JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on or have recently completed or are upcoming (Sky Dancers). Why exactly do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?
BARBARA KANERATONNI DIABO: Indigenous arts have been discouraged, hidden, ignored, or even illegal for so long, it is important for everyone to support Indigenous arts now. It is important for everyone to respect and know the stories of this land and its first peoples who are still here.
Sky Dancers is my latest completed dance production that will next be shown at Harbourfront Fleck Theatre on May 20-22nd, 2022. It is a true story that is important to me personally, my community of Kahnawake, and as I have learned, becomes important to everyone who learns about it. It is the story of the 33 Mohawk ironworkers who lost their lives when the Quebec Bridge collapsed in 1907 while under construction, as well as the stories of their families and the community. This disaster was a huge event in the engineering world, Canada, and of course, my community of Kahnawake, where these ironworkers lived.
My great-grandfather was one of the ironworkers who died on the bridge that day. This production is important to me because it has affected my family and many others in my community. Researching and creating this show has brought a better understanding about my roots and my present. I believe that this story will bring better understandings to all about Indigenous people, their contributions, their challenges, and their resilience. It has universal elements in it that all people can understand about loss, tragedy, and family.
Of course, I have other projects in the works, but more to come on that another time!
JS: What might others not understand or appreciate in the work you produce or do?
BKD: I created this work so it could be understood by anyone – dance fans, people who never watch dance, Indigenous, non-Indigenous, etc. We use many elements, such as video, storytelling, lights, an elaborate set, and dance to create a full story. Certain small things that come from our culture – certain dances, songs – may not be fully understood, but I believe are still appealing to all.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
BKD: That’s a tough question! It touches on some delicate subjects, such as death, loss, and residential school, so of course there were times when I felt vulnerable or triggered. But the importance of telling this story overrode that and helped me find the courage to keep going. I put my love, my pain, my heart, my time, my body, and my spirit into this piece.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
BKD: It varies. Unpeeling through the layers of ideas to find the “right” clarity in a project to share. Trusting the creative process even in the “low” or challenging moments. Trying to convince some people of the great importance of arts. And of course, balancing organizational challenges, such as scheduling, funding, and other logistics with the creation process in the studio.
JS: Imagine that you are meeting two or three people, living or dead, whom you admire in your form of artistic expression. What would you say to them and what would they say to you?
BKD: I would say: Hi! I love your work. Thank you for being inspiring!
You would have to ask them for their answer…but maybe they would say “thanks”!
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that helped to make you who you are as a creative artist.
BKD: Hmmm…I feel every day that new things, events, and people influence me in my life. But if I had to choose…
1- Moving back to Montreal (from Nova Scotia) and teaching high school in my community of Kahnawake (right beside Montreal). It helped me re-connect with my community and learn more about my culture, when before I did not have as much access to it because I grew up away from it much of my life.
2- Going to the Native Theatre School in Ontario (which later became the Centre for Indigenous Theatre). It was the first time that I was in an environment that allowed me to connect and explore my culture with my art.
3- Becoming a mother. Priorities change and your heart grows!
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about your life as a person in the arts?
BKD: Sometimes people seem to see artists as less important in society. That artists are less intelligent than those in science, for example. There can be great intelligence in all sectors.
Also, some people don’t realize how much work and time is put into one performance.
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted yet that you would like to do in the arts? Why the delay so far?
BKD: I would like to tour more internationally. When I became more ready for this, that’s when COVID hit.
JS: If you could re-live your life in the arts, how would you change it and why?
BKD: I am not sure how to answer that – I am who I am today because of everything I have lived. And I like me!
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
BKD: What gives me hope is that it seems that organizations seem to be making more real commitments and actions to support Indigenous arts.
What sometimes brings me down is that some of these conversations have been already been going on for so many years – are we making change or is history just repeating? There is still a lot of work to do…it extends way beyond just the arts.
JS: If you yourself were a critic of the arts discussing your work, be it something specific or in general, what would you say?
BKD: Ha ha – next question.
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising things about you?
BKD: I am always curious and love learning. I often say that I feel like an eternal beginner. I still take dance classes in new styles that I don’t know. I will never learn everything that I want to before I die.
…oh yeah – and I am an absolute science-fiction geek! I think many people don’t expect that of me!