2023 Summer Employment Opportunity

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

2023 SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Aanmitaagzi is currently seeking applicants aged 15 – 30 for it’s 2023 Summer Arts Program. The deadline to apply is June 16, 2023. Full details can be found below.

Job title: Youth Arts Intern
Number of positions: 16
Length of contract: 8 weeks
Hours per week: 35
Hourly wage: $16.00
Start date: July 4, 2023
Location: Big Medicine Studio – 161 Couchie Memorial Dr., North Bay, ON

Deadline to apply: June 16, 2023

Background:

Aanmitaagzi is an Indigenous multi-disciplinary artist-run company based in Nipissing First Nation. Linked to provincial, national, and international networks, we are 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. We combine 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 4 – August 25, 2023. Over the eight weeks of the program, our 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 art making 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 our most recent arts initiative, All My R(el)ations. The public presentation will take place on August 11, 2023.

Tasks and responsibilities:

The Youth 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, and 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 no longer in school or pursuing careers in related fields (e.g. arts administration, health & wellness programs, social work, etc.) 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 16, 2023. 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.

This year’s Summer Arts Program is generously supported by the Government of Canada (Canada Summer Jobs & Young Canada Works), the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Comedic Improv workshop April 2nd

Poster for the Comedic Improv workshop for the Sun Dog Theatre Festival.

Aanmitaagzi is happy to be working with ON THE EDGE Fringe to present a Comedic Improv workshop for the Sun Dog Theatre Festival on April 2nd at Vinyasa Yoga Studio. Full details of the workshop can be found below. For more information about the Sun Dog Theatre Festival, please visit their website.

Comedic Improv for Beginners with Aanmitaagzi

Time: Sunday, April 2, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Vinyasa Yoga Studio – 352 Algonquin Avenue
Admission: Pay-What-You-Can
Max. Participants: 20

Comedic improv is a great way to release your inner storyteller and have some fun! It teaches you how to think on your feet and work collaboratively while honing your listening skills and group awareness. In this workshop, participants will engage in improv ice breakers and warm-ups and will then be led through a series of introductory improv exercises and games. Principles of play, spontaneity, and listening, as well as making and accepting offers will also be explored.

Revisiting imaginative play can be intimidating but participants will have the opportunity to take risks in a nurturing environment. We will examine the basic elements of improv: the performer / improviser, their environment, their scene partners, the story / plot, and the audience. Participants will learn how to tell a story focusing on creating and establishing their environments and characters, developing conflict, and finding resolutions.

This workshop is intended for beginners of all ages and abilities or as a chance to revisit the fundamentals.

To register for this workshop, please contact Tara Windatt at info@ontheedgefringe.com.

ALL MY R(el)ATIONS opens Ice Follies 2023

A poster for Aanmitaagzi's presentation of ALL MY R(el)ATIONS, a spontaneaous performance and celebration of community on the ice. The performance will take place on February 10, 2023 at 7 pm at Shabogesic Beach (formerly known as Marathon Beach) in North Bay, ON as part of Ice Follies' Opening Night celebrations.

Aanmitaagzi is pleased to present ALL MY R(el)ATIONS, a large-scale multi-structure installation and performance on February 10, 2023 at 7 pm. The performance will take place as part of the Opening Night festivities of Ice Follies 2023. ALL MY R(el)ATIONS is part of our multi-year project, All My R(el)ations, a multi-disciplinary project of gathering, reflecting, and dreaming that explores the themes of relationality and resource capacity.

When developing this work we looked at stories around the abundance that was present when the first person arrived at this world, contemplating this abundance and our role within it. We explored stories of the rationing of our culture, language, traditional territory, and ourselves. The installation and performances were created collaboratively with our artists and community members through our ongoing weekly winter workshops series.

We are also excited to co-present Paper Canoe Projects’ Prophecy Fog, created and performed by award winning theatre artist Jani Lauzon. The performance will take place over two nights at Big Medicine Studio on February 16 & 17 at 7 pm.

Ice Follies is a site-specific biennial festival that takes place on frozen Lake Nipissing (Nbisiing) near Shabogesic Beach (Shaabgiizhig Jiigbiik). The 2023 theme “Thin Ice” (Nbagzi Mkwam) looks at our shifting landscapes and communities, including our changing relationships with our environment and each other. This is Ice Follies’ 10th Edition, and they are celebrating this year with free performances, large-scale art installations, community engaged artworks and activities, and a curated look-back at the history of this one-of-a-kind festival.

For more information, please visit www.icefollies.ca or contact Aanmitaagzi at aanmitaagzi@gmail.com or (705) 474-2227.

*Note: Shabogesic Beach was formerly known as Marathon Beach.

Prophecy Fog coming to Big Medicine Studio

Poster for Prophecy Fog, a new work by Jani Lauzon, showing at Big Medicine Studio on February 16 & 17, 2023 at 7 pm. Big Medicine Studio is located at 161 Couchie Memorial Dr. in North Bay, ON. Admission is Pay-What-You-Can and there is limited seating on chairs & pillows.

Prophecy Fog
February 16 & 17, 2023 @ 7 pm

Duration: Approx. 75 mins
Age recommendations: 14+
Admission: Pay-What-You-Can

A new work by award-winning artist Jani Lauzon, Prophecy Fog begins with a journey into the Mojave Desert in search of Giant Rock, armed with the question: can a site still be sacred if it has been desecrated?

We encounter a girl in the mountains of B.C with a pocket full of stones, the rainbow warrior’s prophecy, and a mysterious inscription that obscures our past.

“We come from the stars, we are star people.”

Prophecy Fog weaves together the performance skills of veteran raconteur Jani Lauzon and the expertise of Environmental Designer Melissa Joakim, along with Director Franco Boni to elicit a conscious remembering of ancient prophecies that speak to rock teachings, star beings and earth changes.

Credits

Produced by: Paper Canoe Projects
Created and performed by: Jani Lauzon
Directed by: Franco Boni
Environmental Designer: Melissa Joakims
Dramaturgy: Brian Quirt
Movement Consultant: Julia Aplin

Initially developed through The Theatre Centre’s Tracy Wright Global Archive (with additional support by the Banff Playwrights Lab, Native Earth Performing Arts and Nightswimming Theatre). World premiere originally co-produced by Paper Canoe Projects and The Theatre Centre in association with Nightswimming Theatre.

Additional footage of Giant Rock used by permission from David Cherniack.

For more information, please contact Aanmitaagzi at (705) 474-2227 or aanmitaagzi@gmail.com, or visit papercanoeprojects.com.

Open Mic – January 27, 2023

Join us for an evening of music, poetry, song, and community featuring Migizi Country (Dan Commanda, Tyler Dokis, Dave Miner, and Leland Bell)! Have a song, poem, or story you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d just like to listen. Either way, the fun starts at 7 pm. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Sid Bobb at (705) 474-2227 or bobbsid@hotmail.com.