b'PERFORMING ARTSLaronde. I was looking for a different kind of story. We were fed a colonial dietI wanted people to of stories of who we are, and we were caught in a web of stereotypes, issues and problems. I wanted to know our biggerexperience Indigenous stories: I wanted sustenance and truth. I wanted people to experience Indigenous stories that gave them vitality, hope, inspiration and energy. The profoundstories that gave them urge to make something happenthats why I started Red Sky Performance. vitality, hope, inspiration TEMAGAMI CHILDHOODLarondes interest in global culturesand energydeveloped early in life. Growing up in the small Northern Ontario town of Temagami, no one in her family was a world traveller, but Laronde always knewSandra Laronde, Red Sky Performancethat she would travel. As a child, she had maps on her bedroom walls and remem-bers pointing to far-flung places like the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and confidently saying that one day she wouldtold her: We think your work is the bestLittle did I know when creating this go there.thing coming out of Canada.work that it would end up on such Today, Ive spoken, performed, andworld stages.brought my company to all of theseOff we went to the Beijing Cultural places! laughs Laronde. I was always veryOlympiad, Laronde exclaims. WeTRANSFORMATIVE POWERcurious about the world. Even in a dreamperformed in a Chinese theatre with not that long ago, a voice said to me: Youcrushed velvet soft seats with a capacity forCultural diplomacy has always been a are Teme-Augama Anishinaabe, and you16,000 people. We were also asked to staystrong through-line in Larondes work. are of the world. on for the Closing Ceremonies, which weArts are a great way to share culture did. They also performed in Mongolia,because the power of our stories is the Larondes vision has been largely shapedin the capital of Ulaanbaatar, as well asembodiment of Indigenous people and by the land of Temagami where she grewmore rural communities that had neverkey to our empowerment. Stories are up, surrounded by 1,600 islands andseen anything like a Red Sky perform- powerful and transformative. They hold 3,200 kilometres of beautiful freshwaterance.In 2010, Laronde and her companythe soul of a people, she says.shorelineand just 500 people. Wealso performed at Vancouvers CulturalAs such, Laronde has played a key role literally had more islands than people,Olympiad and then went back to Chinaas a cultural ambassador, participating she exclaims. Theres something aboutfor the Shanghai World Expo.in trade and diplomatic missions all over experiencing the epic nature of land: sky, water and earth. It makes for a different kind of vision because you see things on a grander scale. I could roam freely, and therefore, my imagination could roam freely. It gave me the courage and confi-dence to travel the world. With over two decades of touring underCanadas leading company her belt, many experiences stand out forof contemporary Indigenous Laronde. One was the award-winningperformanceshow Tono, a dance and live music produc-tion that explored the horse cultures in the Plains traditions of North America and Asia. Commissioned for the Banff Centres 75th anniversary celebration and Torontos Luminato Festival, the shows world premiere took place in 2008 at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.After the premiere of Tono, Laronde was asked to apply to the Beijing CulturalMOVEMENT redskyperformance.comOlympiad and received an enthusiasticDANCE, THEATRE, MUSIC, FILM, CULTUREresponse. Cirque du Soleil (curator for the Canada Council for the Arts at the time)is MEDICINEOntario Native Womens Association15'