07

the cit and ampava connection is that

9:09

ampava was the native theater

9:12

school they were like that was their

9:13

flagship event

9:15

and apparently they had a really

9:16

auspicious international

9:19

gathering of indigenous theater people

9:21

once upon a time which would still be

9:23

cool to see

9:24

but that was a bit of a one-off and a

9:25

lot of a lot of work because

9:28

inviting people in from out of the

9:29

country is a lot of work to

9:31

navigate but i i found um the networks

9:34

were like the

9:36

and i also knew rose stella and other

9:39

social networks we knew some of the same

9:41

you know puppet people

9:43

storytelling people and my former

9:45

husband that you know the love story

9:47

that

9:47

went south super connected to the

9:50

storytelling community and

9:52

giant puppet you know i don’t know they

9:55

hit you know

9:55

all the people over at dufferin grove

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park like

9:59

can’t remember clay and puppet yeah

10:03

clay and paper so chris had lots of

10:05

connections in fact for his 50th

10:06

birthday he

10:07

all these years i got him i got a parade

10:10

permit

10:11

to shut our street down and all his

10:12

friends showed up and it made him cry

10:14

because he kept talking about all these

10:15

giant puppet people and music people and

10:18

theater people and rose was among that

10:19

crowd so

10:21

just lots of like similar networks at

10:24

large in the arts community that have

10:25

helped

10:27

help you get to where you are today nice

10:30

um

10:32

you’ve already mentioned so much about

10:34

native theater school and pava and cit

10:37

um did you have i know you were part of

10:39

the summer program was there a

10:41

particular part of the program that you

10:42

liked like was there a class or was it

10:45

just the whole thing

10:46

itself just i think it was cool to

10:49

i think i think i got the most from

10:52

sadie buck

10:53

i loved her leadership style and the

10:55

softest i ever saw her was when i talked

10:57

to her about whether she had kids

11:00

and she got so soft when she talked

11:01

about her son but i loved watching her

11:04

leadership style i think it intimidated

11:05

the heck out of some people but it’s

11:07

just fun to witness

11:08

you know everyone’s way um i think

11:10

writing with lee miracle

11:12

whether it’s at cit or any chance i get

11:14

to write with lee

11:16

is always a treat um the powwow dancing

11:19

was grueling

11:20

um because you know

11:23

that was grueling like i remember not

11:25

being able to move

11:27

that was that was the hard part well i

11:29

think i think it was just

11:31

it really propelled me to feel

11:34

i think the biggest thing i got out of

11:36

it was when they said carol gray eyes

11:39

told us the story about the word shy

11:43

and the origins and i love etymology and

11:45

she

11:46

said that shy comes from the british

11:48

benevolent society a tradition

11:50

after boxing day and they would go

11:52

knocking church people would go knocking

11:54

on doors

11:55

and ask the rich do you have anything to

11:57

give and the rich could respectfully say

12:00

i feel shy and it translates i’m not

12:03

willing to give

12:05

so when some of the the students were

12:07

showing the sense of shyness

12:09

she kind of slowed us all down and told

12:11

us that story

12:12

she said because theater is all or

12:14

nothing

12:16

you cannot be on the stage and not

12:19

be fully in the theater moment you can’t

12:22

be anything

12:23

you can’t shy doesn’t fit into that you

12:25

can’t not not be willing to give

12:27

because theater is all about giving

12:30

you serve your audience like and it just

12:32

indelible you know because i

12:34

serve the community as a counselor i’m a

12:36

servant anyway

12:37

right in different ways in my career

12:39

educator i

12:40

serve in different ways and it just

12:42

showed me that

12:44

confidence comes with being willing to

12:46

give

12:47

right and i think that’s what really

12:49

helped me

12:50

not just as a theater person but as an

12:52

indigenous voice

12:54

in in leadership positions that i can go

12:57

to animated and passionate and

12:59

facts are my friends and make you know

13:02

you know make very very strong points

13:05

and

13:06

i had a job interview recently and i

13:07

said i don’t know if the university of

13:08

toronto is ready for me

13:10

if this is only a lateral move because

13:13

i’m not sure i’m ready to just continue

13:15

to do minutes and

13:16

book meetings like i’m ready to make

13:18

systemic changes so i don’t know if

13:20

i’m a fit

King Lear

13:24

thank you jeanette we appreciate your

13:26

time i learned a lot

13:28

and now it’s time for our two first-year

13:30

students kehu buffalo

13:32

and francis glad you to perform a part

13:34

of king lear

13:35

take a look what serious contemplation

13:39

are you in

13:42

i’m thinking brother of a prediction i

13:44

read this other day

13:46

what should follow these eclipses do you

13:49

busy yourself with that

13:52

i promise you the effects he writes of

13:54

succeed unhappily

13:56

as of a naturalist between the child and

13:58

parent death dearth

14:00

dissolutions of ancient amides divisions

14:02

in state

14:04

menaces and male addictions against

14:05

kings and nobles needless dividends

14:08

banishment of friends dissipation of

14:10

cohorts

14:12

and i know not what how long have you

14:15

been a secretary

14:16

astronomical come come

14:19

when saw your father last the night gone

14:22

by

14:23

spanky with him i two hours together

14:26

pardoned you in good terms found you no

14:29

displeasure in him

14:30

by word nor countenance none

14:33

at all be think yourself wherein you may

14:35

have offended him

14:36

and that my entry for bearer’s presence

14:38

until some little time half

14:40

qualified the heat of his displeasure

14:43

which at this instant

14:44

so rageth in him that with the mischief

14:47

of your person

14:48

it would scarcely away some villain had

14:50

done me wrong

14:51

that’s my fear i pray you have a

