Dancers, choreographer Yvonne Chartrand is auditioning dancers on behalf of Manitoba Opera for our production of Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North.

About the Opera:

21st century Joséphine-Marie, through a grandmother’s story, is transported to 1870’s Montana where she encounters an ancestor, the sharpshooter Josette, a runaway travelling with Riel and the last buffalo brigades.  There she falls in love with the young, passionate, Louis Riel, in disguise, on the run from assassins.

The pair confront jealousy, destiny, deprivation, and torment wrought by four shape-shifting Black Geese of Fate, but are comforted by ghost choruses of ancestors, the bison brigades, and the women of their peoples, as they try to salvage a nation and save themselves from total destruction in the burning heat of the continent of the 1870’s.

You are the ideal candidate IF:

• You are a self-identifying Métis dance artist or a self-identifying Indigenous dance artist;
• You are based in the Winnipeg area;
• You are experienced in both traditional and contemporary styles of Métis jigging and dance and other dance forms;
• You are experienced in partnering skills and portraying character roles.

While the above are assets, we encourage submissions from artists of all backgrounds, regardless of race, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression regardless of location barriers.  Please indicate if you are requesting a virtual audition.

To Book an Audition:

• Email audition@mbopera.ca with an introduction, resume [PDF], and headshot (JPG, JPEG, or PDF)
• Applicants from outside the Winnipeg area may submit a short video or link to your work.
• Use the subject line: Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North Dance Audition – YOUR NAME
• Review the information below and confirm if the production will fit with your schedule.

More information:

• Production dates are Saturday, November 18, Wednesday November 22, and Friday, November 24, 2023.
• Rehearsals are Monday through Saturday, Sunday is a dark day.  Rehearsals being on Monday, October 30 and will likely take place in the evening.
• Auditions will be held at the Rachel Browne Theatre (211 Bannatyne Ave. 2nd floor) on Thursday, June 15, Friday, June 16, and Saturday, June 17 in the afternoon and evening.
• The auditioners will have the opportunity to share a few of their own favourite steps and/or dance skills.  We encourage you to bring the best of what you know.
• The deadline for applications is 12:00 pm (CST) Thursday, June 15, 2023.  Successful applicants, including those outside of Winnipeg whom we wish to see via video audition, will receive audition materials and further information after the deadline has passed.  Priority will be given to members of CAEA and to Winnipeg-based artists.

Manitoba Opera is located upon, and operates within, Treaty #1 territory, the Anishinaabeg, Cree, OjiCree, Dakota, and Dene peoples’ traditional lands and waters and the Red River Métis Nation homelands.

As water nourishes the land and all it gives us, we also acknowledge that the source of the City of Winnipeg’s water is from Shoal Lake, the home and shared territory of Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 Independent Nation and Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.

In view of such understandings and acknowledgements, Manitoba Opera remains committed to working in partnership with the Indigenous peoples in the spirit of truth, reconciliation, and collaboration.

To book an audition email audition@mbopera.ca