Video

Flashback Friday

An oldie from James Jones and A Tribe Called Red By Emma Kerson

Video by AUX

Flashback videos are always exciting when they feature something timeless and contemporary existing simultaneously. That’s what DJ crew A Tribe Called Red brings to electronic music. The Ontario-based collective is taking the global scene by storm, with musical influences like traditional pow wow drums and vocals living at the heart of their sound. The group formed in 2008 and currently includes DJ NDN, Bear Witness, and 2oolman. Engaged activists, particularly with Idle No More, they celebrate contemporary Indigenous culture.

This video from the 2013 Polaris Music Prize features hoop dancer and pow wow fit instructor James Jones playing with a mix of b-boy and traditional movement.

If you’d like to check out the group live, they’ll be busy touring internationally in the new year, but Canada will luck out with one stop at The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto this January 19 through 21.

Learn more >> atribecalledred.com, jonesdancer.com

Posted January 5, 2018

Caribana is Our Stage

Themes of becoming, shaping from and returning to are central to Caribbean performance arts. As one of these art forms, Carnival is a nuanced performance art practice rooted in the cultural memory of the lives of Caribbean peoples throughout Canada and the diaspora. But whose story is told (or not told) and in what context? The telling or omission of stories can be traced to a lack of understanding of the complexity of the Caribbean and its Carnival – a performance tradition that is more than the mass commodification, sexuality and “loud music” we often associate it with.

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Formal Mediations

PROSE is a screendance collaboration loosely based on the romanticized story of Allen Ginsberg and Lucien Carr and plays with the idea of keeping a calm composure when faced with overwhelming pressure.

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