Blood Water Earth

BLOOD WATER EARTH

Production: Kaha:wi Dance Theatre

Artistic Direction/Concept/Performer: Santee Tekaronhiáhkhwa Smith

Singer: Biine Kwe Elijah

Video Design: Louise Potiki Bryant

Director of Photography: Paddy Free, Louise Potiki Bryant

Costume Design: Adriana Fulop, Leigh Smith

Lighting Designer: Andy Moro

Music Composition: Cris Derksen

Additional Scoring: Adrian Harjo, Semiah Smith (vocals), Jennifer Kreisberg (vocals), Jo’el Komene (taonga pūoro), Paddy Free

Tour Lighting/Technical Support: Michel Charbonneau

Pottery Visuals: Steve T. Smith, Santee Tekaronhiáhkhwa Smith

Video Performers: Nancy Wijohn, Bianca Hyslop, Santee Tekaronhiáhkhwa Smith

Stage Manager: Brianna Montour

Sponsors: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council

Blood Water Earth was made within the lands of Ngā mihi nui ki ngā hapu o Te Kawerau a Maki (Aotearoa, NZ) and Ohswekén (Six Nations of the Grand River), affirming kinship relationships to all living entities in which Onkwe’shón:’a (people) are made of earth, cosmos and the patterns of life.

An embodied incantation Blood Water Earth traverses sacred alignment from cosmos to womb to earth, it’s a symbolic ritual renewal, and a conscious stripping away of colonial impacts on Ka’nisténhsera’ (life-givers, women). Weaving performance, video and music, it channels the ancestral, elemental and the creative dream world. Acknowledging inter-connectedness and shared experiences, it places Ka’nisténhsera’ / Mana Wahine (Māori women) worldview in the vanguard. Imagery and energies span the wide range of what is the sacred feminine – warrior, matriarch, creator, life-sustainer, a portal between life and death and a divine being.

Blood Water Earth’s dramaturgical model is that of Rotinoshonni pottery vessel. The pottery is made of all the elements: earth, air, fire and water. It is symbolic of a women’s body with the rounded womb shaped base a holder of water and sustenance. The clay connects to Creation and breath of life. The colour red represents blood, blood lines mediated by the female lineage, birthing blood and the blood on the earth due to violence against Indigenous women across time. The performance pays homage to the continuance of Ka’nisténhsera’ and Kontihontsakwe’ní:io (women’s fire, the same as Earth).

SANTEE SMITH / TEKARONHIÁHKHWA – Artistic Direction/Concept/Design/Performer

Santee is a multidisciplinary artist from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Ohswé:ken (Six Nations of the Grand River Territory). A visionary leader in Indigenous performance, her transformative work bridges movement, storytelling, and design, forging deep mind-heart connections while cultivating space for collaboration and land-based process. In 2005, she founded Kaha:wi Dance Theatre where she cultivated a body of work including 16 productions and numerous short works and installations which tour nationally and internationally. Her artistic practice centres Indigenous methodology, research and cultural restoration including land-based creation, new media performance, crafting immersive experiences for audiences. Santee uses her artistic platform to cultivate understanding and dialogue on issues such as the legacy of Canada’s Indian residential school system, ecological and Indigenous knowledge. Smith is a sought-after teacher and speaker on Indigenous performance and culture. She shares knowledge on her embodied practices, dramaturg and lecturer. Santee is Chancellor Emerita at McMaster University and a member of the Order of Canada.

LOUISE POTIKI BRYANT – Video Design

Louise is a Ngāi Tahu choreographer, dancer, and video artist. With her artistic practice, Louise aims to honour her whakapapa and relationship to the whenua. Her practice is also informed by kaupapa Māori (Māori principles and practices), mana wahine (the intrinsic spiritual power of women), and ātua Māori (Māori deities/ancestors). Louise is a founding member of Atamira Dance Company for whom she has choreographed six works, including Ngāi Tahu 32, Te Aroha me the mamae, and TAONGA: Dust Water Wind. Louise has also choreographed for companies such as Black Grace Dance Company, The New Zealand Dance Company and Orotokare, Art, Story, Motion. Louise also has a body of solo and collaborative works which draw upon her whakaahua and interdisciplinary practices. She designs installations for her works, and is responsible for the design, production and editing of the projected video elements – an integral part of each performance. She has made seven dance and several music videos for Māori singer/songwriters as well as designing video for many music, opera and dance productions including three of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s recent dance works; Re-Quickening, Blood Tides and Blood Water Earth.

ANDY MORO – Lighting Designer

Andy Moro is the co-founding Artistic Director of Indigenous Activism and Art practice ARTICLE 11 Cultural Industry with Tara Beagan. ARTICLE 11’s Deer Woman met critical acclaim at the Edinburgh and Sydney Festivals, Kia Mau Aotearoa, and Arts Centre Melbourne. The 2020 video interpretation has been screened repeatedly including an upcoming live event at Vancouver’s Chan Centre. Andy is proud to have collaborated with Kaha:wi Dance Theatre for many years. Other recents include Beagan’s Ministry of Grace for the Belfry, Ian Ross’ The Third Colour for Prairie Theatre Exchange, Tomson Highway’s Post Mistress at RMTC, Dancers of Damelahamid’s Flicker, Minowin, and Raven Mother, Marie Clements’ Unnatural and Accidental Women at the NACIT. Upcoming is The War Being Waged by Darla Contois at PTE, Time Stands Still with MT7, SkyDancers for A’no:wara Dance Theatre, Ken William’s The Herd with Citadel, Tarragon and the NAC plus Tomson Highway’s Rez Sisters at RMTC.

CRIS DERKSEN – Composer/Cellist

Cris Derksen (1981-2026) is a composer/cellist and has performed from Norway to Australia. She is known for building layers of sound into captivating performances. Her 2015 Album Orchestral Powwow earned her an Instrumental Album JUNO nomination. Coming from North Tall Cree reserve in Northern Alberta her music braids the traditional and contemporary in multiple dimensions, weaving her traditional classical training and her Indigenous ancestry with new school electronics, creating genre defying music. As a composer she has earned respect in the many different arts communities for her versatility and movement between genres.

Among her accolades, she performed as soloist-composer with 15 different Canadian orchestras and was selected as the composer for the Canadian Pavillion for the World Expo both in Dubai in 2022 and in Osaka in 2025. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024, performing the commissioned work Controlled Burn with the Orchestre Metropolitan and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Derksen served as artistic advisor for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, as chair of the equity committee for Orchestras Canada, and founded the Indigenous Classical Gathering at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Her heritage on her father’s side included a lineage of chiefs from the North Tallcree Reserve in Treaty 8 territory, and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s side.

ADRIANA FULOP – Costume Designer (Corset and Skirt)

Adriana is a Slovakian born fashion and costume designer. In 1999 she moved to Toronto to pursue a carrier in fashion and costuming. In 2001, she started her own fashion label Plastik Wrap which led her into the costume design profession. In the last decade, Adriana has created costumes for many video and film productions, dancers, musicians, as well as; independent theaters and artists. Her client list includes Space Channel, APTN, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Bralen Dance Theatre, Indspire Awards and many others. Adriana‘s main passion is creating. She embraces the challenge of designing any style required for the job at hand.

Board of Directors: Janis Monture, Danbi Cho, Paula Laing, Jessica Powless, Dr. Bernice Downey, Stephanie Burnham, Naomi Johnson, Randy Schmucker

www.kahawidance.org

@kahawidance

@santeesmith

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council