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Image featuring text & illustration. A stylized Indigenous illustration of a black tree with yellow circular growth at the end of each branch, a linear representation of a coyote dancing beneath the tree to the left, with a black starry night sky in the background. Under the tree, to the right: Weesageechak 38 in white font.
Image featuring text & illustration. A stylized Indigenous illustration of a black tree with yellow circular growth at the end of each branch, a linear representation of a coyote dancing beneath the tree to the left, with a black starry night sky in the background. Under the tree, to the right: Weesageechak 38 in white font.

Indigenous creators Indigenous creators

share theatre, dance & multidisciplinary works at an annual performance festival in Toronto.

Home Events Performance Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38

Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38

From Friday, November 21 to Sunday, November 30, 2025 – Native Earth Performing Arts presents the 38th edition of Weesageechak Begins to Dance at Aki Studio. An annual festival showcasing new works and works-in-development by 10 Indigenous creators from across Turtle Island and beyond, each night of the festival will feature a double bill with presentations from two creators.

 

A celebration of Indigenous theatre, dance & multidisciplinary works

The festival theme for Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38 is Complexities and Curiosities, weaving stories, conversations, workshops and more around a fulsome gathering of creativity and inspiration.

 

Weesageechak Festival Workshop Stream (in October, pre-festival)

From October 16 to 26, Bailey Bornyk (Michif) and Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe from Couchiching First Nation), creators from Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38, will develop their works – Bone Pickers and Tiger Lily – with mentor Mel Hague as part of the second iteration of the Weesageechak Festival Workshop Stream.

These are workshop presentations of new works in development, presented by Native Earth Performing Arts in association with Factory Theatre.

 

Public Projects at Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38
Week 1

Squeaky by Tara Beagan (Ntlaka’pamux) – November 21 & 22

Mentor: Anand Rajaram

Squeaky is a solo dramatic comedy exploring belonging, the impact of media and the ubiquity of true crime by drawing parallels between each Trudeau prime ministerial era. Nanette Susan Cromme grew up in a series of foster homes, always lacking a sense of belonging. Of great intelligence and few social skills, she inserts herself into any conversation within earshot, swiftly making no friends at all.

Children of the Bear by Todd Houseman (Nehiyaw) – November 21 & 23

Mentor: Erin Goodpipe; co-produced by Outside the March

Children of the Bear is an open-world, Indigi-fantasy play about a young, low-income family’s attempts to rise above the colonial structures that surround them. Using a tabletop D&D-style design, audiences help the family either by escaping more deeply into the game of fantasy or becoming the Crees their ancestors want them to be.

Don’t Bring Him Back by Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe (Tla’amin First Nation) – November 22

Mentor: Keith Barker

An hour before sunset, John and Samson are loading a canoe. They set off and pass the new mill and the flooded traditional village site on which it sits. Samson reveals that he knows why they are out fishing: their Chichia has told John to kill him. Samson tries to convince John that he didn’t get a fair trial. They negotiate: maybe he can let him go; after all, the wording was a bit vague.

Northern Indigenous Play Readings, presented by Gwaandak Theatre – November 23 & 26

    • The Spirit of the Valley by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse
    • Constellation by Tyra Ashauntie

Gwaandak Theatre is excited to share two script excerpts from the North to be read by a Yukon-based cast. This touring presentation creates opportunities for emerging theatre artists, promotes stronger community connections, and showcases both new and returning Indigenous scripts to a variety of audiences.

“The phrase, ‘It’s complicated’ can be applied to many things, and often is when it comes to the Indigenous experience. So, let’s talk about it at Weesageechak! Let’s share our complications; our complexities, our histories, our stories, our ideas.”

– Joelle Peters, Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts

Week 2

How Bono Saved my Life (Three Times) by Sonya Ballantyne (Swampy Cree) – November 26 & 27

Mentor: Olivia Shortt

Each time writer and supernerd Sonya Ballantyne set her mind on ending her life, something at the last second would pull her back from the ledge. And it was usually something to do with the band U2. This oral story told by Sonya uses music as another character who is part of the story.

mi historia que no es única by Jessica Esmeralda Zepeda (Kuskatan*) *Post-colonial El Salvador – November 26 & 28

Mentor: Violeta Luna

​A contemporary North/Central American folk horror that blends experimental saxophone loops and recorded testimonials. The story centres on an entity that is haunted by her parent’s undocumented journey from El Salvador to El Norte. mi historia que no es única is a devised ritual of reflection on more than 40 years of micro tragedies overtaken by the macro urgency of a civil conflict: a practice of embodying our history, with mourning and without shame, to embark towards a brave future.

The Curse of Stolen Seeds by Jillian Morris (Kanien’kehaka and a band member of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory) – November 27 & 30

Mentor: Ange Loft

The Curse of Stolen Seeds is a dramatic theatre short set in 2004, inspired by the report of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, The Scars that We Carry: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Persons in Canada – Part II, July 2022. It explores the complexity of the mother/adult daughter relationship. It is about deep wounds and shallow understandings, resented estrangement and unexpected returns. It is about forgiveness and peace seeking after the emergence from dark places brought about by colonization.

Conditions to Strike by Montana Summers (Oneida Nation of the Thames) – November 28 & 30

Mentor: Santee Smith

Conditions to Strike is a rendition of the Thunder Boy character from Onkwehón:we storytelling. Pulling from this character’s theme of being half human and half Thunder Being, Montana attempts to correlate the struggle of being caught in between the worlds of sky and earth to the struggle of modern queer identities being caught between masculine and feminine. He reinterprets the story by layering these two narratives of spiritual and queer identities together to tell an important lesson in multi-generational connections of love, protection, sacrifice and bringing needed balance to these dualities.

ʔa·kinq̓uku by Samantha Sutherland (Ktunaxa) – November 28 & 30

Mentor: Christine Friday

Fire ignites, grows, burns and devours. Once it decays, what destruction does it leave behind? How does the earth regrow out of the ashes? ʔa·kinq̓uku, the word for fire in the Ktunaxa Language, is a solo that follows the life cycle of a wildfire, and the regrowth that occurs after. Created in the Pakitinam Choreographers Circle with Raven Spirit Dance, this piece was created in reaction to the wildfire that burned through the Samantha’s home community of ʔaq̓am in the summer of 2023.

Music + Comedy Night – November 29 (performers TBA)

 

About Native Earth Performing Arts

Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Currently in its 43rd year, Native Earth is dedicated to nurturing Indigenous storytelling. They develop, produce and present Indigenous art. They champion talent. According to the Seven Sacred Teachings, they do what they do and fulfill their purpose with truth, wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty and humility.

Image featuring text & illustration. A stylized Indigenous illustration of a black tree with yellow circular growth at the end of each branch, a linear representation of a coyote dancing beneath the tree to the left, with a black starry night sky in the background. Under the tree, to the right: Weesageechak 38 in white font.

(Photo credits: Native Earth Performing Arts.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: Native Earth Performing Arts 

Type of event: performance festival

Featured creators: Tara Beagan, Todd Houseman, Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe, Gwaandak Theatre, Sonya Ballantyne, Jessica Esmeralda Zepeda, Jillian Morris, Montana Summers, Samantha Sutherland & more (see the show descriptions above, including mentors)

Dates & times: The festival runs from Friday, November 21 – Sunday, November 30, 2025; evening performances are at 7:30 PM ET and matinées are at 2:00 PM ET. Please see the schedule for specific performance dates, times & show pairings; each performance includes a double bill of two shows.

Cost:

  • Single tickets: C$15.00
  • Festival Passes: C$60.00 – you get six flex tickets that you can use in any combination for Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38. Whether you want to see six individual shows, or you want to bring a guest to see three shows, or use all six to bring your guests to one show, a Flex Pass gives you the chance to experience Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38 your way. Please note these passes are only eligible for Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38.
  • Indigenous group rates: Please email boxoffice@nativeearth.ca

Location: Aki Studio, Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. East, #120, Toronto, ON, M5A 2B7

Booking links:

Contact details: Native Earth Performing Arts, Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. East, #120, Toronto, ON, M5A 2B7, Canada; Box office: (416) 531-1402, boxoffice@nativeearth.ca, nativeearth.ca

 

Content warning: TBA.

Accessibility: Accessibility features at Aki Studio include wheelchair-accessible entrances, seating areas, assistive listening devices, accessible washrooms, service animal accommodations, sensory-friendly adjustments, staff assistance and online booking support for accessibility requests, detailed guidance and promoting an inclusive, barrier-free environment.