Dancer branches out creatively

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Dancer and choreographer Santee Smith didn't work for two years after her daughter, Semiah, was born.

"I had to have some time to connect with her and recover from the experience," Smith said. "I don't think I had a full eight hours sleep for a year-and-a-half [after she was born]. She was a difficult baby, and I was worn out."

Eventually, however, she had to get back to work. Carrying a child and giving birth had opened up a new world of artistic possibility.

"There was a lot of creative energy that happened afterwards," Smith said. "After the difficulties passed, I had all these ideas. Now my sleepless nights are because I'm working until four in the morning on administration stuff."

That's because Smith went straight from one big project-having a baby-to another big project. Kaha:wi, Smith's contemporary showcase of Iroquois-inspired song and dance, debuts at Toronto's Premiere Dance Theatre at Harbourfront Centre from June 3 to 6.

Kaha:wi-which means "she carries" in Mohawk-is an hour-long exploration of the natural world and the cycle of life that uses Iroquoian symbols and cultural concepts.

One of those concepts is the naming ceremony. Smith began working on Kaha:wi after her daughter inherited the Kaha:wi name from Smith's grandmother, Rita Vyse, after Vyse's death. The traditional Mohawk family name has been passed down along maternal bloodlines in Smith's family for generations. It celebrates the role of women in the cycle of life.

"This piece is a response to the birth of Semiah," Smith said. "I had Semiah, then I lost my grandmother at the same time, so I was thinking about the continuation of the life cycle. That was the seed."

Kaha:wi has a multilayered thematic narrative that starts with a spirit character who takes shape and is manifested into human form. A grandmother dies, two lovers engage in a sensual duet, and there is a birth. The daughter is named, and the piece ends with her emergence into womanhood.

Smith's choreography weaves full-cast ensemble work with two solos, two duets, and a quartet of four female dancers representing the four directions (and, later, four midwives). The moon is a big part of the stage design, because of the part it plays in regulating the female cycle.

"This is a very female-oriented piece," Smith said. "It's about celebrating woman as creator."

Smith collaborated with 35 Iroquois singers, songwriters, and musicians for the Kaha:wi project. Kaha:wi also features an international cast of 10 dancers, including April Doxtator (Oneida), Tamara Podemski (Ojibway), Kalani Queypo (Hawaiian/Blackfoot), and Smith.

Kaha:wi fuses contemporary dance with traditional social dance steps from the stomp dance, women's shuffle dance, and stick dance. Smith considers it a reflection of the true nature of Native culture.

"The story I'm telling is not a new story," Smith explained. "I'm just telling it in a new way. That's important, because our cultures are not static. We're always constantly evolving."

Smith has produced a CD of the songs from Kaha:wi. To get the material written and recorded, she worked with traditional song carriers, translators, and curator Tom Hill at the Woodland Cultural Centre. All the songs are based on traditional forms, and feature Iroquois instruments such as the water drum, horn rattles, and flute alongside European instruments such as the cello, piano, and guitar. The lyrics are in Mohawk, Cayuga, and Tuscarora.

"You don't have to understand the languages to get it," Smith said. "The music and the movement both mean something, and they work with each other to tell the story."

The soundtrack includes contributions from ElizaBeth Hill, Faron Johns, Sadie Buck, Mike Mitchell, and elder Gordon Buck, reciting a section of the Thanksgiving address. Working with so many musicians and singers could have been a logistical nightmare, but Smith is used to working collaboratively. When she's not dancing, she works withher parents, Leigh and Steven Smith, at Talking Earth Pottery on the Six Nations Reserve.

Smith credits her parents for supporting her as an artist. They're artists themselves, so they understand the financial pressures of a life in the arts, and the mental space artists need to create.

"I'm lucky that I live here with my mom and dad. If I were on my own, it would be a lot more difficult," Smith said.

Still, Kaha:wi has taken its toll. As an independent artist with no company backing, Smith is doing everything from administration and grant writing to scheduling rehearsals.

"I've aged five years in the last year," Smith said. "I've been stretching myself in too many different directions."

The experience has her thinking about starting her own dance company. If she can get it funded, then she could hire staff and free up her own time.

"I want to focus less on administrative stuff, and more on the creative stuff-the juicy stuff," Smith said.

Smith is currently planning to take Kaha:wi on tour in 2005, as the Yoh Ha Hee Yoh/It's A Good Road road show. The itinerary has not been confirmed, but Smith hopes to take the show to Brantford and St. Catharines before heading to Alberta, Saskatchewan, New York State, and Washington, D.C.

Smith is choreographing a new work for the touring version of the show.

"There's a tendency to see Native art from a historical perspective, in a museum, along with the bones, like we don't exist anymore. My push to create new work is to show that we exist, that we are creating, and that we are a living community of people."