RESIDENCY
Victoria May & Samantha Sutherland
ÉDIFICE WILDER | Espace Vert
April 19, 2025
Victoria May (Montréal) & Samantha Sutherland (Toronto)
Residency
This artistic residency fosters creative exchange and collaboration, exploring the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages through contemporary movement. Many of the 60 Indigenous languages in Canada, including Ktunaxa and Michif, are considered to be critically endangered, with some already lost due to colonial policies. Indigenous communities, grassroots initiatives, and artists actively reclaim and strengthen these languages through educational, creative and cultural activism. To foster connections between artists from outside of Québec and Montréal-based artists, Tangente has invited Ktunaxa artist Samantha Sutherland, based in Tkaronto/Toronto, to extend her stay and collaborate with Red River Métis-Michif dance artist Victoria May, based in Tio’tia:ke/Montréal.
It is through the dedication of Ktunaxa Nation communities and Elders that the Ktunaxa language has been kept alive so that youth can learn the language. Without their tireless work, we would not have the privilege of bringing Ktunaxa into our daily lives and learning the language of our ancestors. Indigenous languages carry more than words; they carry our histories, stories, and ways of living. Language is a critical pillar to our culture.
After 6 days of collaboration, traces of their shared creative process remain in Tangente’s basement. On April 19, they welcomed the Watershed Dance Program, a dance intensive Victoria founded for Indigenous youth in Montréal, alongside Anowara Dance Theatre and Native Montreal. Together, they continue to foster creativity and access to professional live arts for Indigenous artists and youth.
Victoria May (Red River Métis/Michif) is a mother, dancer, choreographer, and PhD student at Concordia University. She began her career with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and has performed with ballet and contemporary dance companies across Europe and Canada for over 30 years. Her artistic practice is rooted in embodied Métis knowledge systems, working with dance to connect to land, community, and cultural memory. Her recent work Kiwaapamitinaawaaaw is a poetic love letter to her ancestors, embodying the Michif language and the dances that guided her home. Victoria’s Michif family comes from the road allowance in Treaty 6 territory near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Samantha Sutherland is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and teacher based in Tkaronto. Her ancestry is Ktunaxa and Scottish. She grew up on Coast Salish Territories and graduated from the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program in 2018. Samantha has been choreographing dance works since 2021 and has had the pleasure of presenting in festivals across Turtle Island, including the Matriarchs Uprising Festival by O.Dela Arts with presentations both in Vancouver and at the National Arts Centre, Sharing the Stage with The National Ballet of Canada, Night Shift by Fall for Dance North, Dance Made in Canada, and Weesageechak Begins to Dance. Recently, Samantha premiered her first ensemble work naⱡa at the Citadel Spring Mix festival in Toronto. She has performed in dance works by Indigenous choreographers Alejandro Ronceria and Jera Wolfe. She is currently a guest teacher at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and an artistic associate with O.Dela Arts.
