Allegory of the Cranes
The newest company production! 

ALLEGORY OF THE CRANES
(Tsimakitakkitapohpa…  Where are You Going?)
A Dance-Drama

This is a personal ceremony of remembrance and revelation set in the cultural belief and storytelling of the Black-footed peoples of the North American high plains. The story draws as well from the traditional wisdom of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest: your life journey is one in which we are to “find your face”, to find your true self.   

Nitsitapiw Aakii, the Alone Woman at the center of the story, has a vivid dream of Ksiistisikomm, Thunder. The power of Thunder lets loose the mythic figure of Old Man,  who can change himself into any form he wishes. In the course of her wanderings, Nitsitapiw Aakii meets Old Man. He gives two gifts, one beautiful, another not anticipated and not beautiful, resulting in decisions that plunge the woman into a dark world.  Is the dark world real or imagined? How will she find her way through it? In Indigenous belief systems, gifts are given for many reasons, depending on the relationship of the giver to the receiver but always they carry with them responsibilities and reciprocities. Allegory of the Cranes is finally the story of one human being in a life struggle to “find her face”.

Based on a Blackfeet cultural figure, Old Man is a multi-faceted being who was sent by the Creator to the people to help create their world and teach them how to live. However, traditional stories also tell us that he became enamoured with his gifts of power, resulting in the impulsive behaviour of playing tricks on people and animals, creating both havoc and benefit. He lives on still, traveling far and wide throughout North America.

St. Rose of Lima is revered as the Patroness of the Americas. She was of mixed heritage, Spanish and Incan, living fifty years after the conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro. Her life was one of self-imposed penance, becoming a member of the Dominican Third Order. A fearless advocate for the poor and subjugated, she spoke out on behalf of the natives who worked the mines for gold being shipped back to Spain.  She was canonized in 1671 and is always pictured with a crown of roses.

Concept and choreography initiated at ChaliceStream, Wisconsin, with
Michael Doran, Barry Lynn and Yong Wei Li  summer 2010.
Premiere: Nozhem Theatre, Peterborough Ontario,  2011.

CHARACTERS: Nitsitapiw Aakii  (Alone Woman) - a wanderer no one knows Old Man - A powerful ‘shape-shifter’ who can change appearances Figures in the Desert  The Saint, A Blind Man, Child/Woman, Woman with Caged Peacock, Gangsta

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SCENES:
Prologue:  Nitsitapiw Aakii
Dreams of Thunder

Episode I:       Old Man Dances.
Dancing, he takes pride and pleasure in his many faces.

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Episode III:   Trick and Counter-Trick
Old Man appears to Alone Woman,  bringing two gifts: a beautiful coat and a hideous mask.  In rejecting one of the gifts, the Woman’s response is offensive to Old Man and inappropriate to herself, plunging her into a physical misery as a test to her own body and spirit.

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Episode IV:   To Find One’s Face
Old Man and The Saint return with the final gift -the Double Eagle Fan, bequeathing to Alone Woman a double power source. Nitsitapiw Aakii has emerged from her trials with a new understanding: she has found her true face, her unmasked self.

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Episode V:    The Seashore
The Double Eagle Fan leads Nitsitapiw Aakii  to the seashore, where she fulfills the
ceremony of Tsimakitakkitapohpa: Where Are You Going?

I have no idea how I may appear to the world…
To myself, I seemed a child playing on the seashore
Amusing myself in finding this or that strange leaf or colorful pebble
While the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. *

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Daystar: Contemporary Dance-Drama of Indian America
1115 E. Main St, Unit 2, A-409, Rochester, NY 14609
585-471-5481/585-313-5872 (cell)  
Email: daystardance@gmail.com
Web: daystardance.com

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