V’ni Dansi
V’ni Dansi is a Vancouver-based traditional Métis and contemporary dance company dedicated to sharing the dances, music, stories and culture of the Métis. This exciting group takes to the main stage Sunday, National Indigenous Peoples Day.
This presentation fulfill’s the festival’s long-standing desire to incorporate Métis fiddle and dance in our programming. The festival’s genres of bluegrass and old-time music share common repertoire with Métis fiddle, all of which share a foundation in British Isles (Scottish, Irish) and French-Canadian folk traditions. All three genres have fiddle as a primary instrument featuring tunes often derived from Scottish, Irish, and French-Canadian reels, jigs, and hornpipes. Like old-time music, traditional Métis music was created specifically for social dancing.
Métis jigging is a dance style that blends First Nations footwork with Scottish, Irish, and French-Canadian step-dancing, traditionally performed to fiddle music. Percussive dance is currently incorporated in the festival’s programming in the form of participatory flatfooting workshops, contra dancing and square dancing. It is also common to black and Indigenous cultures.
V’ni Dansi will bring four dancers and two fiddle players. Because the festival venue has a large concrete dance floor in front of the main stage, thet may be able to involve the audience in its presentation. V’ni Dansi is the only company in Canada to teach and perform traditional Métis and contemporary dance.