Aqsarniit shines on stage with P.E.I.'s Young Company

Inuk performer Jerry Laisa from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, is often asked how to properly pronounce the Inuktitut word "aqsarniit."

The unfamiliar word captivates audiences at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, and Laisa is meticulous in his explanation.

"It is very, very soft," Laisa said. "It comes from almost the back of your tongue, the q sound, so it is a very soft touch with your tongue." 

"Aqsarniit," which means "northern lights," is also the title of the daily Young Company production Laisa is a part of at the Confederation Centre.

Laisa is one of 13 cast members from across Canada performing a free show Monday to Saturday at the outdoor amphitheatre at noon.

The musical production showcases stories that make up the nation's history — the good and sometimes uncomfortable, but true, past of Canada

Aqsarniit contains a lot of information about Indigenous culture, including different languages like Inuktitut.

"A lot of people back home are constantly telling me that I am changing lives because there isn't much opportunity for us to speak it ... so it is very cool to be able to have that chance to speak my own language in a performance," Laisa said. 

"Once in a while I will get that audience member that speaks it and it is an amazing feeling."

Throat singing, hand drumming and hoop dancing make it into the performance as well, but it has evolved into other backgrounds that make up the different aspects of the country.

"This year, I feel that the theme is reconciliation but not just among Indigenous people, among all people of colour and all Canadians,"said Wahsonti:io Kirby, from the Kahnawake, Québec. 

Sharing and learning

She says she learned many things while working and sharing with cast members of diverse backgrounds from across the country.

"It was really cool to just learn so much about people in a short amount of time," she said. "Not just the things that they come in with their culture and their histories but also who they are as individuals and seeing how those can intertwine and make a whole person just so complex and so wonderful."

Kirby hopes to take her experience this summer and inspire others from her home community.

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Other cast members brought different Canadian perspectives on the nation's history.

Greg Liow from Vancouver, B.C., arrived in Canada from Singapore when he was eight years old and shared a newcomer's perspective with the cast and audience.

"It has been very insightful, awareness raising, educational and has taught me so much about Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture and so many things about that history that I was not taught in school," he said.

The production of Aqsarniit was a continuation of the conversation started last year during the Confederation Centre's Canada 150 Dream Catchers project.

Workshops were held with young people across the country and the stories they shared were turned into the 2017 Young Company production that toured Canada.

"The Centre is a centre for all Canadians but there are some voices that weren't being heard," said Confederation Centre associate producer Sarah Denman-Wood. "So we wanted to make sure that we were giving a voice to those that weren't always given a microphone." 

Young Company looks towards the future

This year's cast were able to include their own experiences into this year's performance. The production is also a training opportunity for the cast members to learn more about singing, dancing and performing from the Confederation Centre staff.

"Seeing the difference in them from the first couple of rehearsals … their ability to eloquently say what it is that they are trying to say and the openness of their other cast members to hear that is wonderful," said Denman-Wood. "It gives me a lot of hope for the future."

The show runs in Charlottetown until Aug. 18.

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