Ballet, First Nations group put spotlight on violent relationships

An acclaimed work by the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada has been adapted to include the story of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

The company performed its ballet Ghosts of Violence to an audience of students in Fredericton Wednesday and Thursday, with changes to include First Nations women and images.

The Moncton-based dance company was asked to re-imagine the work by the Red Shawl Campaign, a week-long remembrance of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

"It's an unusual request to ask an artist to open a piece of work that is done and complete, and change it," said Susan Chalmers-Gauvin, the co-founder of the Atlantic Ballet of Canada.

Artistic director Igor Dobrovolskiy, who created the production, met with Imelda Perley of the Red Shawl Campaign, and fully embraced the idea.

"He sat with the creative team and Imelda, and literally went scene by scene and discussed the changes that could be made, and where First Nations symbols, songs and artists could be included, what that meant," said Chalmers-Gauvin. "It was a beautiful, beautiful process, to be honest, and I think very much in the spirit of what reconciliation is; trying to understand each other."

Thought-provoking ballet

Ghosts of Violence, which had its premiere at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2011, is a ballet inspired by the lives of women who have been killed by partners in intimate relationships.

It's more than a production for the company; by telling the stories of these women, they have reached out to young audiences, trying to educate and let them know there are avenues of help in every community.

Violent relationships are too common in Indigenous homes, said Shelley Germain, who runs New Brunswick's only First Nations transition house, Fredericton's Gignoo House.

"On First Nations communities, it's almost a norm," she said. "There are higher levels of acceptance when it comes to violence, and we're trying to break that silence by saying 'it's zero tolerance.'"

Spousal violence higher on First Nations

According to Statistics Canada, studies show that Aboriginal women experience higher proportions of spousal violence than non-Aboriginal women.

It explains there are several risk factors involved.

Aboriginal women in relationships are younger than the total population, have lower average incomes, higher rates of alcohol abuse and are more likely to live common-law.

Other factors linked to violence in Aboriginal communities include the breakdown of family life resulting from the residential school experience, and the impact of colonization on traditional values and culture.