Indigenous Artist

Samantha is an Indigenous contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and teacher based in Tkaronto. Her ancestry is Ktunaxa and Scottish/British Settler. She grew up on Coast Salish Territories and graduated from the Arts Umbrella Dance Diploma Program in 2018. She has worked as a guest artist with Ballet BC, an Associate Artist with Red Sky Performance, and is currently an Artistic Associate with O.Dela Arts. Samantha has presented her own solo works in the Matriarchs Uprising Festival by O.Dela Arts, the Paprika Festival, Sharing the Stage with the National Ballet of Canada, Night Shift, Common Ground Dance Festival, Weesageechak Begins to Dance, and at the National Arts Centre. She has danced in works by Indigenous choreographers Alejandro Ronceria and Jera Wolfe.
Samantha explores what aspects of her culture, history, and traditional knowledge can be pulled into her contemporary dance practice. She questions how she can use a dance practice built with a fairly euro-centric training, and still honour Indigenous values and the act of decolonization. She strives to keep what she values about classical training and use it to tell the Indigenous story.

INDIGENOUS ANCESTRY

First Nations

SELF-IDENTIFICATION

Ktunaxa