Spirit Horse Coming to Manitouwadge
MANITOUWADGE, ON – Grade 3 to 8 students of Manitouwadge Public School, Ecole Publique Franco-Manitou, and Our Lady of Lourdes will gather at the gymnasium of the latter school for a special performance of Roseneath Theatre’s production of Spirit Horse today.
On tour through 33 northern communities the performances, which have already appeared for students in Red Rock, Nipigon, Geraldton and Marathon among others, are being hosted by the Superior Greenstone local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and Superior North local of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Education.
This initiative is expected to have a significant impact on Arts in the classroom as, in addition to the free performances, close to 40 teachers in each of the public and Catholic boards will receive up to 10 hours of hands-on professional development as part of the Spirit Horse initiative. These professional development sessions are intended to help make drama, dance, music and the visual arts come alive in elementary classrooms.
Spirit Horse is a powerful adventure, challenging cultural stereotypes as the play follows two Aboriginal children whose family is caught between the traditional ways and contemporary urban culture. Along with actors Cara Gee, Michaela Washburn and award-winning fiddler Alex Lamoureux, the play features Meegwun Fairbrother who grew up in Northern Ontario in communities including Thunder Bay, Kenora, Beardmore, Pic Mobert First Nation, Webeque and Big Trout Lake.
Parents are encouraged to discuss the play with their children once they return from school tomorrow; ask them about what they learned, welcome questions it may inspire and use it as a tool for initiating coversations about cultural stereotypes, their own feelings about which ever cultural traditions your family may have and what they think about those of others. This is a great opportunity to reinforce messages of acceptance of others, respect of differences, self-confidence and pride in your family’s own culture.
