What a marvellous performance our school enjoyed this week!  The Dancers of Damelahamid not only danced and sang, but also shared some of their rich First Nations culture with us.  It was such an entertaining way to learn about some of their traditions!

“We are a Gitksan dance collective originally from the Skeena River area in north western BC. The Gitksan are part of the northwest coastal group of cultures that have the distinctive button blanket regalia. We perform with intricately carved & painted masks, headdresses and elaborate regalia. “ You can find more information and photos at their website  http://www.damelahamid.ca/

The Artistic Director, Margaret Grenier, was truly a gracious narrator and a very elegant dancer.  (Her hand movements were exquisite!) She explained the stories behind the dances and spoke of how the Gitksan people respect and honour our earth.  

We had several favourite dances.  We loved the dance about the chirping birds saving the land from a plague of grasshoppers.  (One of our students is of aboriginal ancestry and we found out that her name means “grasshopper”!!!)  We enjoyed watching a few volunteers get to try out some of the dance movements at the front, but the audience was so excited to call out the “cheep cheep cheep” of the birds that we did it at all the wrong times! We also enjoyed seeing the Raven dance. The clacking sound of the wooden Raven mask made everyone laugh.  The “Happy Dance” really spread its joy outward!.  The audience couldn’t stop themselves from imitating the hand movements!

One of the connections that we made with the performance was with our MATH LEARNING!  There were so many PATTERNS!  The gorgeous regalia (ceremonial dress) were filled with beautiful patterns of buttons, fringes, and animal skins.  The drumming had a strong beat of repeated patterns.  The songs and dances were all in patterns too!  After our weekly sing-along, our class used the multi-purpose room to try out one of the dance patterns ourselves!  It was the paddling song and here is how we did it. First we stood in two diagonal lines.  The dance steps were 1) hold your (imaginary) paddle up,  2) drop your paddle to the side (one line drops left and the other line drops right), 3) take a long deep step forward.   This pattern (AAB) is repeated over and over. After a few steps, the two lines intersect and we have to “weave through” each other.  What a great way to study patterns!

 

Photos are from the website  http://www.damelahamid.ca/