ORIGINS on the Road™
Breaking News:
ORIGINS™ Festival of First Nations - 4-17 May 2009
Origins is the UK’s inaugural Festival of First Nations creative arts, bringing together groundbreaking artists from the indigenous cultures of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. At venues across London, the festival explores First Nations experience in the twenty-first century through theatre, film screenings, spoken word, comedy and participation. For more information, please click here (385 KB - Adobe Acrobat PDF).
Indigenous / First Nations Playwrights and Theater Makers
ORIGINS on the Road™- Aboriginal Australian Playwright David Milroy on Tour in the
United States
At last year’s London launch of ORIGINS™: First Nations theater From
Around the World, we created ORIGINS on the Road™ as a way to bring
Indigenous theatermakers to Indigenous and non-Indigenous
communities around the world. We see this as an essential part the
ORIGINS™ mission to bring Indigenous theater to world audiences.
Australian Aboriginal playwright David Milroy just completed the first ORIGINS on the Road™ tour. David Milroy is a Palyku man from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. He has achieved national and international success and recognition as a musician, playwright, writer and theatre director.. David won the prestigious Patrick White Playwrights’ Award (Australia) in 2004 for Windmill Baby.
The tour was a great success. David met with Native American playwrights and actors, and gave presentations on family history, Aboriginal history, and the development of Aboriginal theater in Australia to audiences ranging from middle and high school students to college and university students and community members, as well as conducting workshops on scriptwriting at:
- The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, through the Theater Arts and Dance Department and the Department of Anthropology
- Sinte Gleska University, Mission, South Dakota. Sinte Gleska was one of the first tribal colleges in the United States and remains committed to its earliest purposes: to preserve and teach Lakota culture, history and language to promote innovative and effective strategies to address the myriad of social and economic concerns confronting the Sicangu Lakota Oyate.
- Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota—a regional university with a strong Native American student body and faculty
- Oglala Lakota College, Kyle, South Dakota. Oglala Lakota College is chartered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Its mission is to provide educational opportunities which enhance Lakota life
- Fort Berthold Community College, New Town, North Dakota, September 23-24. The Fort Berthold Community College is chartered to provide quality cultural, academic, and vocational education and services for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.
- University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, through the Department of Theatre and Film
- Haskell Indian Nations University, a national center for Indian education, research, and cultural preservation, located in Lawrence, Kansas
In the course of the tour, David received many honors, including:
- the gifting of a star quilt and beaded hat from the chairman and tribal council of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Naiton of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Daiota
- a powwow in his honor by students and parents from the Mandaree school, North Dakota
- introduction at the Little Wound School back-to-school powwow in South Daiota
Plans are now underway to tour other Indigenous theatermakers internationally as ORIGINS™: First Nations Theater From Around The World continues in its mission to bring Indigenous theater and theatermakers to world audiences.
David Milroy’s United States Tour was funded by contributions from the Australian Embassy, the University of Minnesota, Sinte Gleska University, Oglala Lakota College, Fort Berthold Community College, the University of Kansas, and Bronitsky and Associates.
For images of the tour, please
click here
The launch of ORIGINS™: First Nations Theater from around the
World was an inspiring time for the participants as well as the
organizers. An exciting initiative of this first meeting was the
seeding of the ORIGINS on the Road™ project.
ORIGINS On The Road™ is a framework to tour and present Indigenous playwrights and theater makers to host communities around the world. Current and future tours include:
David Velarde - Jicarilla Apache Nation, United States; has written a number of plays, including Rez Mutts, Bubba, Dakwe Nasya, and Jamison Returns - tour to Sami playwriters workshop, Sweden, June 2009
Harriet Nordlund - Sami Nation, Sweden; former Artistic Director of Beaivváš Sámi Teáhter – The Norwegian National Sámi Theatre Company) - tour to US, October 2009
David Milroy - Palyku Nation, Australia; has written and directed a number of plays including “King Hit”, “Runumuk”, “Swine River “and the multi-award winning “Windmill Baby”. David was the first coordinator of Dumbartung Aboriginal Artist Advisory Council and was Artistic Director of Yirra Yaakin Noongar Theatre for seven years - tour to Siberia, summer 2010
Laila Hansen – Greenlandic actress and filmmaker - to US in fall 2010
The playwrights and theater makers will be available to travel to your country and community and are able to give readings, do workshops with writers (Indigenous and non-Indigenous), give talks, work with your young people and spend time with your local theater makers.
Bronitsky and Associates in partnership with Border Crossings in London will coordinate the tours and work with you to find the resources needed to host.
For more information and to register your interest please click here.
