Desna “Dez” Michael Thomas, Sarah Prosper, and I’thandi Munro as the fire keepers. Photo by Stoo Metz.
Winter Moons, which plays at Neptune Theatre until November 24, 2024 and is produced by Nestuita’si Storytelling in association with Prismatic Arts Festival, is a dance theatre piece that tells the story of three young adult L’nu (Mi’kmaw) fire keepers as they learn ceremonies and traditions of their ancestors that are passed down to them from Nukumij, their Elder and Grandmother, to keep the fire burning through the harsh winter. The story takes place here, in Mi’kma’ki, around a thousand years ago, and is told in a mixture of English and Mi’kmaq, with a Storyteller, played by Lara Lewis, acting as a kind of bridge between the fire keepers and the audience. Lewis speaks directly to the audience, fostering a relationship with them, and helping to guide them fluidly through the story.
shalan joudry has written the story and directed the piece and the choreography is by Sarah Prosper.
We are introduced to the young fire keepers: Pako’si, the apprentice medicine keeper played by Desna “Dez” Michael Thomas, Aknutawi’skw, the messenger woman, played by I’thandi Munro, and Ntuksuinu, the young hunter, played by Sarah Prosper. All three take their roles and the learning from Nukumij (beautifully played by Charlotte Bernard) with humility and deep respect, but they also show great levity in the ways that, encouraged by Nukumij, they incorporate play, laughter, and the celebration of joy into the fabric of their daily lives. Pako’si especially has an irresistible joie de vivre and sense of humour that is clearly an essential part of their familial unit.
As the title suggests this story focuses on the three moons of winter and we see each as a different phase of growth for each of the characters, and that with the culmination of the final phase comes a profound shift when winter melts into spring. So too are our characters and their family transformed. One of the most visually stunning transformations shows the story of Ntuksuinu meeting the Bear Woman (played by Munro) deep in the forest while on a hunt. joudry writes that in encountering the Bear Woman Ntuksuinu also becomes a bear, and begins to forget who she is. I found this so incredibly poignant and it made me think that sometimes we have no choice but to allow ourselves to be changed in order to literally survive. What brings her back to herself is the traditional Mi’kmaw songs. It’s a beautiful metaphor, and watching Prosper dance, with an ease that is actually magical, brings this story to life in such a vivid, immediate way.
The piece is also a gentle reminder about the ways in which different cultures have ceremonies and traditions that are truly uniquely their own, and also how there are so many ways that how we interact with the world around us and make sense of the natural world are connected. The L’nu have ceremonies around the longest night of the year, stories inspired by the positions of the stars, and a welcoming in ceremony to commemorate a new year. They also have mischievous ‘little people’ who live in the forest. One of the songs that the fire keepers sang while going about their daily chores and work reminded me a bit of a Gàidhlig froilig-luaidh, or Milling Frolic, where women mill the cloth while singing traditional songs together.
joudry roots the way the story is told in Mi’kmaw tradition and this helps to take us back in time- a thousand years or so, on this land. As with Ancient Greek or Celtic stories (to name just two) this story is a mixture of realism and myth, and myth layered on top of myth to become lore, which becomes its own kind of history. Both Lewis as the storyteller and the fire keepers speak both English and Mi’kmaq, for the benefit of the audience. I was curious what the play might look like if the fire keepers only spoke Mi’kmaq (and there were maybe projected subtitles in English?). I did enjoy when Thomas as Pako’si playfully throws in some bits of very contemporary-sounding language, as this connects these ancestors directly to their present-day descendants in an eloquent way.
The story is set largely within a wigwam, created by set designer Holly Meyer-Dymny, and with projections by Andy Moro. Through the clever use of projections we can see the sky through the top of the wigwam, on a screen that doubles as a moon. MacKenzie Cornfield’s lighting design is stunning in its ability to help the audience feel the wicked cold winds of a blizzard and also the comforting warmth of a fire.
joudry chose to set this story during a time of conflict: a time that we can viscerally connect with even if a millennium separates us. For me, it is a story about how conflict and darkness can sometimes give rise to something truly unexpected. This may not always be helpful or favourable in an immediate or linear way, but this change-maker can awaken something powerfully transformative and radically new, and in this the conflict may be resolved. This wisdom coming to us from the history of the land on which we currently sit could not be more timely.
Winter Moons, produced by Nestuita’si Storytelling in association with Prismatic Arts Festival, plays at Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Studio Theatre (1589 Argyle Street, Halifax) until November 24, 2024. Performances run Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30pm with 2:00pm performances on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets range in price from $25.00 to $50.00 based on seating. Tickets are available here, by calling the Box Office at 902.429.7070, or visiting in person at 1593 Argyle Street.
Industry Night
Tuesday, November 19 – 7:30 PM
Talkback
Thursday, November 21 – 7:30 PM
Masked Performance
Sunday, November 17 – 2:00 PM
This show is approximately 75 minutes (with no intermission).
Please note: this show contains theatrical fog & sage-smudge smoke.
Neptune Theatre is fully accessible for wheelchair users. For more Accessibility Information Click Here.
