Commissioned by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) with the support of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Going Home Star explores the trauma and healing of Aboriginal residential school survivors. The story, written by novelist Joseph Boyden and staged by choreographer Mark Godden, revolves around a pair of contemporary First Nations young people coming to terms with the past.
The ballet premiered in Winnipeg in 2014 and has won critical acclaim for its ability to “turn darkness into beauty” (Globe and Mail) . Going Home Star’s Canadian tour begins with three performances at the National Arts Centre on January 28, 29 and 30.
Apt613 spoke with choreographer Mark Godden about how he created the ballet and what it meant to work with creative team members such as Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Cree actor Tina Keeper.
Apt613: Could you tell me about the genesis of Going Home Star?
I had huge concerns about using Aboriginal dance in any shape or form. It’s very sacred and I didn’t want to do a Hollywood version of a native dance.
Mark Godden: RWB created a one-act ballet in the 1970s called The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, which was hugely popular and timely. But it had a bit of a negative stereotype, and there was a desire to create something new. André Lewis, the Artistic Director of RWB, approached me a couple of times over the years with different ideas for Aboriginal-themed ballets, but nothing seemed quite right.
Then the film producer, actor and political activist Tina Keeper, who you might know as the North of 60 cop, joined our board and suggested there might be something in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Tina met with Marie Wilson, one of the TRC commissioners. The TRC agreed they were interested in having a ballet company take on the residential school story, because they could reach an audience they wouldn’t otherwise.
Sophia Lee in Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation. Photo by Réjean Brandt Photography
Where did the title of Going Home Star come from?
MG: When I first spoke with Tina Keeper, I suggested this could be a going home story. Then, as I got deeper and deeper into the subject matter, I read about the First Nations history of star-watching. What we call the North Star is their Going Home Star. They say that if you can find that star, you will always know where home is.
One of the beautiful things I contemplated about the Going Home Star is that if you just stare at it, you are forever lost. But if you use it as a reference, you can find your way home. Similarly, the Truth aspect of the TRC is a reference point that will guide you to your destination, but it is not the destination itself.
How did you make sure the story of residential schools was told right?
MG: I logged hours and hours over eight months listening to the testimonies of the TRC. At first I wanted to use the actual testimonies, but they were too raw, like an open wound. And they weren’t mine to use.
The guide for the work was Tina Keeper and we spent a lot of time meeting and speaking. She was a wonderful guide. Tina suggested bringing in Joseph Boyden to the project. I read his first two books, Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce, which had several characters that expressed emotions directly related to the residential schools. I knew we could have the testimonial element, but it needed to be fictionalized.
Tell me more about the story Joseph Boyden wrote for the ballet.
MG: Joseph based the story on two of the characters from Through Black Spruce, Annie and Gordon. Annie is a young Aboriginal woman who lives a contemporary life and doesn’t know her past. Gordon is a homeless aboriginal man and a survivor of residential schools. In Going Home Star, Gordon passes the truth of the past to Annie using flashbacks to two children, Niska and Charlie. One of the beautiful things about what Joseph wrote was that each of the four characters represents one of the four directions of the medicine wheel, and by coming together they create a wholeness.
How did you choose Tanya Tagaq and the Northern Cree Singers for the score?
MG: Tina and I spoke about these disparate concepts – the European art form of ballet and Aboriginal culture – and how to put the two together. I knew right away that the only thing that was going to bridge this gap was the music.
I approached Christos Hatzis, who had incorporated string quartet with throat singing and recorded sound, and he was interested right away. I told him about Tanya Tagaq, who has this incredible psychic force she draws upon. Serendipitously, it turns out that Joseph Boyden and Tanya Tagaq are very close friends, like brother and sister. We also brought in Steve Wood & the Northern Cree Singers. Steve Wood has this amazing, intimate, textured voice, and he really influenced my thinking in the way he spoke about the culture.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company dancers in Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation. Photo by Samanta Katz
What inspired the dance vocabulary you created for Going Home Star?
MG: I had huge concerns about using Aboriginal dance in any shape or form. It’s very sacred and I didn’t want to do a Hollywood version of a native dance. I’m really a contemporary choreographer who uses classical steps. Luckily, contemporary movement is grounded and contracted in ways that lend itself to this story – the way people gather together, and little steps that might harken to some aboriginal dance.
I wanted to let the composer compose and then create the ballet from the music. For the composer to create, we had to be specific in what we wanted, but once the music came out, the ballet had to adapt to that. At the end of the day, I was so powerfully influenced by everyone I worked with – including Métis designer KC Adams who created the set and Paul Daigle who did the costumes. In fact, this project, this collaboration will always be at the top of my list.
I hope that if we all contribute to carrying that pain, maybe it won’t weigh quite as much.
How did this experience affect you and the company?
MG: It’s the subject matter. It really got into all of us.
Tina wanted more from this ballet – an awareness from everyone involved about the culture and who they are. So we had sweat lodges and people from the Aboriginal community came to speak with us. They even blessed the beginning of the project with a smudging ceremony.
Ballet dancers aren’t used to taking time off to have these kinds of exchanges. That was really different, but incredibly welcomed. A lot of our dancers are young and come from far-away lands. They knew nothing about Canadian culture, and they were deeply moved and influenced by the stories.
I’ve never cried before in front of my dancers, but I was reduced to tears on many occasions. And there was such a sense of responsibility. In Through Black Spruce, Joseph wrote about the idea of having others help carry the burden. I hope that if we all contribute to carrying that pain, maybe it won’t weigh quite as much.
Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation plays at the NAC January 28th, 29th, and 30th. Tickets are available online. To enter to win a pair of tickets for Friday, January 29th, send an email to apartment613@gmail.com with the subject line “Going Home Star”. The winner will be picked at noon on Thursday, January 28th.
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