2026 Summer Employment Opportunity

Documentation from our 2022 ASAP presentation at the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film.

2026 SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Aanmitaagzi is currently seeking applicants aged 15 – 30 for it’s 2026 Summer Arts Program. The deadline to apply is June 30, 2026. Full details can be found below.

Job title: Community Arts Intern
Length of contract: 8 weeks
Hours per week: 35
Hourly wage: $20.00
Start date: July 6, 2026
Location: Big Medicine Studio – 161 Couchie Memorial Dr., North Bay, ON
Deadline to apply: June 30, 2026

Background:

Aanmitaagzi is an Indigenous multi-disciplinary artist-run company based in Nipissing First Nation. Linked to provincial, national, and international networks, Aanmitaagzi is committed to fostering a vibrant arts community through community-engaged projects that promote well-being, strengthen relationships with the land, and incorporate intergenerational approaches and methodologies. Aanmitaagzi combines art making, education, professional development & social activism through contemporary and customary arts, nurturing historic Indigenous arts practices and exploring how these practices can be carried forward in a meaningful contemporary context.

Every year, we run an annual summer arts program that gives Indigenous youth the opportunity to learn from and work with respected Indigenous arts professionals and Elders. This year’s Summer Arts Program (ASAP) will take place from July 6 – August 28, 2026. Over the eight weeks of the program, Aanmitaagzi’s lead artists and invited guest artists will work with the youth participants, providing training in areas such as storytelling and creation, acting, dancing, movement, voice, singing, drumming, visual and installation art, as well as customary Indigenous arts practices and cultural teachings. Through artmaking and ensemble building, the youth and artists will collaboratively create a performance work that incorporates elements of dance/theatre as well as arts installations for public presentation, and engages with Aanmitaagzi’s current arts initiative, All My R(el)ations.

Tasks and responsibilities:

The Community Arts Interns will receive on the job training in a variety of artistic disciplines such as traditional and non-traditional storytelling, acting, theatre, dance, voice, puppetry, visual art, installation art, and customary Indigenous arts practices. They will further develop their communications and interpersonal skills and learn the fundamental aspects of event planning and delivery, production management, and outreach and marketing. They will also participate in the creation and delivery of workshops, events, activities, and presentations that will be open to the public.

Specific duties will include:

  • Working with Aanmitaagzi staff, guest artists, and community members under the supervision of the Co-Artistic Directors
  • Working with and receiving mentorship from arts professionals, Elders, and cultural knowledge keepers in a variety of disciplines
  • Working collaboratively to create work for public presentation
  • Participating in other arts events, festivals, and community engagement activities the organization engages in
  • Communicating with community members, Elders, and peers for the purposes of coordination and outreach
  • Supporting services to community members and facilitating engagement between youth and Elders
  • Promoting, supporting, and helping to coordinate the organization’s events and activities

In addition, the youth will be responsible for helping to maintain a safe and organized workspace, following established schedules, completing assigned tasks in a timely fashion, and fostering a positive, creative, and respectful work environment.

Eligibility:

These positions are funded through federal employment programs. To be eligible for employment, youth must:

  • be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment
  • be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment
  • have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations
  • be fluent in English

Ideal candidates:

The ideal candidates for this job position are full-time secondary or post-secondary Indigenous youth pursuing a career in the arts (e.g. dance, theatre, fine arts, etc.) or Indigenous studies, however candidates pursuing careers in related fields (e.g. arts administration, health & wellness programs, social work, etc.) will also be considered. Please note that youth not currently in school will also be considered.

Application Process:

Interested applicants are asked to send their resumes and a brief cover letter explaining why they are interested in participating in our summer arts program to aanmitaagzi@gmail.com by June 30, 2026. Only applicants selected for interview will be contacted.

For more information, please contact Sid Bobb, Co-Artistic Director, by phone at (705) 474-2227 or by email at aanmitaagzi@gmail.com.

 

“I Love the Moon, the Grass and the Stars” at Festa 2026

I Love the Moon, the Grass and the Stars

May 19, 2026 at 4:00 pm COT (UTC-5)

Aanmitaagzi is excited to announce that Sid Bobb and Ouske Couchie-Bobb will be presenting a new work, I Love the Moon, the Grass and the Stars, as part of Festa 2026!

