Siiye'yu

a Mortal Coil/Tsatsu Stalqayu Production

Presented by National Arts Centre English Theatre’s Grand Acts of Great Hope

As we edge closer to a new normal, a powerful sense of hope is surging. To celebrate each step we take, the National Arts Centre English Theatre is bringing together some of the country’s most inventive artists to create and perform innovative new works with Grand Acts of Great Hope. These acts will inspire and embolden audiences for the brave new world facing us post-pandemic. Performed safely in front of local audiences and later shared online, these works will help prepare us for the safe return when audiences and artists can once again share space together. Grand Acts of Great Hope was co-curated by NAC English Theatre Artistic Jillian Keiley and Boca del Lupo Artistic Director Sherry J Yoon.

On a site joining past and the present - Sən̓aʔqʷ (settler name: Vanier Park) - Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack, a three generation family group) and Mortal Coil Performance continue their 10 year exploration of Coast Salish art and culture. Grand Acts of Great Hope unites Tsatsu Stalqayu’s traditional Salish performance with Mortal Coil’s European based outdoor site specific theatrical techniques in a performace that includes a 12’ Salish elder, bears, whales, ladybugs, eagles, and a Thunderbird, among others.

Together we create an event that celebrates our beautiful home, the animals we share it with and the Coast Salish people who were here first. This performance is a great act of hope: hope that we succeed in building bridges across the chasms that separate us; hope that we can find a way to protect the animals who were here before anything else; and hope that the earth that gave us all so much can somehow survive this next 100 years.  Song and dance, prayer and procession illuminate our grand act of building bridges towards each other while honouring the creatures on the lands we all share.

A Grand Act Set on Sən̓aʔqʷ(a Coast Salish village at Vanier Park) July 8, 2021, 6.00 pm

Co-created by Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolfpack) and Mortal Coil Performance

Core creative team and Directors: Alec Dan, Peter Hall, Iona Paul

Video: Lois Anderson, Cuyler Frink, Candalario Andrade, Michaela Crook, Josh Thompson.  Consultant:  Gregory Coyes

Designers: Barbara Clayden, Peter Hall, Elia Kirby, Iona Paul, Joseph Paul, Frank Rader

For more information on Grand Acts of Great Hope, please visit https://c.nac.ca/3v2M0Ia.                                                   

Tsatsu Stalqayu

Missing from Photos: Iyanla Johnson, Makyla-Rose Johnson, Shadae Johnson, Cepheus Kenoras-Paul, Kevin Seward,  Eleanor Sylvester.