The Yorkton Arts Council brings performance arts to schools in the Yorkton area a little differently this year.
Due to COVID-19, the council will be sponsoring streaming presentations at Columbia, Dr. Brass, St. Alphonsus, St. Mary鈥檚, St. Michael鈥檚 and St. Paul鈥檚 Schools instead of the usual in-person performances students are used to.
The presentations are a part of a 56 school virtual tour that is happening until June 18. The tour will be showing Th鈥檕wxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish - The Film by Joseph A. Dandurand
The film is about Th鈥檕wxiya, an old hungry spirit that inhabits a feast dish full of bountiful, delicious foods. This Kwantlen First Nations tale follows a sly Mouse (Kw鈥檃t鈥檈l) who is caught stealing cheese from this feast dish. To appease an angry Th鈥檕wxiya, Kw鈥檃t鈥檈l embarks on a journey to find two children for the ogress to eat.
The performance features traditional Coast Salish and Sto:lo music, masks, and imagery while learning how Raven (Sqeweqs), Bear (Spa:th), and Sasquatch (Sasq鈥檈ts) trick a hungry spirit and save Kw鈥檃t鈥檈l and their family from becoming the feast.
Toni Vermette, the administrator for the Yorkton Arts Council.
鈥淚t takes inspiration a little bit from the Hansel and Gretel and the First Nations story of the Wild Women of the Woods, and the story is told through music.鈥�
The presentations will be happening from April 26 to May 7, except Alphonsus Elementary School, where the presentation will happen from May 10 to May 21.
