Ghost River Theatre and One Yellow Rabbit are inviting audiences to Echoes of the Land as part of the High Performance Rodeo. It’s an invitation to immerse themselves in a sound bath led by traditional drummers Cedric Lightning and Skip Wolf Leg. It also features musician and spoken word artists Kris Demeanor, Kenna Burima and Alanna Bluebird Onespot.
Burima and Onespot sat down to chat about the production.
“I’m excited to see it all come together as the final show, because we’re still weaving it together,” Onespot said.
“This production is not just a musical, it’s theatrical and I feel like I’m fully immersed in this really new way,” Burima said.
Collaborating and immersing with Indigenous musicians is new to Burima and she is thrilled to be listening and creating in a new way to her. It’s exciting and a little terrifying.
“I come from a ceremonial background, so I ground myself and make sure I’m in a good headspace, and then it comes out, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Onespot said about her creative process.
“I’m really struck by how it’s so important to just show up, and try things out,” Burima adds.
They invite the audience to let go for an hour. Each night will be slightly different but the same structure will be in place. It’s like when you make a cake, the ingredients are the same, but it turns out slightly different each time you make it.
“We want to invite audience members to feel safe to have a different experience as well,” Burima said, as this creative experience is different from any other project she has worked on.
Echoes of the Land is an opportunity to experience connection to the land and to music, it’s a chance to really dig in.
Ghost River Theatre with One Yellow Rabbit’s presentation of Echoes of the Land opens January 17th at the West Village Theatre. More information is available online.