NAC announces 'ambitious' lineup for Canada Scene festival

The National Arts Centre has announced the full lineup for its multidisciplinary Canada Scene festival to coincide with Canada 150 celebrations over the late spring and early summer.

The eclectic festival will feature more than 1,000 artists from the realms of music, theatre, dance, and visual and media arts from June 15-July 23 at the renovated NAC and venues throughout Ottawa-Gatineau.

In a news release, NAC president and CEO Peter Herrndorf called Canada Scene "an extremely ambitious undertaking" with 100 events on the bill.

Highlights from Canada Scene's music component feature:

• Taken, featuring Indigenous artists Jeremy Dutcher, Lindsey "Eekwol" Knight, and Andrew Balfour performing pieces on the theme of being "taken" on June 17.
• A showcase of fiddle music headlined by Cape Breton's Natalie MacMaster on July 8.
• Queer Songbook Orchestra, a 12 -piece chamber pop ensemble exploring the queer experience with prominent LGBT artists and allies on July 9.
• Anishinabekwe, a showcase of Indigenous female musicians including Tanya Tagaq, Amanda Rheaume, ShoShona Kish and more on July 22.

Dance performances will also make up a big part of the festival, including:

• Saskatchewan's Robin Poitras presenting a two-part program of dance works on July 11.
• Dance Machine by Vancouver choreographer Lee Su-feh, running July 12-15.
• Compagnie Marie Chouinard's IN MUSEUM performance at the National Gallery of Canada July 15.

Theatrical performances on the Canada Scene bill include:

Making Treaty 7, a multidisciplinary look at the making of modern southern Alberta, June 20.

Mulgrave Road Theatre's The West Woods, examining the experience of African-Nova Scotian women, running July 7-9.

Old Stock, which explores the Romanian Jew immigrant experience by 2b theatre company, playing from July 13-15

Canada Scene film screenings will feature:

• A Nation of Nations, 10 short works by Indigenous filmmakers from across Canada on June 19.
• Atlantic Film Waves, showcasing Atlantic Canadian films on July 4.
• Seances, an interactive filmmaking experience led by Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin from July 11-23.

Visual and media arts works will be on display throughout Ottawa and Gatineau for the duration of Canada Scene, featuring public installations and interactive pieces.

"As part of the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the Canada Scene festival will celebrate, inspire, and provoke. It will celebrate Canadian heroes, inspire with performances by emerging artists, and provoke with a week of particularly contemporary works that will challenge conventions and raise questions about who we are and where we are going as a nation," said festival producer and executive director Heather Moore in the news release.

The NAC's Scene festivals began featuring the arts of Canadian regions in 2003 with Atlantic Scene, and most recently presented Ontario Scene in 2015.