Laura Vanags
From Tono
Red Sky’s Tono explores shamanistic traditions of Mongolia
On a trip to Mongolia last summer Sandra Laronde attended a three-day cultural festival called Naadam which translates roughly as the “three manly sports.” Along with viewing traditional competitions in horse racing and archery in which both men and women compete and wrestling which is for men only Laronde took in the music on one of the many stage performances in the capital city Ulan Bator.
Inspired by horse head fiddling and throat singing the founder and artistic director of the Red Sky performance company was also on a mission to find collaborators for her next project. “I was interested in doing a project with the indigenous Mongolian people and was interested in an exploration of shared themes that exist in Mongolian and aboriginal cultures in Canada” says Laronde. “Looking at the mountains I knew my next project would be with Mongolia. We did live auditions and hand-picked artists to come dance and sing.”
The result is Tono (Higher Faster Stronger) an intriguing contemporary dance performance that explores the horse culture and shamanistic traditions that have parallels on the Asian steppes and the North American plains. It will be performed at the Margaret Greenham Theatre from July 3 to 5 as one of the highlights of the Banff Summer Arts Festival’s 75th Anniversary Gala weekend. Laronde is also the director of the Aboriginal Arts program at The Banff Centre.
Tono tells the story of twin shamans born into the world who bring hope and renewal and incorporates horse medicine that comes from the Blackfoot in southern Alberta and Montana. “I start with images” says Laronde about how she begins to create a dance performance. “There was a stampede of horses an image of a horse and then the birth of a shaman. They come to me in dreams from photos and in conversation with people. The creative process is an exploration of what these essential themes become — more sophisticated as the process evolves.”
In Mongolia the horse also has an important place in society. Along with providing transportation milk and sustenance they also continue to be a source of stories and mysticism. Tuvshinijargal Damdinjav plays the horse head fiddle an instrument that is held upright and bowed like a cello. The body has a boxy shape and an intricate carving of a horse head at the top. Both the strings and bow are made from horsehair. “Mongolians have a great culture passed on from generation to generation” says Damdinjav. “Sandra had the ability to understand that culture and I have great confidence that this performance will be our best performance ever.”
He along with two other Mongolian musicians and throat singer Bat-Orshikh Bazarvaani Batmend Baasankhuu were invited to perform with Red Sky in the performance. “In every Mongolian’s heart the horse head fiddle is a very sacred and pure [instrument]. It’s just like they worship their own god” says Bazarvaani. “When I came to Canada I found out aboriginal culture had close connections to Mongolian culture. When I found that out I had a great feeling in my heart and I think this is the best opportunity I can ask for.”
Along with performing traditional music Damdinjav and his cohorts will also perform music composed at The Banff Centre.
Based in Toronto Laronde founded Red Sky performance in 2000. As a sort of cultural ambassador Laronde has taken her company abroad in search of audiences and collaborators to explore the parallels that exist with indigenous cultures residing in different corners of the Earth. In 2005 Red Sky performed at The Dreaming the International Indigenous Festival in Australia. In 2006 they brought Shimmer to The Banff Centre a performance that brought together artists from Australia and Canada.
Laronde considers Tono to be her most ambitious project. Roger Sinha helped choreograph the piece and Rick Sacks aided in music composition. Tono also has 14 cast members — dancers and musicians from Canada Mongolia Mexico and China.
Dancer Carlos Rivera met Laronde in 1999 at The Banff Centre while he took part in the Aboriginal Arts Program. He has performed in all eight of Red Sky’s projects since. “It was very demanding to do this show when you have many talents in the room as well as concentrate on your own performance” says Rivera.
One of the challenges was to develop movements that would mimic those of horses as they move and gallop on the plains. Preparing for the role involved a lot of training as well as developing a language for the show. “There were three difference languages in the room [Mongolian Chinese and English] and a lot of influence coming from Mongolian musicians” says Laronde. “There were also different languages for dance and music so there were a lot of languages in the room artistically and culturally.”
Along with planning to tour across Canada and the United States Red Sky has secured a spot in the Cultural Olympiads in September that follow the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in August. They are also performing in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia China. “The most important thing is to share the same ambition: to search and share the beauty of cultures from around the world” says Rivera.
