New Blood giving students a new perspective

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore High School production of New Blood gave SHS students from the high school, Glee and Blackfoot dance classes an inspirational history lesson about Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman’s journey through residential schools to become chief of his people.
SHS drama teacher Deanne Bertsch thought the students took the production by storm in acting out a powerful person’s legacy through literature, poetry, musical and traditional musical practices.
“The kids have done really well,” said Bertsch. “They learned the choreography really quickly in a month to get these first few shows up. I’m proud of them that way and the audience is still responding positively and seems to be moved by the performance of the story. And that’s what we’re really hoping for.”
The play provided many First Nations students in the play a better understanding of what their families went through at residential schools.
“The story is about Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman, the present chief of Siksika Nation,” said Bertsch “It’s his personal story but it’s also the story of so many of the students’ grandparents.
“They have connections to it in some way. It’s giving the First Nations students definitely a greater understanding of what their family members went through and also why First Nations people deal with the challenges they do today.”
Bertsch added the students seemed to have bonded well as a team this year to make the production run successfully, and seeing the crowd interact with the cast about their own stories left an impression.
“It’s just amazing seeing the response from the audience,” she said. “And hearing the stories from the people that see it. We took it down to the blood reserve a couple of weeks ago and 10 different people stood up after the show and told us about their stories and how they connected.”
For Savanna Sparvier, getting involved with the production was an inspirational decision as it has impacted her on a family level.
“It’s a very broadening experience,” said Sparvier. “Essentially, at a young age I had my grandmother, she would tell me all these stories about what happened to her in residential school. That’s what drove me to be in this. Her stories have made a big impact on my life before this started. I guess being in this play has been a way for me to keep her close to my heart.”
According to Sparvier, the performance also helped her gain confidence in explaining the performance to the best of her ability to other people.
The show started on Oct. 13 and ran one last time on Oct. 20.