Dancers practice their routines ahead of the Outside Looking In Showcase on May 10 and 11.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
As roosters crowed outside, the sleepy but excited Indigenous teens started filing into the large dance studio in Brant, Ont., on second day of rehearsals for the Outside Looking In Showcase. Their mix of shy uncertainty and travel fatigue immediately dissipated when the beat dropped, and the teens hit the floor.
The Outside Looking In Showcase bills itself as the largest annual Indigenous performance in the country, with 175 youth participants. Now in its 17th year, the showcase is the culmination of an eight-month school credit dance program designed to support and celebrate Indigenous high school students. The performance is set for May 10 at Toronto’s Meridian Hall, featuring live performances from Juno-nominated group Nimkii & the Niniis, award-winning Indigenous producer Plex and others. During the show, students from each participating community will perform their own choreography combining Indigenous and contemporary dance.
Outside Looking In was founded in 2007 by Tracee Smith, a member of Missanabie Cree First Nation, with the goal of supporting youth though arts programming. Last year, she handed the reigns over to chief executive officer Hope Sanderson, who is Métis, who said she was drawn to the company because of how it’s grown and succeeded in its goals over the years. There are now 30 communities on the waitlist to join the program, Sanderson said.
During the Outside Looking In Showcase, students from participating communities will perform their own choreography combining Indigenous and contemporary dance.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
The program comes with high academic stakes. Students have to maintain minimum grades of 60 per cent in their school work and attend 80 per cent of their classes to stay in the program. On top of their regular school courses, the youth attend weekly in-person and remote dance practices and meetings throughout the year with the professional choreographer working with their community. Outside Looking In also offers a mentorship program called Future Leaders, which pairs students with mentors to support their transition from high school to postsecondary education or the work force. Thanks to the program’s strict academic structure, alums boast a 96 per cent high school graduation rate. Not only does that surpass on- and off-reservation graduation rates for Indigenous youth (just over 50 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively), it’s beyond the national average for all Canadians, which sits just below 90 per cent.
Musician STOiK of Wasauksing First Nation takes the stage during rehearsals for Outside Looking In.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
For the youth and communities involved, it’s so much more than an impressively large dance showcase. It’s all about building confidence through community and being supported for their future success. Bringing teenagers from remote communities to the largest city in Canada encourages them to expand their horizons, make new friends and show off what they learned – though it can be fraught.
“It’s already such an intense experience for them to leave home, some of them it’s the first time leaving their communities, some the first time on planes, and then you ask them to come to the biggest city in Canada,” said Tamara Podemski, the multi-skilled performing artist who is producing this year’s showcase, co-ordinating the performances and dancers into a cohesive theatrical experience. “Yes, there’s a show we need to put on, but I want to make sure that we are managing their mental health and this camp environment.”
To prepare for Meridian Hall, students rehearsed in person during the last week of April in a barn renovated to accommodate a dance studio, at Tim Horton’s Foundation Camp in Brant, Ont. Final rehearsals take place at Meridian Hall ahead of the May 10 showcase.
At the rehearsal in Brant, choreographer Nino Vicente was on site to direct the dancers. Vicente has been with the organization for a decade and spends time throughout the school year visiting with each community. When the students arrive at camp, they have established trust and warm rapport. Vicente says the impact the program has on the youth makes his job special. “They start to believe in themselves even more, and believe that they can make a change and help others around in their community.”
Cohen Ouskun of Tataskweyak Cree Nation gets her makeup done by Aiyana Nahwegahbow during rehearsals for the Outside Looking In Showcase on May 8.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
Take Hosiah Turtle, 19, for instance. The soon-to-be high school graduate from Pikangikum First Nation (Treaty 5, Kenora, Ont.) has a shock of green in his hair, a big, warm smile, and he speaks freely with his peers. It’s hard to imagine the shy youth Turtle remembers being when he started high school. He has scoliosis, which impacted his self-esteem, but he said Outside Looking In has helped him build confidence and self-acceptance. “I’m excited for the show,” Turtle said, adding that he’s eager to show off what he can do on stage, and he hopes to inspire other youth like him.
Roma Sandfly-Belly, 17, from Big Island Lake Cree Nation (Treaty 6, Saskatchewan) is also graduating from high school this year. She’s been with the program for two years, and her first showcase with Outside Looking In was also her first time in Toronto. At first, she was homesick, but the support at camp from her peers and leaders helped her settle in. This year, she was excited to see friends she met the year prior. After graduation, Sandfly-Belly is heading to the University of Saskatchewan, where she plans to study psychology. Outside Looking In, she said, inspired her and her peers to “want to do bigger and better things.”