Indigenous origin story is honoured in Red Sky Performance’s ‘Miigis: Underwater Panther’

Toronto’s internationally lauded Red Sky Performance returns to the theatre with the premiere of “Miigis: Underwater Panther,” a work inspired by a foundational Anishinaabe prophecy that Red Sky founder Sandra Laronde believes has never been brought to the stage before.

The title refers to particular sea-snail shells, popularly known as cowrie shells, that apart from their long practical usage have profound spiritual significance in Anishinaabe culture.

“It’s akin to the Holy Grail. It’s central to our origin story,” said Laronde, Red Sky’s founder/director and the work’s creator. “The miigis has been used for many purposes, but in our tradition we think of it as spirited. It’s not just an object. It’s a guide.”

In Anishinaabe mythology the miigis had a crucial guiding role in the great migration over many centuries of Indigenous peoples from the northeast coast, the “Land of the Dawn,” westward toward a place far away in the continental heartland “where food grows on water,” the food being wild rice.

The subtitle “Underwater Panther” conjures a powerful creature, a ruler of the underwater world that, if respected, can assist an epic journey from salt water to fresh.

As Laronde explained, the migration was prompted by a collection of visionary prophecies — the Seven Fires — in which elders foretold pending disaster for those who remained. Some were understandably reluctant to uproot. Given what transpired with the arrival of Europeans, the prophecy was tragically all too prescient.

The hour-long “Miigis: Underwater Panther,” running at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre, is directed and choreographed by Laronde in collaboration with the performers, who include a four-women, two-men cast of dancers and four live musicians.

Red Sky has always been noted for the visceral power of its athletic dancing, its theatrical flair and for polished production value. The aim is immersively to stir the senses of sight and sound and stimulate audiences’ imaginations.

The artistic team includes lighting designer Matt Eckensweiler, costume designer Lesley Hampton, and video design, motion graphics and animation by Febby Tan and Julia Tribe, whose large skeletal carapace evokes both the materiality and spiritual symbolism of the miigis while also serving as an adaptable prop in the unfolding story.

Laronde, who grew up as part of the Teme-Augama Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water) community in Temagami, points out that while the new work is not intended as a literal interpretation nor as a conventional narrative its essential substance is historical fact.

“It’s not just a story or a myth. It’s what happened,” said Laronde.

She explains that this new production, inspired by the third of the seven prophecies, is part of a much larger project she hopes will see each prophecy given similarly discrete attention with the eventual goal of presenting all seven in a festival format.

“Miigis: Underwater Panther” is Red Sky’s fourth collaboration with Canadian Stage.

“We love working with them,” said Laronde. “They’ve always been such champions and true partners.”

The Toronto premiere run of “Miigis” is just the start of an ambitious two-month cross-continental tour that will include Red Sky’s first appearance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Through the communicative magic of live theatre, it’s an important opportunity for audiences to experience and honour a foundational component of North American Indigenous culture.

SHARE: