Round Table:

The experience of world changing events (illnesses, cataclysms, and campaigns of genocide) are still alive in the memories, bodies, and lives of Indigenous peoples. The current Covid-19 pandemic has triggered far reaching conversations about how institutions can better serve Indigenous, and more broadly BIPOC, theatre makers and communities. This roundtable considers Indigenous theatre making before and during the pandemic and speculates the transformative potentials for Indigenous theatre making in response to current events.

Bios

Lindsay Lachance (Algonquin Anishinaabe) is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia. Lindsay’s dramaturgical practice is influenced by her relationship with birch bark biting and the Gatineau River. She is also the director of the Animikiig Creators Unit at Native Earth Performing Arts, which focuses on the development of new Indigenous works.

Carlos Rivera is an actor, dancer, choreographer, teacher and a director, originally from Mexico City. He is Mixteco and Nahua Indigenous descent. Graduated from Mexico’s City School of Dance and later attended the Center for Choreographic Research at the Mexican Fine Arts Institute. He collaborated for 16 years as Associate Artist for Red Sky Performance and had the opportunity to travel around the world. Carlos was involved several times in The Banff Centre for the Arts Indigenous Dance Program, where he worked as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. He graduated from the Indigenous Residency Program at the National Theatre School of Canada, where he refined his artistic practice as an actor and director.

Julie Burelle is a dramaturg and a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on Indigenous theatre and performance. Her work was published in Revue Liberté, Jeu, TDR: The Drama Review, and other academic journals. Her book Encounters on Contested Lands: Indigenous Performances of Sovereignty and Nationhood in Québec was published in 2019 by Northwestern University Press. It won the John W. Frick Book Award, the Ann Saddlemyer award (ex aequo), and a Mention Spéciale by the Société québécoise d’études théâtrales.