Haida dancers define a deep, rich culture

by David Gordon Duke

Performance was tailored for an enjoyable summer evening

HAIDA GWAII DANCERS
Robson Square
June 29, 2006

Traditional art of the coastal first nations is now an integral part of our visual sensibilities. It is no surprise at all that the Vancouver Art Gallery’s “Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art” is one of this summer’s must-see shows. Yet public awareness of other aspects of Haida culture — legend, theatre, dance, and music — is, for the time being, less developed.

Just back from the International Forum of United Indigenous Peoples in Europe, the Haida Gwaii Dancers gave a short performance at Robson Square on Thursday evening, under the auspices of the VAG. It was a presentation that effectively demonstrated the deep interconnectedness of Haida art-making.

The idea that art belongs in galleries, artifacts in museums, and music in the concert hall is utterly foreign to Haida tradition. Dance springs from music. Textiles and beadwork, masks and rattles, like those on display in the gallery, play an integral role in performance.

We’ve become sadly familiar with the story of the confiscation of first nations artifacts. Dance and music fared even worse. The banning of first nations potlatch rituals until, incredibly, 1951 catastrophically interrupted the transmission of ceremonial music and dance. Both had been long preserved through meticulous training processes. We will never know exactly what cultural riches vanished in the course of the almost seven-decade ban.

The Haida Gwaii Dancers’ performance was, understandably, tailored to create an enjoyable summer evening — about 45 minutes of carefully selected materials designed as a sampler of different dance and music idioms. All performers dance and sing and/or drum: remarkably resonant single frame drums create the rhythmic foundation of the music. The troop performed in glorious costumes that blur the distinction between sight and sound. Elaborate fringes, rattles strapped to legs, and hand-held shakers are not only artifacts of great beauty, but as dancers move, their characteristic timbres add subtle shading to layers of rhythm.

The evening’s sequence of nine selections began with a few moments of drumming, then a sinuous procession of female performers who emerged one by one from behind a small screen. A Chief’s Dance, used to signal both welcome and peaceful intentions, featured a male dancer in a dramatic down-filled headdress. Two selections featured superbly carved masks. An Eagle Dance honoured the eagle as a Haida clan symbol. A Shark Dance, celebrating the Haida’s relationship with the sea, featured a single female dancer juxtaposed against an intricate musical background of drums and male voices.

Although the ensemble’s strong voices occasionally betrayed the almost unavoidable influence of non-Haida singing styles, their music remains rich in unique vocal effects which define a culture that has done things its own way for centuries. Thursday’s performance, though warmly casual, and graciously inclusive, had the ring of great commitment and absolute self assurance — qualities that go a long way to explain both the power of Haida music and dance and the strength of Haida tradition against appalling odds.

The Vancouver Sun
1 July 2006

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