Coastal Dance Festival2026: Re-envisioning Relationships in Respect of Lived Practices

Dancers of Damelahamid, in partnership with MOA and the Anvil Centre, present the 19th annual Coastal Dance Festival. The Festival is a celebration of the stories, songs and dances of the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast with guest national and international artists.

The Artist Sharing Series is a three-part series where artists will share their processes and practices by way of discourse, movement, song, story, and multimedia. Re-envisioning Relationships in Respect of Lived Practices looks at decolonizing existing relationships with spaces such as MOA’s galleries and collections through song and dance, as well as reshaping the lens through which dance regalia and masks are perceived to better understand these art pieces as lived practice. The discourse will address Indigenizing spaces by asserting ways of knowing that are embedded in Indigenous song and dance, as well as preparing oneself for active witnessing to reshape the lens through which Indigenous arts are acknowledged.

The Artist Sharing Series is an opportunity to actively learn about Indigenous dance through the vast histories and stories of the Indigenous artists and communities represented at the festival.

Schedule
Wednesday March 4 | 3 pm
Meghann O’Brien

Thursday March 5 | 3 pm
Screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks, followed by a discussion with Dr. Sarah Hunt

Friday March 6 | 3 pm
Lawra Somby + Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska
More info