Summer 2008

Photo Credit: Don Lee

Red Sky shines brightly during this summer season.

Our newest and most successful production to date, Tono, brought together eleven dancers and musicians from the Indigenous cultures of Canada, Mongolia and China for an outstanding creation and production residency at The Banff Centre. Red Sky kicked off the 2008 Summer Arts Festival with three sold-out performances in the Margaret Greenham Theatre on July 3, 4, & 5, 2008, each resulting in a standing ovation.

Led by Artistic Director Sandra Laronde, founder of Red Sky, the thriving Toronto-based performance company, Red Sky's new creation is inspired by her travels to Asia. This three-country project is heavily grounded in the theme of horse culture, spanning plains tradition in Asia and North America, and rises into the realm of the evocative with a storyline about shamanism on both continents.

Red Sky continues to develop and expand this project, taking it on tour to the Hai Dian Theatre in Beijing, China, the International Arts & Culture Festival in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, with other performances in Inner Mongolia. In 2009-10, Red Sky will continue a high-profile tour throughout Canada, the United States, and overseas.

On June 20, 2008, Red Sky celebrated National Aboriginal Day at The Banff Centre that featured Mongolian singers and musicians along with art displays and a reading by Dr. Cora Voyageur.

On June 8, artistic director Sandra Laronde joined forces with outstanding artists Tomson Highway, Joseph Boyden and Kevin Loring in a conversation about justice and identity, nationhood, Aboriginal rights and the meaning of home. This well attended panel was moderated by Paul Seesequasis and was produced by Luminato: Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity on the main stage of the Factory Theatre in Toronto.

On June 4 & 5, Red Sky made its first ever appearance in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with Raven Stole the Sun, a traditional story brought to new contemporary heights through a compelling theatre dance piece for family audiences. Celebrating its 20th year, we performed at Broadway Theatre as part of the Saskatchewan Childrens Festival that featured performers from Canada, Denmark, Japan, Germany and the United States.

"Raven Stole the Sun is a feast for the eyes."
- The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon.

Overall, this past year has been an active year of touring to many destinations and venues across the country. Hot on the heels of 20 successful performances in Toronto at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (LKTYP), Red Sky was enthusiastically received in New York City. NYC audiences were demonstrative, robust and invigorating, and The Smithsonian house was packed to the rafters. Red Sky then toured to Atlantic Canada to exciting New Brunswick venues including: The Playhouse (Fredericton), Imperial Theatre (Saint John), and Capitol Theatre (Moncton). In Nova Scotia, Raven toured to Osprey Arts Centre (Shelburne), Kings Theatre (Annapolis), The Y'arc Playhouse (Yarmouth), Marigold Cultural Centre and the Membertou Trade & Convention Centre (Sydney). Our Atlantic Canada tour also stopped at the Confederation for the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

In the near future, our family piece Raven Stole the Sun will be performed in schools and theatres in urban, rural, and reserve communities across northern and southern Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. In the near future, Red Sky will also showcase at the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta (Red Deer, Saskatchewan), the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) and at Ontario Contact (Richmond Hill, Ontario).

The future for Red Sky is, indeed, bright.

"Red Sky has everything to do with theatricality and the imagination...remarkably evocative."
- Edmonton Journal

"Red Sky soars, delights... we go through a whole series of emotions and narrative twists and come out the other end with a nice complete experience intact."
- Toronto Star

"The fun, and the beauty, of this high-spirited performance...what sets the whole show apart is, in a word, joy."
- Edmonton Journal

"Red Sky steals the show...an innovative performance company."
- Toronto Sun

"On behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, please accept my congratulations on presenting one of the best theater pieces that we have presented in New York."
- Program Producer, Smithsonian National Museum

"Red Sky is magnificent in the scope of its imagination."
- Globe & Mail

Our latest creation Tono was developed through the Creative Residency Program at The Banff Centre and is part of the 2008 Banff Summer Arts Festival in celebration of The Banff Centre's 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Tono is also co-commissioned by Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity.