Abstract

Within Aboriginal communities, dance has a long history of embodying knowledge--operating as a way of psychologically infusing spaces with new energies, passing on knowledge systems and histories, and enlivening voice. The power of dance is evidenced by the way that colonial powers and hegemonic popular culture have simultaneously suppressed and (mis)appropriated dances originating in Native communities. By examining performance practice in relation to these traditions and histories, this thesis discusses Contemporary Aboriginal dance through a de-colonizing lens in order to demonstrate the capability performance has to create sovereign spaces for artists while considering dance within an Aboriginal context - as expressive visual culture with inseparable links to visual art, music, theater, and oral histories. Foregrounded by Indigenous epistemologies and world views, Western theories of contemporary performance from academic discourses accompany writings by performers and artists of color to illustrate how such theories merely abstract concepts Aboriginal dancers have been enacting for millennia. Dialogues with dancers Sandra Laronde, Gaétan Gingras, Jerry Longboat, and Michael Greyeyes, as well as narrative experiences of specific dance works make up a significant portion of the work and express common themes within the movements such as: embodiment rather than performance; the creation of sovereign, sacred, and alternative spaces; working through trauma and healing with the body; combating stereotypes and expectations; access to Blood Memory; experiential learning; and dance as knowledge and history.