BY MEGAN WARREN
FOR ARTSPRING
ArtSpring is set to host a profound immersive experience this month, welcoming multi-hyphenate extraordinaire Corey Payette for a weekend of film, music and ancestral exploration.
This film and music visionary of Oji-Cree, Franco-Ontarian and Irish descent, who has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the National Arts Centre, centres Indigenous voices in a theatre of song that challenges historical narratives and gives a voice to those whose stories have not been told.
The residency begins Friday, Jan. 30, with actor-writer-director Julie McIsaac’s workshop called Theatre Devising with Memory and Ancestry and a screening of the award-winning musical film Les Filles du Roi. Co-written by Payette and McIsaac, the film offers a feminist and Indigenous exploration of the King’s Daughters’ arrival in 1665 New France. Originally a stage musical that had its national tour halted by the pandemic, the cinematic adaptation has since become a festival favourite.
Told in a rich linguistic tapestry of English, French and Kanien’kéha, the story follows Mohawk siblings Kateri and Jean-Baptiste as their lives intersect with Marie-Jeanne, one of the filles-du-roi sent from France to populate the colony. For McIsaac, who also stars as Marie-Jeanne, the project was born from a desire to fill gaps in the historical record. She notes that while women’s perspectives were often ignored, Indigenous narratives were missing entirely.
“What was happening on the land, and what were the perspectives and experiences of the Indigenous folks who were in that same area when all of these young women were getting shipped over?” she asked.
In her workshop, McIsaac draws on her own discovery that she is a descendant of a fille-du-roi, and invites artists of all disciplines — from writers and actors to dancers and singers — to use their own lineages as a creative springboard.
“My own experience discovering things about my family by virtue of doing a creative project that maybe I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise, and having the opportunity to do exercises through my own creative work where I’ve felt a sense of kinship and connection with a sense of heritage or ancestry — I found it to be really beautiful and empowering. I’m hoping to spark something for other folks.”
Through guided visualizations, timed writing and other exercises, participants will explore what stories their ancestors might “whisper in their ear” if given the chance to guide their artistic output.
“I sometimes think,” McIsaac said, “if your great-great-great-grandmother knew that you were sitting down to write a story or choreograph a dance or create visual art, what might she want you to create?”
Each participant in the program will work toward creating and sharing a few minutes of material by the end of the workshop, but McIsaac emphasizes that sharing is not essential if that is outside a participant’s comfort level.
For McIsaac, Les Filles du Roi is “like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” Its sharp focus on cultural and linguistic intersections complicates the typical narrative of Canadian colonization with richly written relationships between people from different worlds.
“[Corey and I] both grew up in families and communities where the community was not all one thing,” said McIsaac. “You’ve got folks from different cultural backgrounds, and there are multiple languages being spoken in the household. I think a lot of Canadians have that experience. In fact, we all contain these multitudes, and we wanted a film that spoke to that. Seeing the characters grapple with collisions between different worldviews and different languages, we think, is really exciting.”
McIsaac’s ancestry played a definite role in shaping Les Filles du Roi’s focus on feminine community.
“I look back at the work that we’ve created, and I think about the great matriarchy that I’m a part of with my mother and all her sisters and my grandmother,” she said. “When I was growing up, the idea of women supporting each other and female friendship was so central to what made me who I am, and I feel that that’s reflected in the piece tenfold.
“When I think about what the [filles-du-roi] might have experienced at that time, at least from the European perspective, I think it could have been tremendously isolating for them to leave everything and everyone they knew and to come to this place that was very strange and potentially harsh. The idea that they might have had opportunities to connect and share their fears and hopes is quite beautiful to me.”
The residency culminates on Saturday, Jan. 31 with Closest Thing to Home, an extraordinary live concert. This performance features selections from Payette’s acclaimed musicals, including Children of God, Sedna, Starwalker and a preview of his upcoming musical On Native Land. Accompanied by a chamber orchestra and local choirs, Payette and a cast of special guests will weave a powerful evening of music centred on resilience and the search for belonging.
This weekend is more than a showcase of talent; it is an invitation to witness a cultural reckoning and to refocus the founding stories of our country through the lens of those who have been excluded for generations. Whether you are an artist looking to unlock ancestral stories or are seeking a transformative cinematic and musical experience, this residency promises to be a highlight of the season.