We were deeply honoured to have poet, storyteller, singer and artist shalan joudry as our 2023 Artist in Residence. Over the course of her residency, shalan joudry began the process of turning her previously created poem, Kmɨtkinu (“our homeland” in Mi’kmaw) which weaves together Mi’kmaw history, with calls for non-Indigenous peoples to listen, learn and work with Indigenous peoples on healing, into a narrative dance/movement and musical piece. shalan’s vision for the evolution of the poem will continue past the residency period but in the early spring of 2024 a large audience was thrilled by a special sneak-peek into the creative process behind Dancing Kmɨtkinu, the collaboration between shalan and Mocean Dance. The artist explained, “The new movement work, Dancing Kmɨtkinu, explores and embodies the words, images, and important messages of the poem, and features choreography by Sarah Prosper and Mocean’s co-artistic directors Susanne Chui and Sara Coffin, and the dance was performed by a diverse cast of dance artists who joined the team: Isaac Abriel, Robert Azevedo, I'thandi Munro, Sam Penner and NAT Chantel.”
