Red Sky Performance to present ‘Trace’ at SUNY Oswego on Sept. 21

Canadian Indigenous dance troupe Red Sky Performance will present their most recent award-winning work “Trace” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Tyler Hall’s Waterman Theatre on the SUNY Oswego campus.

The first in-person Artswego production since spring 2020, the performance features Red Sky’s combination of contemporary Indigenous performance and highly kinetic dance moves with powerful imagery and live music. Designed as a breathtaking and multi-sensory experience for audiences of all ages and backgrounds, “Trace” is inspired by Indigenous (Anishinaabe) sky and star stories and features seven dancers, a live music ensemble and vibrant visual projections. 

The performance connects with the SUNY Oswego Institute for Global Engagement’s “Year of Native Nations” theme.

“We are traceable to the very beginnings of the universe, our ancestral origins stretching across the Milky Way to the atoms burning inside of us in the ‘here and now’ on earth,” the troupe’s website explains. “‘Trace’ is a highly kinetic contemporary dance work inspired by Indigenous (Anishinaabe) sky and star stories, offering a glimpse into our origin as well as our future evolution.”

An original commission in association with Canadian Stage, the performance has earned two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and four Dora Awards nominations.

The performance is part of the ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Student Leadership Conference and includes a post-show discussion for interested audience members.

The group’s press clippings routinely express admiration for the creativity, athleticism and narrative abilities of the company. “You can’t do better than Red Sky Performance,” NOW Magazine noted, lauding the troupe’s “magical and exemplary work.

The Toronto Globe and Mail praised “absolutely stunning stretches and body twists,” also calling the presentation “magnificent in the scope of its imagination ...mysterious in its beauty and driving in its beat.”

The Toronto Star called the troupe “a delight to the eye” and noted of a previous performance: “The players not only invite us into the tale but encourage us to become part of it as well.”

In addition to the performance, the company’s Artistic and Executive Director Sandra Laronde will provide an in-classroom talk to an “Introduction to Native American Studies” class, which will be accessible virtually, at 11:15 on Sept. 21. 

The Toronto-based and highly accomplished arts leader, creator, innovator and influential speaker will discuss her career, work, inspiration and other topics, taking audience questions. Visit the Artswego website, oswego.edu/artswego, for more details and on how to attend her talk virtually.

Tickets to the evening Red Sky Performance presentation of “Trace” are free for SUNY Oswego students; $5 for other students; $15 for SUNY Oswego faculty, staff and alumni; and $20 for the general public. Visit tickets.oswego.edu to make reservations.

For more information on arts events at SUNY Oswego, visit oswego.edu/artswego.