Reflections : Discover Dance with Brian Solomon
“Brian and Nova spoke about many things including the fact that no one really understood what this day meant yet. However, it was certain that it was important to speak about the history of the land and the people who took care of it before it was colonized. I was left in a wildly contemplative and introspective state after the conversation and performance by Brian Solomon. He spoke about the technologies we use today, such as the roads, and bridges and parks, that were created and fostered by Indigenous people. Brian also spoke about the certain truths that are intentionally hidden, promoting a colonised nationality. The conversation touched on many political topics, from colonisation, to the role of institutions such as residential schools to propaganda. I remember thinking that everything I have learned in school about the history of Canada was a lie. I remember feeling confused, as to my role as an immigrant or settler on this land. I felt confused about my nationality as a Canadian, and what that really meant. I felt curious about what more could be done in reconciliation. After the conversation, Brian performed a solo called Thunderbird’s Transformation. It was a powerful piece to end the event, performed with all the intention of what was spoken about just before.”
“The conversation between Brian and Nova is one that resonates within me every day. They spoke of the current era we are in as “an era of radical truth”, highlighting how as a collective society we are only now beginning to open our eyes to the systematic erasure of Canada’s colonized history and indigenous peoples. Brian drew attention to the carefully curated narrative of the “Canadian identity”, that was stolen from the knowledge and technologies created by Indigenous communities. I found it interesting to observe how this identity permeates our lives every day, but the intentions and values of this identity has been skewed. For example, Brian mentions how the human body, from birth has an innate need for movement and for sensorial exploration of our surroundings. As we continue in life, our societal structures aim to diminish these inherent needs by silencing the body. In school as young children, we are expected to sit still at our desks and fight any urges of movement, as if learning and the accumulation of knowledge can only be achieved through the quieting of the body. This acts as a preparation to enter a workforce and to limit resistance to authoritative figures. He points out that silencing the body is the exact opposite of our human instincts and nature, but in doing so it is easier to create subserviency.
I was fortunate enough to be in the theatre for this conversation and was able to experience Thunderbird’s Transformation live. Brian began sitting in the audience, right next to me, with a suit, tie, and notebook in hand. I watched as he shed that persona and danced along to the calls of birds, listening, and being transformed by the natural needs of the human body. The experience helped me to embody Brian’s encouragement – that we actively remove the blinders we subconsciously wear and to seek out the truth every single day.”
“As I watched Nova and Brian speak openly and candidly about the many challenges faced by every indigenous community on this land I was moved by their acknowledgment of immense feelings of responsibility and their beautiful sharing of truth, love, solidarity, and art. As a Canadian born person, I often think about my own parents’ journey of migration to this land from India. I think about us, as the "Indians" who indigenous communities were mistaken for, and what our role can be in reconciliatino. My parents were uninvited immigrants on the colonized indigenous territories we now call Canada. I directly benefit from colonial policies placed on this land that have historically harmed Indigenous peoples. Often, continuing settler colonialism is thought to be perpetuated by white people exclusively. It’s crucial that we do not forget that immigrants and those coming from immigrant backgrounds, are also settlers. Our presence on this land is only possible through a history of violence and erasure of Indigenous people. It is our responsibility to critically examine and challenge those colonial histories and their continuing manifestations and acknowledge how we benefit from systems of oppression and erasure.
Closure of residential schools just a few decades ago, is a dark, disgusting past that I will no longer turn a blind eye too. After spending a substantial amount of time, reading, learning, and reflecting on a dark past and history of the place where I was born in (and took immense pride in), I have started to take deliberate steps to ensure that my children, my family and our friends understand the need to shift the way we engage with nationhood. Instead of red and white and Canadian flags, instead of orange shirts just on specific days, we are talking about many things that my generation did not talk about before. We are trying to learn new ways of embracing our history and understanding of the truth.”
