Tuesday, August 28, 4:35 - 11:00 pm | The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
As part of WAA's new Advancing Indigenous Performance program, the Super Showcase will include a showcase of diverse, distinctive, and powerful Indigenous performance including contemporary dance, theatre, classical music, modern Maori music, folk music, hip-hop, and more. AIP Showcase is an integrated part of the juried and independent showcases.
Advancing Indigenous Performance or AIP is Western Arts Alliance’s new national imitative to create new touring and presentation opportunities for Indigenous performing artists. The program is made possible by a lead grant from The Andrew. W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.
Catch the WAA shuttle (3:30 – 11:15) from the Bellagio Las Vegas from the South Tour Lobby (the ride-share are), down one floor from the lobby level.
| Performer | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Delanna Studi, And So We Walked | 4:35pm | Troesh Studio |
| Aotearoa's Finest, with Maisey Rika & Horomona Horo | 6:50pm | Myron's Cabaret Jazz |
| Dawn Avery | 9:40pm | Myron's Cabaret Jazz |
| Allison Akootchook Warden | 10:00pm | Myron's Cabaret Jazz |
| Thea Hopkins | 10:20pm | Mezzanine Lounge |
| Christopher K. Morgan | 10:20pm | Troesh Studio |
| Anthony Hudson | 10:40pm | Troesh Studio |
Delanna Studi, And So We Walked
Website: https://www.andsowewalked.com/
Represented by: Walrus Arts Management and Consulting and Octopus Theatricals
Exhibit #204
A frank, funny and inspiring story of a contemporary Cherokee woman who goes on a six-week, 900-mile journey with her father along the Trail of Tears to better understand her own identity and the conflicts of her nation. And So We Walked is a powerful, multi-faceted dramatic memoir that draws on interviews, historical research and the artist’s personal experiences to convey the complexities and conflicts with which the Cherokee wrestle.
Aotearoa's Finest, with Maisey Rika & Horomona Horo
Website: http://pasifika-artists.com
Represented by: Pasifika Artists
Exhibit #408
Māori singer/songwriters Maisey Rika & Seth Haapu are joined by Horomona Horo, Aotearoa's (New Zealand's) leading practitioner in taonga puoro, traditional Maori instruments, creating music that fuses cultural roots, memorable tunes, and honest, gripping lyrics. Their performance reflects their deep roots in Maori traditions, including chant and Horo's instrumentation. As contemporary artists, their work also reflects modern Maori music and its many international influences.
Dawn Avery
Website: http://www.dawnavery.com/
Represented by: Walrus Arts Management and Consulting, LLC.
Exhibit #204
GRAMMY-nominated world music artist Dawn Avery creates a contemporary soundscape from electronica, pop, and classical elements. Her sultry vocals and soaring cello lines reflect a deep spirituality rooted in her Native American heritage and love of sacred traditions. Avery looks for opportunities to make a positive difference through music. A prolific composer and active performer, Dawn Avery is also an award-winning educator.
Allison Akootchook Warden
Website: http://www.allisonwarden.com/ /
Represented by: Self-managed, visit Advancing Indigenous Performance
Exhibit #234/236
What if an Ancestor came so far from the past it became the future again? What would a polar bear say if he could rap? Join Allison Akootchook Warden, as she raps as AKU-MATU, her rap persona inspired by Joan Armatrading and KRS-ONE, and likened to an Indigenous Grace Jones, AKU-MATU’s performances explore themes of decolonization, climate change, the spiritual relationship of people to the animals and the land at the same time offering clues on how humanity will navigate the next 1000 years.
Thea Hopkins
Website: https://www.walrusarts.com/thea-hopkins/
Represented by: Walrus Arts Management and Consulting, LLC.
Exhibit #204
Performing songwriter Thea Hopkins (Aquinnah Wampanoag) has achieved an elegance of sound that lives up to her poetic prowess. A talent the Washington Post called “a standout writer,” she has created in her new album “Love Come Down”, in just six tunes, a seamless song journey that begins with a gentle invocation that ends with a lullaby and gracefully travels to a few dark American landscapes in between. From love ballad to social history, every song is personal. “An artist whose narratives drip with metaphor and imagery”-- Americana UK
Christopher K. Morgan
Website: https://www.christopherkmorgan.com//
Represented by: Self-managed, visit Advancing Indigenous Performance
Exhibit #234/236
Christopher Kau’i Morgan danced hula as a child in California, far from his family’s Native Hawaii. As Morgan developed a body of work in contemporary dance, said to be “charming and poignant” by The New York Times, he longed to connect his Native Hawaiian roots to his contemporary work. Pōhaku is a dance theater piece bringing together storytelling, hula, modern dance, classical music, and projections to explore the story of Hawaii’s native people, land loss and fractured identity. The full work includes live chant and percussion by Elsie Kaleihulukea Ryder of Hālau Hula o Kukunaokalā, Wytold on electric cello, projection designs by Sareen Hairabedian, and scenery by Hawaiian kapa cloth maker Dalani Tanahy.
Anthony Hudson
Website: https://wkoww.walrusarts.com/anthony-hudson/
Represented by: Walrus Arts Management and Consulting, LLC.
Exhibit #204
In “Looking for Tiger Lily”, Anthony Hudson reckons with his own Native American heritage through a hilariously pointed send-up of stereotypes in an autobiographical solo show. Incorporating video and dance, and invoking his queer drag clown persona, “Carla Rossi,” he draws from a songbook stretching from Disney’s Pocahontas to Cher’s Half-Breed, to the infamous blond, blue-eyed Indian “princess” Tiger Lily in the 1960 film Peter Pan.
Thanks to our generous funders:
