The Feminine Mystique

Friday night, I went to The Harbourfront Centre to see Re-Quickening, a dance recital by native company Kaha:wi Dance Theatre. In invoking quickening, or the moment a woman feels her fetus move, the piece explored indigenous women's experience. But "re-quickening" itself is a ritual, the Onkwehon:we Condolence ceremony, which is meant to deal with loss and grief by "purging the eyes, ears, mouth so you can once again see, hear, and speak happy sights, sounds, and words."

As such, it had moments of pain including the opening scenes where the 3 dancers wore hoop dresses  and other times when they wrestled with chairs, sometimes worn over their necks like stocks, which evoked colonial oppression. As for myself, I found the scenes where indigenous culture was on display to be the most moving and exciting. There was one particular sequence where each woman mimicked a mythical being culminating in a fearsome haka display that thrilled me. Throughout the show, there was plenty of water and red-ness represent the pain but also the power (birth/life) of the female experience.