Grand Finale: Maadaadizi / Summer Journeys

Shuttle Bus Info to Be Announced – please contact info@panampath.org in the meantime.
Check in at Rouge Beach
195 Rouge Hills Dr., Toronto Ontario, M5H 2N2
(Venue in case of thunder and extreme weather: West Rouge Community Centre,   270 Rouge Hills Dr. Scarborough, ON, M1C 2Z2)

At Maadaadizi (“begin a journey,” in Ojibwe) be inspired by Indigenous art. Daytime family programming features All Our Relations Métis Women’s Drum Circle, Nimkii Osawamick, Parks Canada and Red Pepper Spectacle Arts. The featured event is the sunset presentation of a creative collaboration between JASON BAERG, ERIN FORTIER, J-S GAUTHIER, MICHAEL RED, SANTEE SMITH and TANYA TAGAQ!

Schedule of Events

AFTERNOON SCHEDULE
Noon to 3:30 PM = Environmental Talks, Parks Canada
Noon to 4:00 PM = Drumming, Singing and Hoop Dance Workshops
2:00 PM – 6:00PM = Lantern Making Workshop

EVENING SCHEDULE
8:00 to 8:30 PM – Opening Songs with Cheryl L’HIrondelle & Friends and Special Guests
9:00 to 9:45 PM – Multidisciplinary Sunset Performance

Free ice cream to the first 100 people courtesy of Toronto Pearson.

Spend the day at the Beach…Bring Sunscreen, a swimsuit, water and a light coat for the evening.

PARKING
Rouge Hill GO Station & Rouge Hill Community Centre (270 Rouge Hills Drive)

Lead Partners

The Four Seasons Project incorporates traditional indigenous knowledge, scientific data of circadian rhythms, innovative approaches to new-media art, experimental music and contemporary dance. Kisci-Okima-Achak is a multimedia performance investigating Cree cosmology. Festivities will also include a special legacy announcement for the Pan Am Path.

The Great Chief Star new media performance piece by Jason Baerg

The Great Chief Star, is an original 40 minute multi-media sunset performative presentation. Cree Cosmology is the central point of investigation in this new work. Cree Métis artist, Jason Baerg takes us on a journey in the four directions around the Earth, past the Moon, beyond Morning Star (Venus) and the Sun, to Kisci-Okima-Achak (The Great Chief Star). DJ, Michael Red enhances the experience as he composes an original music score. New masterworks are created by international acclaimed Mohawk choreographer and dancer, Santee Smith alongside Inuk contemporary performance artist Tanya Tagaq, who will co-pilot this flight with her unconventional approach to Throat Singing. Jason Baerg creates digital abstractions to punctuate this new media voyage, which will be projected behind the performers. The media is synched to Santee Smith and Tanya Tagaq utilizing Xbox Kinect technologies to seamlessly unite artistic concept, experimental sound and contemporary dance through reinforced gestures.

Creative Collaborators

Jason Baerg is a Cree Métis artist pushing boundaries in digital interventions in drawing, painting, performance and new media installation. Recent international solo exhibitions include: The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, The Illuminato Festival in Toronto, Canada and the Digital Dome at the Institute of the American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. 2015 continues to excited as he produces new projects in London, United Kingdom; Melbourne, Australia; New York City, USA and Toronto, Canada.

Erin Fortier is trained as a biochemist, and recently completed a PhD in Neuroscience at McGill University, studying chronobiology. She specializes in computational simulation techniques for the studio of biological, behavioral, and social systems, as well as immunology and cellular and molecular biology techniques.

JS Gauthier is a Saskatoon based multimedia artist. He has worked with Jason Baerg on two other projects, one of which utilizes these same technology approaches with the Xbox Kinect. Gauthier will act as technical support to help make the artists ideas come to life. Jean-Sebastien Gauthier’s work involves the experimental repurposing of video, sculpture, and performance practices, in the service of time based art.

Composer Michael Reds’ music improvisations include blending atmospheric soundscapes inspired by experimental dance sensibilities that are versed in the spirit of Dub. His DJ sets traverse the universe of “bass” while projecting into the future with the intent to create transformative sensorial experiences.

Santee Smith is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand, Ontario. As an international acclaimed choreographer and dancer, she is committed to sharing traditional and contemporary stories of her Indigenous culture. Juno winner in 2015, Tanya Tagaq is an Inuk throat singer from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. She is also known internationally for her collaborations with Bjork.

NT5