The Yorkton Arts Council brings performance arts to schools in the Yorkton area a little differently this year.
Due to COVID-19, the council will be sponsoring streaming presentations at Columbia, Dr. Brass, St. Alphonsus, St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s and St. Paul’s Schools instead of the usual in-person performances students are used to.
The presentations are a part of a 56 school virtual tour that is happening until June 18. The tour will be showing Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish - The Film by Joseph A. Dandurand
The film is about Th’owxiya, an old hungry spirit that inhabits a feast dish full of bountiful, delicious foods. This Kwantlen First Nations tale follows a sly Mouse (Kw’at’el) who is caught stealing cheese from this feast dish. To appease an angry Th’owxiya, Kw’at’el embarks on a journey to find two children for the ogress to eat.
The performance features traditional Coast Salish and Sto:lo music, masks, and imagery while learning how Raven (Sqeweqs), Bear (Spa:th), and Sasquatch (Sasq’ets) trick a hungry spirit and save Kw’at’el and their family from becoming the feast.
Toni Vermette, the administrator for the Yorkton Arts Council.
“It takes inspiration a little bit from the Hansel and Gretel and the First Nations story of the Wild Women of the Woods, and the story is told through music.”
The presentations will be happening from April 26 to May 7, except Alphonsus Elementary School, where the presentation will happen from May 10 to May 21.
