The Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance Performance
March 19th at 7:30 pm

Columbia Center for the Arts (CCA) will host visiting illioo Native Theatre in an Evening of Native Voices on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 7:30 pm in the CCA Theatre.

This is event is free to the public, please make sure to reserve a ticket as seating is limited.

The program includes a one-act staged play-reading of The Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance by Diane Glancy (Cherokee), along with a traditional story—only told during the Winter months—by Marta Lu Clifford (Chinook/Cree/Grand Ronde), and an original contemporary story by Lori Tapahonso ((Diné/Acoma Pueblo).  

The hour-long performance is presented in conjunction with CCA exhibit “Contemporary Native Voices: Prints from Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts”, and will be followed by a discussion with the audience about Native theatre, representation, and the role of storytelling in regional indigenous cultures.  Suitable for age 10 and up.

Woman Who Was a Red Deer is the story of a grandmother and her grand-daughter who live in “different worlds” — the grandmother holds on to her cultural practices during a time of reservation termination; the grand-daughter must navigate a contemporary world.  In this play we witness their struggles as indigenous women to honor tradition and culture in the contemporary world.  Each must reach across a generational divide to (re)connect to one another and the meaning of heritage in the present day.

Illioo, which means “joyful” in the language of the Kalapuya people of Willamette Valley, is a new consortium of indigenous theatre artists, storytellers, and allies dedicated to producing Indigenous theatrical productions, concert readings, and educational workshops for Indigenous and wider audiences.  We honor traditional performance forms, including storytelling, dance, and song, and collaborate with community members in developing new works that tell stories that need to be told. Modeling creative partnerships between Indigenous and non-Native artists, illioo’s projects include Red Dress Poetry in the Park honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women; Native storytelling events; concert reading of Salmon Is Everything for Willamette River Festival, Long Tom Watershed Council study group, and others.  Illioo also provides workshops in contemporary theatre skills for Indigenous communities.

Thank you to our sponsors for The Contemporary Native Voices Show and Red Deer Dress Performance: Best Western PLUS Hood River Inn, Columbia Gorge Community College, Columbia River Insurance, Copper West Real Estate, Hood River Hobbies, Solstice, Tokki Art Supply, and Visit Hood River Chamber of Commerce.