On the right foot

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This article was published 31/03/2023 (1060 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The studio is packed. It’s the first full day of rehearsals and the mood is equal parts excitement and exhaustion.

After a morning of intensive practice, the dancers pause for a quick lunch. They wipe their brows, shovel mini muffins into their mouths and break into small clusters to continue working on steps. Five days is precious little time to learn a complicated seven-minute routine.

The group of 27 high schoolers from First Nation communities across the country have converged on a Winnipeg dance studio. They are participants of Outside Looking In (OLI), a national dance and education program for Indigenous youth.

“I feel like dance is a part of me,” says Evan Harper. “When I’m feeling down or, like, having a bad day, I just go into a room and release all of that bad energy by dancing.”

Harper, 17, is from Wasagamack First Nation — a fly-in community in northeastern Manitoba — and has been involved in OLI since middle school when his mom pushed him to join. Now, he’s a member of the group’s Future Leaders program, a small cohort of Grade 10 to 12 students, who spend the school year receiving one-on-one mentorship, exploring careers and developing life skills. The cherry on the top is a dance performance in front of a huge crowd of fellow students and supporters in Toronto come May.

“I hope they look at us while we’re performing and are like, ‘Damn, I want to be like them,’” Harper says of the audience. “I want them to look up to us.”

But first, the dancers need to master the moves.

Up until this point, they’ve been meeting virtually and practicing independently. Spring break is a chance to get to know each other in real life and learn to move as a cohesive unit — five hours a day for five days straight.

On Monday, the shape of the routine is there, but the choreography needs fine-tuning. They practice tricky sections again and again, commiserating over missteps with smiles and laughter.

This year’s dance will be performed to a mash-up of They Don’t Care About Us and Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson. The overarching theme is injustice, which the group has been discussing at length.

“They’re able to explore and see all the different levels of injustice for Indigenous peoples, whether it’s in a historical context, whether it’s health care, land rights, water issues — you name it,” says Future Leaders program manager Lindy Kinoshameg, who is Odawa from Wikwemikong, unceded territory on Manitoulin Island.

“And to help the youth not get so down from all these injustices, we pair it with positive stories.”

That balance helps participants see their potential. A recent lesson focused on the work of a young Indigenous water activist.

“She’s their age. They can see, ‘Wow, I can make change in this world.’ It’s not something that’s far off,” Kinoshameg says.

Madison Ottertail, 16, is a natural leader. Through OLI, she’s learned how to communicate and express herself more effectively — skills she hopes to inspire in other youth in her home community of Lac La Croix in southwestern Ontario.

“It’s a really great opportunity,” Ottertail says of the program. “You learn more about yourself, you get to learn more about other people and you get to express yourself freely through dance.”

Like Harper, dance has become a positive outlet for negative emotions. This year’s routine is empowering.

“The movements and the song, it’s about injustice for Indigenous people and it feels really powerful. The performance is gonna be emotional because when you look at the lyrics and you look at our moves, they go together like a puzzle piece,” she says.

The dance is aggressive and celebratory, explosive and triumphant. Choreographer Nino Vicente came up with the hip-hop-inspired moves in consultation with the dancers.

“I asked them: what is injustice to you? Seeing where these youth are coming from really drives the emotion for this piece,” he says.

As the class wraps up, several kids approach Vicente with music requests. Space is cleared in the centre of the room to form a dance circle. The spectators cheer and clap while their peers dust off moves from previous dance routines. A group of alumni get up to perform a piece from 2016 — they don’t miss a beat.

“You know you’ve made an impact in a positive way,” Vicente says when asked how it feels to see seven-year-old choreography revived. “That’s basically why I do this; to do something good for them so that they can be a better person. And it starts off with dance and making good decisions through that.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney