Bird Messengers is a captivating interdisciplinary performance by Émilie Monnet and Moe Clark, where theatre, visual projections and music transport audiences from the symbolic realm of ancestry to a contemporary, living mythology. Created during a residency at the MAI, this extraordinary performance is inspired by Aboriginal storytelling and ancestral teachings. At once a journey of discovery and transformation, Bird Messengers draws from personal encounters with the Blackfoot people of Alberta, Quebec’s Anishinabeg, and Brazil’s Tembe people as well as from interviews with Aboriginal artists and elders. Myths, dreams and prophecies intersect as a magical tale unfolds in this modern journey through time and space.
Bridging Tradition With Technology
Métis spoken word artist Moe Clark and Anishinabe actress Émilie Monnet, founders of Bird Messengers, a collective of two Aboriginal female artists, deliver a dynamic performance beyond convention. Under the keen eye of their mentor, actress and director Marie Brassard, Moe and Émilie have gathered a specialized team of collaborators. Multimedia visuals by Eric Grice (Moment Factory, Cirque du Soleil) dialogue with electro-acoustic sound manipulations from Brazilian musician Chico Correa to create a hybrid environment as the platform for storytelling. Collaged images from Ojibwe painter Glenna Matoush give authentic voice to space.
A Universal Poetic Ode
Moe Clark fuses her unique understanding of performance narrative with traditions of circle singing and spoken word to create poetic songs that resonate with the voices of the ancestors and connect with authentic purpose. Émilie Monnet aligns her theatrical experiences with a deep connection to Aboriginal cultures to imagine stories and embody narratives that speak of the importance of ancestral teachings and bridge beyond tradition.
