Rubaboo festival in Edmonton offers mix of Indigenous and French

Monday, January 30th, 2017 6:24pm
Santee Smith opens the eighth annual Rubaboo Arts Festival on Monday with her dance piece NeoIndigenA. (Photo: David Hou)
"We are all in this historic time of Reconciliation with questions about experience, identity and inclusiveness. We are honoured to follow the lead of Indigenous artists.” ~ artistic director Christine Sokaymoh Frederick.

The eighth annual Rubaboo Arts Festival gets underway Jan. 30 in Edmonton.  It opens with the powerful and poignantly beautiful NeoIndigenA.

Choreographed and performed by award-winning artist Santee Smith, NeoIndigenA is a performance of the soul, exploring our relationship to all living entities and elements. It has two performances only, Monday and Tuesday evenings at La Cité Francophone at 8 p.m. $20 charge.

Rubaboo’s signature Festival Fusion Night is a unique experience for festival goers to witness multidisciplinary art being created live in collaboration with Aboriginal and French artists.  Co-presented with Flying Canoë Volant, this free event takes place Feb 2. Various artists support each other by providing music, poetry, pottery and dance components to create an expressive account of Indigenous art practice and traditional-contemporary fusion form.

Other pieces in the festival include a bow-making workshop by Elder Jerry Saddleback on Saturday.

"We are all in this historic time of Reconciliation with questions about experience, identity and inclusiveness. We are honoured to follow the lead of Indigenous artists,” said artistic director Christine Sokaymoh Frederick.

The Rubaboo Arts Festival is produced by Alberta Aboriginal Arts. The festival runs through until Feb. 4.