SHS New Blood play gains wider audience

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

New Blood, the dance production created in 2014 by teacher Deanne Bertsch and the dance, drama and Blackfoot classes of Strathmore High School (SHS), is still telling the story of Canada’s residential schools, two years after it began.
Through dance, music and poetry, New Blood depicts the residential school experience of Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman, now chief of the Siksika Reserve.
Bertsch and the current New Blood cast performed at Siksika High School on Nov. 30, and will perform at the University of Calgary on Dec. 3. They’re also planning a performance at the University of Alberta in March.
In May 2017, the cast travels to Victoria, B.C., where they’ve accepted an invitation to give performances at Cadboro Bay United Church.
To support the Victoria trip, New Blood is hosting a fundraiser at Strathmore High School (SHS), Dec. 8. The event will open in the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m., with a supper of Indian tacos and traditional berry soup. At 7:30 p.m., the New Blood show will be performed in the SHS theatre. There will also be a silent auction.
They’d like to raise $5,000 at this event, Bertsch said, since most of the students can’t afford to pay for their travel. All the proceeds will offset their travel costs. Their total fundraising goal for the Victoria trip, she said, is $25,000.
The Victoria performances are an opportunity to share the New Blood story with an even wider audience, bringing greater understanding of the residential school experience, and fostering reconciliation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.
And for the 20 SHS cast members committed to the trip, it will also be an important lifetime experience. They’ll be hosted by the Penelakut Reserve, where they’ll learn traditional skills like archery and kayaking, and meet students from a cultural background that Bertsch said is distinct from that of the Siksika. For some students, she said, this will also be their first time on a plane and seeing the ocean.
In the meantime, New Blood continues to accept invitations to perform, sharing their story everywhere they can.
“The reviews that we have received from anyone who has attended the play are outstanding,” said Kyle Larson, SHS principal, in an e-mail.
But its deepest impact may be right here at home.
“The impact that the play has had on the school, and particularly for our First Nations students, is significant,” Larson said. “The story that is being told of Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman is not one that is uncommon and has such a powerful message for so many in our First Nations community. The play is one that had a significant impact for our staff.”
The student-performers’ lives are also being changed. “The opportunities for our students to grow and develop in their talents has been greatly enriched by the play and certainly provided an avenue for the kids to pursue their artistic talents,” Larson said. “Whenever the cast performs, it is very easy to see the pride and commitment that they have to the production.”
The New Blood fundraiser welcomes donations of cash and silent auction items. Donations may be made by contacting Deanne Bertsch, via text or call, at 403-821-3203, or leaving them at the SHS office. Tickets are $10 for the supper and $10 for the New Blood performance.
“If you haven’t seen [New Blood], you should certainly take the opportunity,” Larson said. “As always the cast and crew have done a fantastic job of preparing, and the show is very well done.”
“Please attend [the fundraiser],” Bertsch said in an e-mail, “as many of our cast members have never seen the ocean and this is such a wonderful opportunity to share New Blood with a different community.”