HB presents Storyweaving Workshop Performance with Spiderwoman Theater at HB Playwrights Theatre Friday, May 16 & Saturday, May 17!
Storyweaving Workshop Performance with Spiderwoman Theater
In Association with Aanmitaagzi
Friday, May 16 at 7pm
Saturday, May 17 at 7pm
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended
Us / Kistonoon / Maatapiiks / Newe / Hono’ut / Ashkoota / Diné / Ké / Iga^bi / Wicha^sta’bi
The NYC-based Spiderwoman Theater is the oldest continually running Indigenous feminist theater company in the Americas. Activism, self determination and storytelling are at the core of Spiderwoman’s programming, which stands continuously rooted in an urban Indigenous sensibility. Over the past forty-five years, their body of work has addressed critical, cultural, social and political issues through live theater performance and traditional and contemporary storytelling, bridging ancestral cultural practice and Western theater methodology. They call this creative practice “storyweaving,” where personal and traditional stories of the ensemble are intertwined with movement, text, sound, music and visual images. This creative framework serves as a blueprint for all Spiderwoman’s productions, training, and outreach activities.
This storyweaving workshop performance carries many names as it keys into disparate words for “collective” sourced from the Indigenous language of the company’s students. As such, its English title is Us, but it is also properly known as Kistonoon and Maatapiiks (“us” and “people” in Blackfoot), Newe (“the people” in Shoshone), Hono’ut (“all the people” in Arapaho), Ashkoota (“tribe” in Crow), Diné and Ké (“the people” and “us” in Navajo), and Iga^bi and Wicha^sta’bi (“us” and “people” in Stoney Nakoda).
The Spiderwoman creative team includes Muriel Miguel (director), Penny Couchie (choreographer), Imelda Villalon (vocal choreographer), and Louis Mofsie (Indigenous song and dance direction). The performing ensemble includes Eva Brander Blackhawk, Ian King, Darylina Powderface, Gavin Scott, Isaiah Welker, Penny Couchie, and Imelda Villalon. The design team includes Sherry Guppy (scenic design and installation), Sam Biondolillo (lighting designer), and Carter S. King (costume design). The production and administrative team includes Deborah Ratelle (production manager), Melisa Kucevic (stage manager), and Ananya Garg (production assistant). This performance is in association with Aanmitaagzi.
This workshop is made possible by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs’ Cultural Development Fund, Materials for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts