Canada Council salutes Sandra Laronde

TORONTO  – Sandra Laronde, Red Sky Performance’s Founder and Artistic Director, is a recipient of the 2013 Victor Martyn Lynch‑Staunton Award. The awards, presented by the Canada Council for the Arts, recognize outstanding mid-career artists in the disciplines of dance, integrated arts, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing.

Sandra was cited for her roles as a creative leader, director and choreographer in the category of Outstanding Mid-Career Artist in the Discipline of Dance for her contribution to Red Sky Performance, Canada’s leading company of world Indigenous performance in dance, theatre and music.

“It is truly an honour to be recognized by the Canada Council for the Arts, and this award comes at a poignant time in my career,” says Sandra,. originally from the Teme-Augama-Anishnaabe (People of the Deep Water) in Temagami, Ontario. “ In the 13 years since Red Sky’s inception, it has been exhilarating to spearhead a Canadian company on to the national and international stages, and to create new dance works that add to the cultural breadth of Canada. I look forward to working diligently towards future projects to bring increased awareness and recognition of contemporary dance to a wide spectrum of people both within Canada and beyond our shores.”

Currently Director of Indigenous Arts at The Banff Centre, Sandra is an accomplished and prolific innovator in the artistic and cultural sector as a director, producer, choreographer, performer, and creative leader. Her world stage line-up with Red Sky includes the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad; 2010 World Expo Shanghai in China; 2008 Beijing Cultural Olympiad; John F. Kennedy Centre, State Theatre of Opera & Ballet in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and Roy Thompson Hall, among many others.