Misdemeanor Dream in South Dakota

Production image for Misdemeanor Dream

After several weeks of rehearsals and prep, Spiderwoman Theater’s Misdemeanor Dream is hitting the stage in South Dakota! From February 20 – 24, the company will be at the University of South Dakota (USD) in Vermillion, presenting a series of workshops in addition to two evening performances on Friday and Saturday in the campus’s Knutson Theatre. South Dakota is the first of three stops on Spiderwoman’s three-week midwest tour.

Misdemeanor Dream is a multi-generational, multi-disciplinary theatre project which brings together Indigenous performers, designers, and cultural practitioners from communities across Turtle Island. Weaving uncomfortable conversations with irreverent humour, it sheds light on personal and community stories of chaos and reclamation, of tricksters and spirits, of journeys through the star worlds and the between worlds.

Aanmitaagzi has been working on this project with Spiderwoman since the beginning, and our Co-Artistic Director Penny Couchie, who is the choreographer for Misdemeanor Dream, travelled to New York City earlier this month to be part of the rehearsal process. After briefly returning home, Penny and other members of the company are now in South Dakota to help with the production, including putting up the installation & set pieces that were developed at Big Medicine Studio and helping to facilitate the workshops.

Here are a couple of images of the installation at USD, the set being built, and the storyweaving workshop facilitated by Muriel Miguel, Penny Couchie, and Imelda Villalon.Photo of the Misdemeanor Dream installation at USD.

Photo of Aanmitaagzi members showing the installation work for Misemeanor Dream.Set building for Misdemeanor Dream in SDMisdemeanor Dream storyweaving workshopAanmitaagzi would like to acknowledge and thank everyone that has supported and been a part of this project over the years. It has been an amazing project to work on and we are thrilled to continue to be a part of it.

Misdemeanor Dream opens March 10th in NYC

Misdemeanor Dream at the Abrons Arts Centre, February 2020. Photo by Sherry Guppy.

After months of hard work, Aanmitaagzi and Spiderwoman Theater are proud to present Misdemeanor Dream at La Mama’s Ellen Stewart Theater in New York City. A multi-generational theatre project that brings together performers, designers, and cultural practitioners from across Turtle Island, Misdemeanor Dream uses storyweaving, text, movement, sound, video, and installation to explore current and traditional stories. languages, and identities through characters both of this world and of other worlds.

The show opens March 10, 2022 and runs through March 27, 2022. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit La Mama’s website.

Spiderwoman Theater 40th Anniversary

LU! LU! LU! LU! An Evening Celebrating Spiderwoman Theater’s 40 Years
September 19, 2017
Ellen Stewart Theatre | 66 E 4th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY
Festivities begin at 7:30 pm; Afterparty at 10:30PM to 12:30AM

Aanmitaagzi is hitting the road again. This time they are headed to the Big Apple to perform at Spiderwoman Theater‘s 40th Anniversary bash! The celebration takes place at La Mama Theater’s Ellen Stewart Theatre in Manhattan’s Lower East Side starting at 7:30 pm and will feature performances from Aanmitaagzi, Alessandra Belloni, Bloolips, Carmelita Tropicana, Coatlicue Theatre, Josephine Tarrant, Kevin Tarrant and the SilverCloud Singers, Lacey Hill, Laura Ortman, Leaf Arrow Theatre, Louis Mofsie, Monique Mojica, Murielle Borst-Tarrant, Soni Moreno, Split Britches, Talking Band, Taylor Mac, Thunderbird Sisters, A Tribe Called Red, and Spiderwoman Theater!

For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.spiderwomantheater.org.

Material Witness heading to the Harbourfront Centre July 27, 2017

Material Witness performers (clockwise from top-left) – Donna Couteau, Cherish Blood, Ange Loft, Gloria Miguel, and Penny Couchie.

Aanmitaagzi will be back in Toronto next week to present Material Witness, Co-produced by Spiderwoman Theater, at the Living Ritual: International Indigenous Performing Arts Festival taking place at the Harbourfront Centre from July 25 – 27, 2017.

Material Witness, is a multi-generational, multi-disciplinary performance/installation project that explores stories of violence, healing and renewal in the lives of Indigenous women. Incorporating stories re-worked and refined by the performers (pictured above) through storyweaving sessions led by Director Muriel Miguel, and set/installation elements developed through the Pulling Threads workshops and Aanmitaagzi’s community-engaged artists, Material Witness will be presented in the Fleck Dance Theatre along with Thomas E.S. Kelly’s (MIS)CONCEIVE starting at 8:00 pm on July 27, 2017.

Tickets for the Thursday evening performances are $20.00, and can be purchased from the Harbourfront Centre on their website or by calling the box office at 416-973-4000.

For more information about the Living Ritual: International Indigenous Perfroming Arts Festival, or to obtain festival passes please visit www.kahawidance.org/living-ritual.