I Love the Moon, the Grass and the Stars is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary work inspired by CONVERSATIONS: Hidden Stories, which is also being presented at this year’s festival. The work moves between pow wow dance, storytelling, spoken word/poetry, and song. Sid Bobb (Sto:lo/People of the River) and Ouske Couchie-Bobb (Sto:lo/Nipissing Anishinaabe), father and son, will share the stories they carry and that a carry them: their regalia, dance, and traditional creation stories. They will share their relationship with CONVERSATIONS. Their dance gives thanks to the traditional lands they dance on, the breath of life, and expresses their commitment to women and the future.

Credits:

Performed by: Sid Bobb (Dancer/Storyteller) & Ouske Couchie-Bobb (Dancer/ Storyteller)

White Grass Dance Regalia: Ouske Couchie-Bobb (Designer), Tracey Larochelle (Textile Art), Penny Couchie (Textile Art), Phil Gray (Visual Art), Tom Barker (Dancing Stick)

Blue Grass Dance Regalia: Sid Bobb (Designer, Feather Fan, Textile Art), Penny Couchie (Assistant Designer & Textile Art), Tracey Larochelle (Textile Art), Beverley Myran (Beadwork), Samantha Mianskum (Beadwork), Tom Barker (Dancing Stick)

Men’s Traditional Regalia: Tracey Larochelle (Textile Art), Dan Commanda (Feather Fan, Bone Breastplate), Tim McGregor (Feather Bustle)

This work is presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Conversations at Festa 2026

CONVERSATIONS: Hidden Stories

May 21, 2026 at 6:00 pm COT (UTC-5)

Aanmitaagzi Story Makers and Vanguardia Dance Projects are excited to present CONVERSATIONS: Hidden Stories as part of the Festival de Teatro Alternativo (Festa) taking place in Bogotá, Colombia from May 15 through May 23, 2026. Festa is a biennial festival of alternative theatre works that has been taking place in Bogotá since 1990. It is a platform for contemporary Colombian theatre that showcases multi-cultural works by regional and national groups alongside those by international companies.This year’s festival features over 85 performances across 25 venues including 80 theatre, dance, and performance art works.

CONVERSATIONS: Hidden Stories is a dialogue of bodies extended in various latitudes of the Americas. Starting from the investigation of “body and territory” by the Colombian-Canadian choreographer Olga Barrios, this work seeks a conversation between women through the Americas, seeking a South-North echo. Barrios’ research/creation explores the traces of Indigenous heritage that have been erased in her journey, as has happened with many people in various places in America and the planet. This work is based on the woman of many colours that she experiences in herself and with the many other voices in the world that seek connection with ideas of traces erased from history.

Production Credits

Director & Choreographer: Olga Barrios
Dancers & Text Creators: Norma Araiza, Olga Barrios, Penny Couchie, Animikiikwe Couchie-Waukey, Lilia León
Guest Dancer: Maria Lucia Llano
Composer & Sound Designer: Edgardo Moreno
Projection Artist: Alejandra Higuera and Olga Barrios
Stage Manager: Kelsey Ruhl
Costumes: Jennifer Kelly
Lighting Design: Trevor Schwellnus

Locations of work development: Big Medicine Studio (Nipissing First Nation), Arcadia Artists Co-op & National Ballet of Canada (Toronto)

This work is presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.

New Spring Workshop Series!

Spring Workshop Series 2026

Aanmitaagzi is excited to announce a new series of workshops in April to get ready for this year’s pow wow season. The workshops will be led by Eva Couchie, who has decades of harvesting and making knowledge to share. We also have a lot of beautiful supplies, so come make with us!


15″ Hand Drum Making Workshop

Friday, April 10th or Saturday, April 11th
9:00am to 4:30pm
Cost: $200 including materials

Learn how to lace a hand drum using elk hides and hard wood frames. Materials will be provided.


Easy-Peasy Ribbon Skirts or Shirts

Friday, April 17th or Saturday, April 18th
9:00am to 4:30pm
Cost: $100 plus materials

Choose from various sizes, shapes and colours of pre-made skirts or shirts, or bring your own to work on. There will be an assortment of ribbon in different colours and widths, and satins in various colours for appliqué. There are sewing machines on site, but participants are free to bring their own.

