Indigenous youth to perform at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts this month

May 18, 2018
Outside Looking In inspires indigenous youth to take control of their life through the art of dance. About 112 Indigenous youth will be performing at Outside Looking In’s 11th annual dance performance on May 26 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Photos supplied.

By Rick Garrick

TORONTO—Bringing more dance opportunities back home is the goal of one of the 112 Indigenous youth who will be performing in Outside Looking In’s (OLI) 11th annual dance performance in Toronto.

“I actually want to bring dance to my community because there is not really that much dancing going on,” says Michael Nattaway, a high school graduate from Garden Hill in Manitoba who will be performing with OLI for his fourth year. “I have a job and I am participating in OLI for my last year after graduating. It is fun but it is kind of difficult to do it at the same time while you have a job.”

Nattaway enjoys participating in the OLI dance performances. This year’s performance will be held on May 26 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

“It is exciting to see and meet new people,” Nattaway says.

Michael’s brother, John Nattaway, also looks forward to participating in the upcoming dance performance. This year will be John’s third and last performance with OLI. He also graduated from high school last year.

“Being in this group is very exciting,” John says. “You make a lot of friends by participating in this program, and it also helps build your self-esteem and self-confidence and it helps with your health as well.”

The two brothers began participating with OLI when it was introduced in their community four years ago.

“I had no idea what it was until suddenly a dancer flew in,” John says. “Once I found out it was a dance program, I decided to join and hopefully make the program.”

Outside Looking In inspires indigenous youth to take control of their life through the art of dance. About 112 Indigenous youth will be performing at Outside Looking In’s 11th annual dance performance on May 26 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

OLI is an accredited high school dance program that provides Indigenous students with a high school credit. Students who demonstrate good attendance and grades are rewarded with the opportunity to join other Indigenous youth from across the country for two weeks in Toronto and to perform in the annual dance performance at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

“When we started the organization, we really wanted to motivate kids to stick in school and we wanted them to work for a long-term goal,” says Tracee Smith, founder of OLI. “From what we hear from the kids, especially kids that have been in the program for sometimes three, four, five, six, seven years, is they love the event and it gives them something to work towards because it is different every time.”

Smith says the youth also make friends with other youth from across the country and learn what they are like and how they live in their communities.

“But also just being on the big stage in Toronto, they are the stars of the show,” Smith says. “When the audience has that final applause for that big night in the city, the kids get very emotional because their hard work is being recognized. Most of the kids have tears in their eyes, and that is what we want. We want them to feel like you have worked for this, you have earned it and now everyone is appreciative of what you have done, so be proud of yourself.”

Smith says about 95 percent of the youth who have participated in OLI are either working full-time or in school.

“We find that the kids who have gone through our program are just hungrier to do more because they’ve been exposed to more,” Smith says. “They know what the world is like and it’s not just the bare surroundings — it’s ‘wow, there’s people out here doing stuff and I want to do it too’.”