We had to make magic happen one last time. When you click, you click.
It was a grey, drizzling day my last morning in Vancouver, but we gathered up and met at the beach. Maddie is a talented dancer in many styles, and I’ve been exploring the idea of dance and ‘Indigenous dance’ and what that means. I’m interested in ‘traditional’ styles of dance, but also when we take other styles and what we bring into it, as Indigenous people with our own viewpoints and aesthetics.
With makeup by Indigenous Barbie, this YVR indigenous team made good that day. There’s something so powerful about when indigenous women collaborate – work together and pool our strengths and just trust one another to do our best. Maddie was so open with me, and so fearless – it was cold that day, but she just went for it. And Elisha’s makeup work was flawless, as usual, and she came with us as we carried blankets and jackets, making sure Maddie had breaks to warm up. And in between all that, we laughed, told stories, giggled, and laughed at me as I bossed around Maddie.
Indigenous women rise, indeed.