 


Porcupine Quillwork on 4″ Birch Bark

Friday, April 24th or Saturday, April 25th
9:00am to 4:30pm
Cost: $125 including materials

Learn how to use traditionally harvested bark and quills to make medallions, basket tops, and accessories. Materials will be provided.


The workshops will take place at Big Medicine Studio, 161 Couchie Memorial Drive, North Bay, ON. There is a maximum of 10 spots for each workshop, so pay your registration fee early to save your seat! To register or for more information, please call or message Eva Couchie at (705) 237-8393 or ecouchie@gmail.com and include the day(s) you are available. The date for each workshop with most available participants will be the one chosen.

Niimi’iwe Dance Double Bill at Native Earth Performing Arts

Aanmitaagzi is very excited to present Conversations: Hidden Stories with Vanguardia Dance Projects as part of the Niimi’iwe Dance Double Bill at Native Earth Performing Arts this week! The show will run from February 5 – 8, 2026 at Aki Studio in Toronto, and will be accompanied by a workshop led by Vanguardia’s Co-Artistic Director Norma Papalotl Araiza at 11:00 am on Saturday. The other half of the Double Bill is Spine of the Mother by Raven Spirit Dance, and you can find out more about both productions below.

CONVERSATIONS: HIDDEN STORIES

Conversations was inspired by the investigation of “body and territory” by the Colombian-Canadian choreographer Olga Barrios. This work springs forth from the women of many colours that she experiences in herself and the many other voices in the world that seek connection with ideas of traces erased from history. In 2023, under the direction of Olga, the artists of Vanguardia and Aanmitaagzi came together with the desire to share, investigate and explore the land, people, culture and stories we are connected to. Looking at stories of displacement and erasure, Conversations is a journey through what has separated us from ourselves and each other. Through soil, fabric, land and water, the work reaffirms a sovereign right to ancestral memory, connection and future.

Photo by Colin Boyd Shafer

CREDITS:

Creators: Norma Araiza, Penny Couchie, Animikiikwe Couchie, Lilia León, Olga Barrios
Dancers: Norma Araiza, Lilia León, Olga Barrios
Guest Dancers: Lucia Llano, Maria Riaño
Director & Choreographer: Olga Barrios
Composer and Sound Designer: Edgardo Moreno
Projection Designs: Alejandra Higuera and Olga Barrios
Visual Artist: Sherry Guppy, Alejandra Higuera
Costumes: Jennifer Kelly
Lighting Design: Trevor Schwellnus
Stage Manager: Kelsey Ruhl

SPINE OF THE MOTHER

Tracing the inner terrain of our bodies as women through breath, impulse and memory unlocks kinetic energy creating ritual, which spans the spine of the mountain range we have shared for millennia.

The metaphor of the “Spine of Mother Earth” is a name given by Indigenous Elders in South America to the Andean mountain range that spans from the base in Argentina, through the Americas and ends at the tip of Alaska. Our bodies become the landscape like the mountain ranges that connect the North and South (the Eagle and the Condor) and through this we find our kinetic connection to others that transmits impulse, breath and spirit.

Spine of the Mother began as an innovative collaboration with Indigenous artists in Canada and Peru and over the past decade has been performed across Canada and most recently internationally at the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington, New Zealand as part of Raven Spirit Dance’s 20th Anniversary tour.

Photo by Yasu Okada

CREDITS:

Choreography: Starr Muranko
In collaboration with and performed by Tasha Faye Evans * and Marisa Gold *
Past performers and artistic lineage: Andrea Patriau, Olivia Shaffer and Sarah Formosa
Produced by: Raven Spirit Dance
Original Sound composition by: Edgardo Moreno (‘Gracias a la Vida’ sung by Daniela Andrade)
Lighting Design: Jonathan Kim
Video/Media Design: Sammy Chien
Dramaturge and Mentor: Alvin Tolentio
Mentor: Michelle Olson
Cultural Advisor: Jhaimy Alvarez-Acosta (Peru)
Original Costume Design: Ines Ortner
Additional costume design + Additional Dramaturgy: Alejandro Ronceria

* The participation of this Artist (these Artists) is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).

SHOWS:

Thursday, February 5th @ 7:30pm
Friday, February 6th @ 7:30pm
Saturday, February 7th @ 7:30pm
Sunday, February 8th @ 2:00pm

To buy tickets, please visit Native Earth’s website or click here.