{"id":113927,"date":"2025-04-29T12:40:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=113927"},"modified":"2025-04-29T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T18:00:01","slug":"preview-native-earth-performing-arts-presents-black-ballerina-syreeta-hector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/04\/29\/preview-native-earth-performing-arts-presents-black-ballerina-syreeta-hector\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Native Earth Performing Arts Presents Black Ballerina By Syreeta Hector"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_113929\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-113929\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-113929\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3.jpg\" alt=\"Dance artist Syreeta Hector in Black Ballerina (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-113929\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dance artist Syreeta Hector in Black Ballerina (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Native Earth Performing Arts will present Syreeta Hector\u2019s piece Black Ballerina from May 23-25, 2025 at Aki Studio. The work is based on Hector\u2019s own experiences in the world of classical ballet as someone who is both Black and Indigenous, and explores issues of identity and fitting in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlack Ballerina can be for anyone that has struggled to fit into society or a particular community,\u201d said <strong>Syreeta Hector<\/strong> in a statement. \u201cIt&#8217;s not just about race, it is also about reimagining what we can do for the sustainability of dance performance in our future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Black Ballerina is Part 2 of Native Earth\u2019s Niimi\u2019iwe Dance Series, which began with What We Carry by Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo in February 2025.<\/p>\n<h2>Syreeta Hector<\/h2>\n<p>Dance artist and educator Syreeta Hector is an Assistant Professor in Dance at York University. As a performer, she has worked with prominent companies such as Adelheid Dance Projects, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Citadel + Compagnie, and Toronto Dance Theatre. She earned as Masters degre in Dance Studies from York University, and is a graduate of The National Ballet School\u2019s Teacher Training Program and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>A Mi\u2019kmaq, African-Canadian and French Acadian, she is based in Toronto, Ontario. Syreeta is currently working on a second chapter in the Black Ballerina series, and recent commissions include ensemble works for Mocean Dance (Nova Scotia) and ProArteDanza (Ontario), and a new work for Kittiwake Dance Theatre (Newfoundland).<\/p>\n<p>Syreeta Hector&#8217;s Black Ballerina: The recording of this performance was showcased at the Building an IBPOC Touring Network: A Conference, May 29-30, 2023 at the Citadel + Compagnie (Toronto, ON, Canada)<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1U-7kVZkq_o?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>Black Ballerina<\/h3>\n<p>Black Ballerina began as a short work, and has taken the stage in various shorter versions since 2017. Hector has been performing the gradually evolving piece at the SummerWorks Festival, and in a digital version during the pandemic in Stratford, where she won the Stratford Festival Lab Award for Research and Creation in 2019. Hector and Black Ballerina also garnered a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been performed for live in Halifax, St. John\u2019s, and Winnipeg, and Hector launched a city tour in Calgary in February 2025. Music for the performance includes Nick Baker\u2019s Weird Creatures, Marie Davidson, Richard Reed Parry, A Tribe Called Red, and Kendrick Lamar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn past seasons, we presented Niimi\u2019iwe as a double-bill evening of dance. This season, we chose to expand the offerings to each hold their own space in our season, and so that we can honour the individual stories that both contain,\u201d said<strong> Joelle Peters<\/strong>, Artistic Director of Native Earth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach piece works on its own, but in connecting them in our Niimi\u2019iwe Series, we are inviting audiences to explore the nuances of Indigenous identity stories and highlighting the importance of self-expression in dance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada\u2019s oldest professional Indigenous theatre company, and is currently in its 42nd year dedicated to creating, developing and producing professional artistic expressions of the Indigenous experience in Canada.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Ballerina takes the stage May 23, 24 and 24 at Aki Studio. Find more details and tickets (prices on a sliding scale) [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeearth.ca\/shows\/black-ballerina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:anya@ludwig-van.com?subject=Let's%20chat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid=S3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid%3DS3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1695737525351000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QTqKRwRJQFGK3KoJYigxX\">HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Native Earth Performing Arts will present Syreeta Hector\u2019s piece Black Ballerina from May 23-25, a work is based on Hector\u2019s own experiences in the world of classical ballet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":113929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,445,20,4557,63],"tags":[40384,38583],"yst_prominent_words":[38581,19730,38571,10817,31822,22086,22087,22085,7951,38575,31815,17070],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-FEATURE-3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-tDx","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113927"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113932,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113927\/revisions\/113932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113927"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=113927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}