NOGOJIWANONG
INDIGENOUS
FRINGE
FESTIVAL
INDIGENOUS
FRINGE
FESTIVAL
Meet the NIFF Collective
Advisor/Mentors
Muriel Miguel:
Muriel is a choreographer, director and actor. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Spiderwoman Theater, the longest running Indigenous women’s theater company in North America. Muriel is a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow; awarded an Honorary DFA from Miami University in Ohio; a member of the National Theatre Conference and in 2015 attended the Rauschenberg Residency. She taught at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and is a pioneer in the development of a culturally based Indigenous performance methodology. She facilitates Storyweaving Workshops in universities and communities across the US, Canada and Europe.
Drew Hayden Taylor:
Drew is a well-known author, playwright and journalist from Curve Lake First Nation and the author of more than twenty plays and 33 books.
As a playwright, Drew has proudly been a part of what he refers to as the contemporary Native Literary Renascence. An author of more than 20 plays (resulting in almost a hundred productions), his popular plays such as TORONTO AT DREAMER’S ROCK, ONLY DRUNKS AND CHILDREN TELL THE TRUTH, THE BERLIN BLUES, and COTTAGERS AND INDIANS have left their mark on the Canadian theatre scene.
The NIFF Collective
Hilary Wear:
Clown-About-Town and theatre artist Hilary Wear is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario. As Tootah, the roving, Anishinaabemowin-speaking, street clown, Hilary has performed at Fringe Festivals across Canada. She is a well-known actor in the Peterborough community, taking on many roles in both experimental and traditional theatre. Hilary is also a teacher, developing and delivering intergenerational workshops with Indigenous Communities' members and teaching courses in the Indigenous Performance Program. She recently became accredited as a therapeutic clown practitioner, tell your friends!
Joeann Argue:
Joeann is an Indigenous musician, artist, and educator. She has worked for fifteen years under the mentorship of Muriel Miguel from Spiderwoman Theater in New York City, learning how to teach, develop, and present Indigenous theatre. Joeann studied and taught with the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in their summer school intensive and currently teaches music and storytelling and Trent University.
Lee Bolton:
Lee is a life-long theatre practitioner who is a director, playwright, and has managed numerous theatres and festivals. She has a long history of working with Indigenous arts and artists, including Full Circle: First Nations Performance in Vancouver. As a Fringe veteran, she has done shows in the Vancouver, San Francisco, Charlottetown and Fundy (Saint John) festivals. She is currently Theatre Coordinator of Nozhem First Peoples Performance Space.
Board Members
President:
Nancy Stevens
Treasurer:
Sandra Tomatuk
Secretary:
Brenda Maracle-O'Toole
Muriel Miguel:
Muriel is a choreographer, director and actor. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Spiderwoman Theater, the longest running Indigenous women’s theater company in North America. Muriel is a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow; awarded an Honorary DFA from Miami University in Ohio; a member of the National Theatre Conference and in 2015 attended the Rauschenberg Residency. She taught at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and is a pioneer in the development of a culturally based Indigenous performance methodology. She facilitates Storyweaving Workshops in universities and communities across the US, Canada and Europe.
Drew Hayden Taylor:
Drew is a well-known author, playwright and journalist from Curve Lake First Nation and the author of more than twenty plays and 33 books.
As a playwright, Drew has proudly been a part of what he refers to as the contemporary Native Literary Renascence. An author of more than 20 plays (resulting in almost a hundred productions), his popular plays such as TORONTO AT DREAMER’S ROCK, ONLY DRUNKS AND CHILDREN TELL THE TRUTH, THE BERLIN BLUES, and COTTAGERS AND INDIANS have left their mark on the Canadian theatre scene.
The NIFF Collective
Hilary Wear:
Clown-About-Town and theatre artist Hilary Wear is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario. As Tootah, the roving, Anishinaabemowin-speaking, street clown, Hilary has performed at Fringe Festivals across Canada. She is a well-known actor in the Peterborough community, taking on many roles in both experimental and traditional theatre. Hilary is also a teacher, developing and delivering intergenerational workshops with Indigenous Communities' members and teaching courses in the Indigenous Performance Program. She recently became accredited as a therapeutic clown practitioner, tell your friends!
Joeann Argue:
Joeann is an Indigenous musician, artist, and educator. She has worked for fifteen years under the mentorship of Muriel Miguel from Spiderwoman Theater in New York City, learning how to teach, develop, and present Indigenous theatre. Joeann studied and taught with the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in their summer school intensive and currently teaches music and storytelling and Trent University.
Lee Bolton:
Lee is a life-long theatre practitioner who is a director, playwright, and has managed numerous theatres and festivals. She has a long history of working with Indigenous arts and artists, including Full Circle: First Nations Performance in Vancouver. As a Fringe veteran, she has done shows in the Vancouver, San Francisco, Charlottetown and Fundy (Saint John) festivals. She is currently Theatre Coordinator of Nozhem First Peoples Performance Space.
Board Members
President:
Nancy Stevens
Treasurer:
Sandra Tomatuk
Secretary:
Brenda Maracle-O'Toole