{"id":44567,"date":"2017-04-16T07:52:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T11:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=44567"},"modified":"2017-04-16T07:58:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-16T11:58:55","slug":"feature-why-its-so-important-the-coc-gets-louis-riel-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/04\/16\/feature-why-its-so-important-the-coc-gets-louis-riel-right\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | Why It Is So Important The COC Gets Louis Riel Right"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(l-r) Russell Braun (Louis Riel), Billy Merasty (Poundmaker), in a rehearsal of Harry Somers\u2019 Louis Riel at the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Imperial Oil Opera Theatre at the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre, March 30, 2017. (Photo: Sam Gaetz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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W<\/span>e have described for you a mountain. We have shown you the path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.”<\/p>\n

So spoke Senator Murray Sinclair upon the conclusion of Canada\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Two years after the commission\u2019s final report, which documented the traumatic testimonies of Residential School survivors, the opera stage seems an unlikely place to work towards reconciliation with the Indigenous Peoples of this land.<\/p>\n

Yet the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Harry Somers\u2019 opera Louis Riel, <\/em>which premiered in 1967 for Canada\u2019s centennial anniversary of Confederation and opens in a new production on April 20th, features a spirit of inclusivity and reconciliation one wouldn\u2019t expect in this centuries-old European art form.<\/p>\n

For Louis Riel<\/em>, the Canadian Opera Company has joined the COC Chorus with a cast of exclusively Indigenous artists who perform as the \u201cLand Assembly\u201d while the COC Chorus forms a \u201cParliamentary Chorus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, many parts in the huge cast of Louis Riel<\/em> are being played by Indigenous artists, including Joanna Burt, a M\u00e9tis\/Saugeen Ojibwe artist from Lindsay, Ontario who plays Sara Riel. Santee Smith, a member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand, Ontario, joins the COC as choreographer for the production, Estelle Shook, a M\u00e9tis artist from British Columbia, joins as assistant director, and Peter Hinton, known for his extensive work with Indigenous artists, joins as director.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I think people should prepare for is to be confronted with all the problematic complexity that is this story,\u201d said Estelle Shook in a\u00a0video interview<\/a>, \u201cwhich I guess is the story of Canada\u2019s government\u2019s relationship to First Nations, and how that has reverberated to the present day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBe prepared to confront where we sit now with treaties, with our relationship to land claim, with our relationship to Truth and Reconciliation [\u2026] and with our relationship to appropriation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanna Burt, who makes her debut as Sara Riel, also notes that this production does not sugarcoat the government\u2019s relationship with Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Director Peter Hinton] approached this opera in a way where he wanted to make sure our voices are heard in today\u2019s society,\u201d Burt related in a recent interview<\/a>. \u201cThe whole opera is based on broken promises. Regardless of whether it\u2019s 1885 or now, the government always breaks their promises. That\u2019s what this opera is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

She describes how there are times when the Land Assembly in the opera will have their fists in the air in solidarity, or where cast members speak directly to the audience after promises are broken between Riel and Bishop Tach\u00e9, asking the audience, \u201cto acknowledge these broken promises with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much has happened in Canadian history since Louis Riel <\/em>premiered fifty years ago, including most importantly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, focusing on the testimonies of Residential School survivors. The government has launched numerous initiatives to work towards Reconciliation and on April 12th, 2017, the government held its first M\u00e9tis-Nation Crown Summit<\/a> in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Harry Somers wrote to his wife Barbara the day before he died that, \u201cthere’s no limit in this friggin’ country if it drops its colonial mentality.\u201d\u00a0 In this production of Louis Riel<\/em>, the COC has updated and removed anachronisms from the original production, attempting to drop the colonial mentality Somers saw as such a downfall for Canadians.<\/p>\n

In the COC\u2019s new production, the libretto of Louis Riel<\/em>, originally written in French, English and Cree, will feature a new translation of the Cree by Billy Merasty, as well as new spoken dialogue in Michif, the official language of the M\u00e9tis during the time of Louis Riel, by Norman Fleury, a M\u00e9tis elder. New historical research, as well as the incorporation of numerous Indigenous voices and perspectives have broadened the lens of the opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at this opera from a more inclusive perspective,\u201d director Peter Hinton said in a media release. \u201cWe\u2019re not changing the intentions of the piece, but revisions are being made that honour the virtuosic complexity of the music, while allowing for the introduction of voices that have not been heard before.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Senator Murray Sinclair said in 2015, \u201cwords are not enough\u201d to describe the injustices suffered by Indigenous Peoples at the hands of the Canadian government. The Canadian Opera Company\u2019s upcoming production of Louis Riel,<\/em> in its aims to capture truth and inclusivity through an art form that transcends the limitations of words, may be heeding Senator Sinclair\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

Joanna Burt singing \u201cKuyas\u201d from Louis Riel: <\/em><\/p>\n