14:54

continent forbearance till the speed of

14:55

his rage goes slower

14:57

and as i say retire with me to my

14:59

lodging

15:00

from whence i will fitly bring you to

15:01

hear my lord speak here you go

15:04

there’s my key if you do stir abroad

15:07

go armed warm brother brother

15:11

i advise you to the best i am no honest

15:14

man if there be any good meaning towards

15:16

you

15:17

i have told you what i have seen and

15:18

heard but faintly

15:21

nothing like the image and horror of it

15:24

pray you away shall i hear from you and

15:27

god

15:28

i do serve you in this business

15:37

a credulous father and a brother’s noble

15:39

whose nature is so

15:40

far from doing harm that he suspects

15:42

none on his foolish honesty

15:45

my practice is right easy i see the

15:48

business

15:49

let me if not by birth have lands by wit

15:53

all with me is meat that i can fashion

15:55

fit

Requirements

15:58

now here are the requirements in order

16:00

to apply to the center for indigenous

16:02

theater

16:03

you must identify as first nations metis

16:07

or inuit

16:08

you must be 18 years of age or older

16:12

you need to have a grade 10 english

16:14

level or higher

16:16

have an interest in acting movement

16:18

voice

16:19

self-discovery and theater as well as an

16:22

interest in exploring

16:23

indigenous knowledge there are important

Documents

16:26

documents that you are required to

16:28

submit

16:28

when applying to cit they include

16:32

an updated resume a 500 word essay

16:35

expressing your interest in theater and

16:37

coming to cit

16:38

two references that can vouch for your

16:40

interest in theater

16:42

a photocopy of your health card and an

16:44

audition video of you doing some script

16:47

work

Auditions

16:48

to make things easier we’ve created a

16:50

video on how to do an audition at cit

16:53

take a look

17:05

hi i’m sam twin i’m a fourth year

17:07

student here at center for indigenous

17:08

theatre

17:09

hi i’m teresa cutknife and i’m also a

17:11

fourth year student at the center for

17:12

indigenous theater

17:13

uh we’ll give you some tips and tricks

17:15

on how to do your monologues and get

17:17

them sent into cit

17:19

yes so first find an age-appropriate

17:21

monologue for yourself

17:23

use something from the indigenous canon

17:26

something like from thompson highway to

17:30

hidden taylor uh

17:32

kenneth t williams jeff anymore keith

17:34

barker alanis king

17:36

and if you have any troubles finding

17:37

anything like that you could email cit

17:39

and we’ll provide you with a monologue

17:42

so sam what did you do for your audition

17:44

into cit

17:46

i did ivek from thunderstick by kenneth

17:49

williams

17:50

what about you what did you do i was

17:53

sent

17:54

a collection of different

17:57

story pieces from coyote city what to

18:00

wear

18:01

wear something simple neutral colors

18:04

something that you’re comfortable and

18:06

confident in and you know it does

18:08

there’s not really a time limit for it

18:10

but it should be around three minutes

18:13

if you have any other skills that you

18:15

want to show like singing

18:16

dancing hand drumming anything and

18:19

everything

18:20

feel free to submit it but you do have

18:21

to have a monologue

18:23

unless of course you’re a storyteller

18:25

and you have a story

18:27

then you could submit that instead of

18:28

the monologue but no accents please

18:31

and the most important thing is to have

18:33

fun and

18:34

if you stumble that’s okay you can do it

18:36

over and over as many times as you feel

18:39

have any other difficulties like doing

18:41

your your monologue or audition

18:44

uh probably the hardest part was

18:46

memorizing it all

18:48

and i had somebody film it for me i did

18:51

not know

18:51

that it was best to film it with a

18:53

neutral background so

18:55

i filmed it just in a living room and

18:57

there was a lot of

18:58

things in the background but it worked

19:00

out and you don’t need a professional

19:02

camera

19:03

uh we’re doing this on an iphone 10

19:06

you can stack it up on some books or put

19:10

it on a table whatever you got to do

19:11

as long as it’s capturing basically from

19:13

half of your torso up so we can see your

19:15

shoulders and your head

19:17

you can have a relative or somebody hold

19:19

the camera for you

19:20

and you can just send that into city

19:24

have fun

19:25

[Music]

19:32

[Music]

Funding

19:36

some ongoing requirements to remain in

19:39

the program

19:40

are that you must be on time and present

19:42

for all classes

19:43

and you must be actively looking for

19:45

funding while you attend your studies

19:48

tuition costs each year are seven

19:51

hundred and fifty dollars

19:54

if you are unable to receive banned

19:56

funding there are organizations you can

19:58

submit

19:59

applications to for funding these

20:02

include but are not

20:03

limited to inspire foundation

20:06

metis nation of ontario

20:10

canada post mississaugas of the credit

20:13

and other local organizations if you are

20:17

in need of funding assistance

20:19

contact us at the center for indigenous

20:22

theater

20:23

no student is ever turned away due to

20:25

lack of funding

Outro

20:28

please don’t forget to follow us on

20:29

instagram and twitter

20:31

and like us on facebook we would like to

20:34

thank our funder

20:35

with their generous support we are able

20:37

to provide a school for our students

20:39

we thank the department of canadian

20:42

heritage

20:43

the ontario arts council the toronto

20:46

arts council

20:48

miss way beak aboriginal employment and

20:50

training

20:52

financial group hastings park

20:55

foundation of rights and freedoms

20:57

and ontario arts foundation thank you

21:00

for attending our program

21:02

info session if you have any questions

21:04

or comments

21:05

please leave them in the comment section

21:07

below thanks again and we look forward

21:09

to seeing you soon

21:16

[Music]

21:22

[Music]

21:42

so

21:45

[Music]

21:56

foreign

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