Of Two Worlds: Bringing traditional Indigenous dance to contemporary ballet
By Tessa Perkins Deneault
Splitting his time between the worlds of ballet and traditional Indigenous dance, Cameron Fraser-Monroe is a busy choreographer and dancer. While it can be difficult to balance working in more than one dance style, Fraser-Monroe plans to continue pursuing his parallel creative outlets. “Contemporary dance feeds my physicality — my desire to be active, to keep moving; traditional Indigenous dance fills a spiritual need.” The 23-year-old is a member of the Tla’amin First Nation, and is also of Ukrainian and Scottish descent.
Fraser-Monroe joined Ballet Kelowna as the company’s first artist in residence for their 20th anniversary season, straddling 2022-2023 — an impressive accomplishment for a young choreographer. He grew up in Vernon, not far from Kelowna, and is happy to be back in the Okanagan Valley, where his family can easily attend performances.
He didn’t always plan on pursuing ballet professionally, auditioning at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School “on a whim,” he says. “Someone had encouraged me to, and I didn’t even consider the fact I would be there for the whole year.” He got in, but wasn’t ready to attend until the following year. “Ballet was like the broccoli you had to eat to get to the bacon,” he laughs. “It wasn’t necessarily something I enjoyed.” He graduated from the school in 2017.
His dance training began much earlier, at three years old, with Ukrainian dance. Every year he would ask his mother if he could add another class, and soon he was studying ballet, jazz, and tap. He also studied grass dance with Elder Mollie Bono and hoop dance with world champion Dallas Arcand. His professional experience reflects his varied training. He has danced with Red Sky Performance in Toronto, gaining experience in contemporary dance with an Indigenous company, and in 2020 he joined Canada’s Atlantic Ballet.
It would be easy to be consumed by rigorous ballet training, but Fraser-Monroe ensured he stayed in touch with his Indigenous culture. “It’s tricky to maintain that connection to culture when you’re away from home, particularly for a culture based in the land, and in community.” He connected with Elder Wilfred Buck in Winnipeg, attended sweat lodges in between his ballet training, and performed with traditionally based Coast Salish company Dancers of Damelahamid during downtime in the summer.
Each of Ballet Kelowna’s anniversary programs includes one of his original works incorporating Indigenous stories and worldview. The company presented taqəš [tawKESH], which means “to return to something,” in November 2022. It tells the traditional Indigenous story Raven Returns the Water, with central characters p̓oho (raven) and walθ (frog). Sharing his First Nations language, Ayajuthem, through his work is part of his practice. “Language is a big part of ballet. I thought, if I had to learn French to work in ballet, then to work with me as a choreographer, you’re going to learn a little bit of Ayajuthem.”
ʔɛmaxʷiygə [ehmaxweega] premieres on Ballet Kelowna’s mixed bill February 17-18. The title of this quartet translates to “until we meet again.” Fraser-Monroe explains, “It’s a lesson on kindness — we should always be kind to each other because we’re all connected. It’s also a lesson on death: even when someone passes, the world is cyclical, and we will see them again.”
In May, the still untitled final anniversary premiere for Ballet Kelowna, inspired in part by Thomas King’s The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative, explores the trope of cowboys and Indians from a decolonized Indigenous perspective. “Westerns have always featured First Nations people, primarily from a European or cowboy gaze. What happens when an Indian is in charge of the cowboy’s history? I really wanted to create something that would make me laugh,” he says.
On a more serious note, Fraser-Monroe hopes the piece will teach audiences something they didn’t know about the federal Indian Act of 1876. “I would love for anyone, whether they know about the Indian Act or not — and all Canadians should, because we’re all treaty people — to come and enjoy the show, and maybe re-examine preconceived notions about First Nations people and policies.”
In August, Fraser-Monroe presents his first work for the National Ballet of Canada as part of their Harbourfront series, and this summer he will again produce the Winnipeg Summer Dance Collective, featuring Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers performing in downtown Winnipeg’s streets and public spaces. He is open to new opportunities, wherever they may lead.
