December 31, 2011

Red Sky facilitated Inuit performer, Vinnie Karetak (Arviat, Nunavut), to participate in The New Year Gala of 2012 on Beijing Television which is the second largest TV station in China, with reach of over 200 million viewers.

November 28 - December 2, 2011

Red Sky offered a 5-day dance seminar where participants explored the use of elements such as rhythm, shape, and concept by learning basic traditional dance forms. Through structured improvisation exercises, participants developed their ability to incorporate these elements into their own dance vocabulary.

Studio 303
Montreal, QC
9:30am - 12:30pm

November 13, 2011

Three members of the Raven cast led a workshop for a group of young children. The participants got the opportunity to work with the cast learning basic movement, songs and theatre games.

Fletcher Hall (Carolina Theatre of Durham)
Durham, North Carolina, USA
3:00pm

June 1, 2011

On behalf of the Senate, Dr. Steven E. Franklin, the president of Trent University announced that Red Sky's founder and artistic director Sandra Laronde will be one of the five outstanding individuals who will receive an honourary degree at convocation ceremonies on June 1, 2011.

"The University was unanimous in its approval of these distinguished individuals as Trent University's honorary degree recipients for 2011," said Dr. Steven E. Franklin, president and vice-chancellor at Trent. "All distinguished Canadians who have contributed significantly to our society and our world, each will represent a unique and powerful perspective to our graduates at Trent's 44th convocation ceremonies."

Trent University's 2011 convocation ceremonies will be held over a 3-day period, with two ceremonies on June 1 - 2, and one ceremony on June 3.

Each of the following individuals will be presented with an honorary degree at this year's ceremonies and includes: The Right Honourable Kim Campbell, Craig Kielburger, Rick Beaver, Lauren Woolstencroft, and of course, our very own Sandra Laronde.

Trent University
Peterborough, Ontario

February 5, 2011

The Great Mountain cast led a workshop for a group of Aeolian employees and volunteers at The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre in London, Ontario. The participants got the opportunity to work up close and personal with the cast in learning basic voice and body warm-ups, basic Aboriginal dance steps, and created theatre through a theatre game using bamboo poles. The participants were encouraged to learn to “take the stage and introduce themselves.”

The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre
London, Ontario
2:00pm

February 4, 2011

The Great Mountain cast led two workshops for elementary school and highschool students at The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre in London, Ontario. The first workshop consisted of 15 high school students in Grades 11 and 12 who learned the importance of proper warm-ups for their bodies and voices and how to work as an ensemble using techniques taught and practiced by theatre actors. They also learned basic Aboriginal dance steps and “free-styled” to music using these steps. The second workshop consisting of about 55 elementary school students in Grades 4 and 5 were also taught the basics of warm-ups and basic Aboriginal dance steps and were further encouraged to improvise, play theatre games and learn about the challenges of theatre and scenework through play.

The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre
London, Ontario
11:00am
1:00pm

February 3 - 4, 2011

Artistic Director Sandra Laronde meets with His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and the National Executive Committee of the 2012 Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference to assist the Conference. The Conference is Canada's top leadership development that was created to help build Canada by enhancing the capabilities and comprehension of emerging leaders in business, labour, government and the community sector.

Rideau Hall
Ottawa, Ontario

January 28, 2011

Artistic Director Sandra Laronde spoke on the creative process, artistic and cultural influences and how this fits into Canadian culture today.

Continuing on from its success, this full day session built on the previous ones and provided an opportunity for presenters and performers to discuss common issues and concerns related to staging performances by Aboriginal and ethno-racial artists.

This workshop involved presentations by Ken Coulter (Oakville Theatre), Eric Lariviere (Markham Theatre), Cheryl Ewing (Ontario Contact) and Costin Manu (Rose Theatre) who discussed what presenters need to do to set up a season's schedule, the criteria and methods they use to select performances and how performers can build a relationship with presenters.

To compliment this, a number of performers made presentations on how their companies create their work, the influences (traditional, modern, contemporary) on their work and how it fits into Canadian culture today. Some of these artists include: Sandra Laronde (Red Sky Performance), Lata Pada (Sampradaya Dance Creations), Brainard Blyden-Taylor (Nathaniel Dette Chorale) and Julia Chan (Diasporic Dialogues).

Markham Theatre
Markham, Ontario
1:00pm