School fans the flame of artistic desire

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Landing feet first in the vibrant Toronto theatre scene can be pretty intense, especially if you happen to be a Native student hailing from Yellowknife, Kodiak Island, Alaska or some small reserve in Saskatchewan.

But some people belong on the stage, said Saskatchewan actress Carol Greyeyes, principal and artistic director of the Indigenous Theatre School. They gotta sing, gotta dance, gotta act. It's in their blood as much as it's in their hearts.

"Life in the theatrical world is pretty intense. That's why we encourage anyone interested to try out our summer school. It's residential, everything is provided for you. You are cosseted in this little nest. You get to try it out, see if it likes you and you like it. At the end of the summer session, if you do get the bug, then you can decide to go on, do the 'Full Monty', go for it, the full-time ITS program."

After 25 years as a summer theatre camp and two years as a full-time school, the Indigenous Theatre School is the only dramatic arts school in North America with the sole purpose of developing contemporary performance art based on a distinctively Native cultural foundation.

And it doesn't just help to be Aboriginal. It's a must. There are no exceptions to the rule. To be a student you have to be Native, treaty, non-status or Metis. The school also takes Indigenous people from all over the world.

"One of our goals is to promote and exchange with Indigenous cultures of the world. We had one girl who was Sami from Sweden who spoke English, Swedish and Sami. When she came to the summer theatre school she was completely overwhelmed because one of our American instructors was Blackfeet. They were doing a cultural teaching and she said that the similarities were astounding between Blackfeet cultural protocol and the Sami ceremonies," said Greyeyes.

The learning environment at ITS is tailored to fit the needs of Native people. While you don't have to have a high school education, you do have to be at least 19 years old.

"With this type of education, it's very helpful to have an oral background. So much of what you learn, you learn by doing it. You use your body, mind, spirit and heart in order to create the work, the art. We follow cultural protocol by acknowledging our spiritual nature, calling on cultural memory, fitting ourselves into that process," said Greyeyes.

Being a Native organization in Toronto means that you really have to band together as much as possible, work closely with other Aboriginal organizations. The Indigenous Theatre School uses the Native Canadian Centre for fund- raisers and socials, the services of Native Child and Anishawba Health which provides naturopaths, chiropractors and health clinics free for Native students.

"There is a good support system in place when students make that scary transition, like coming out of rural Saskatchewan or the N.W.T. and learning to navigate the Toronto subway system," said Greyeyes.

Toronto has some of the highest rental rates and lowest rates of available accommodation of any major urban city in Canada, but the Indigenous Theatre School has access to the Ryerson College housing registry and helps each incoming student find a place to live.

The school is right in the heart of the theatre and garment district, a short walk from the CN Tower and Skydome in the downtown. Studio spaces for classroom work are located in the west end in a more residential setting.

Diving headfirst into the full-time ITS scene means learning first year performance arts skills - what Greyeyes calls "hands-on rigorous developmental training."

"It's a real apprenticeship in theatre where you learn voice, dance, acting, improvisation. You are in the studio working on all these things; it's major skill acquisition.

"Second year is much more of an application of those skills in a kind of semi-professional situation. The students create, direct and star in their own performance pieces. They also get to strut their stuff in the Spring Showcas, a mentoring situation with professional Native actors as role models, and undergoing, as close to a professional show experience as possible, using equity rules, rehearsal and stage performance in a real theatre," said Greyeyes.

"We have a very holistic oral program taught by highly qualified staff: Boye Ladd, champion powwow dancer/teacher; Michael Greyeyes, actor/dancer/choreographer; Muriel Migel (Spiderwoman Theatre); Margo Kane (Full Circle Native Performance); Mark Christmann (Stratford Festival); Jani Lauzon, actor/singer; Sadie Buck (Banff Centre, Six Nations Singers); Lee Maracle, poet/novelist; and myself Carol Greyeyes, actor/director.

"We really look for people who are masters of their craft, who can empower students to do the kind of art they want to do, give them the confidence to express honestly, creatively and dramatically right across the board, learn those performance skills. They are the kind of skills that can be applied to anything, from play therapy to acting, singing, dancing, writing, directing," said Greyeyes.

From 1974 until 1998, the Native Theatre School provided summer school programming to help develop Native actors, directors and playwrights. Once the full-time program had been established in 1998, the question was raised,

'Do we really need a summer school?'

The answer was a resounding yes, said Greyeyes.

"The summer school provides the opportunity for people to try out the program, a low commitment, low risk, low investment scenario. Some people are just not in the position to move to Toronto, full time. Others get very excited and interested in our full-time program.

"Traditionally, our students are a mix. They have had a guest spot on North of 60 or landed a role in Big Bear. One of our students from Flying Dust Reserve in Saskatchewan had a small part in Big Bear, very quickly got the acting bug and realized that he needed more training. We also get teachers, social workers and students who always wanted to try acting."

A non-ccredited school at this time, ITS is seeking independent Native-run accreditation for political reasons.

"It doesn't make sense for an Aboriginal institution to be judged by non-Aboriginal guidelines. That means you can't get an Ontario government student loan, but for an apprenticeship in theatre arts, a student could apply for training dollars from their band."

Taking the fruits of their theatrical experience back home to the reserves, settlements, small towns and cities is part of a full circle of cultural learning and sharing.

"I believe that there is a need for communities to have these kinds of programs. At present most have sports facilities, a gym, a rink, but nothing for people who are not athletically [inclined]. Our objective is not to create stars. Students coming to Toronto join the ranks of the unemployed actors. Ninety per cent go back home and apply to their communities what they have learned here, because really, what we teach are skills. They have to get the cultural specifics from where they are from. Whether that means starting up a youth group that does drama, writing a play about who they are, where they come from, starting a radio station or creating a television script, we are the catalyst. They are our emissaries. It is their generation that is going to carry the culture forward. We fan their flames. It is their job to take that creative flame back and spread it out," said Greyeyes.