Indigenous dance troupe show focuses on residential schools

The internationally-renown indigenous Canadian dance troupe Kaha:wi Dance Theatre will perform their poignant and powerful theatrical dance performance, "The Mush Hole," at Cornell on Friday, Oct. 28.

The 7:30 p.m. performance will take place in the Kiplinger Theatre of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, 430 College Ave. Tickets to the performance are free of charge and can be reserved at this link.

"The Mush Hole" is a theatrical dance performance about the truths of Canada's first Indian residential school -—The Mohawk Institute. From 1828-1970, officials attempted to forcefully assimilate children from Six Nations and surrounding First Nations into Euro-Christian society and sever the continuity of culture from parent to child. "The Mush Hole" includes memories of two generations of survivors, with performances by an all-Indigenous cast. 

"'The Mush Hole' is a story about hope and finding light in dark places. As much as it speaks to intergenerational trauma, it screams resilience. Every single element represented on stage comes from survivors sharing their experiences with us," said Santee Smith, founding and managing artistic director of the Kaha:wi Dance Theatre.

The Kaha:wi Dance Theatre will also host multiple workshops and master classes during the week. Their residency is sponsored by the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, the Department of Performing and Media Arts, The Provost's Office for Faculty Development and Diversity, the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, the Department of Art History and the American Studies Program.