Ten-day musical residency carried out with the support of the Sherbrooke World Traditions Festival in Quebec, featuring Daraa Tribes, a group of musicians from five different tribes of the Moroccan Sahara, RedTail Spirit Singers, and Sacred Wolf Singers, composed for the occasion of five musicians from four different nations (Mi’kmaq, Mohawk, Mapuche), and Simon Denizart, a French pianist.
They were accompanied by dancers: Mike Wade, Jason Gullo Mullins, Benjamin Wawatay, and Warren Papatie, as well as Matthew Rutledge in Toronto.
Artists
- Daraa Tribes
A fusion of ancestral tribal music and Saharan blues, Daraa Tribes originates from the Tagounite Oasis in the Draâ River valley in Morocco. Each member comes from a different tribe, bringing with them diverse musical traditions to create an eclectic style found only in the oases of the North African Sahara. - RedTail Spirit Singers
Founded in 2004, RedTail Spirit Singers debuted in Kanehsatà:ke with a very modest idea: to offer options to youth through singing, drumming, and dancing workshops, as well as pow-wow related activities. - Sacred Wolf Singers
Tee Cloud from Metepenagiag and Julian Wells from Unama’ki are Sacred Wolf Singers – a Mi’kmaq drumming group that performs traditional and contemporary songs to honor the unique character of the Mi’kmaq language and its inherent cultural knowledge. - Simon Denizart
Originally from Créteil, French pianist Simon Denizart arrived in Montreal in 2011 and wasted no time in showcasing his jazz flair. Selected for the 2014 Rimouski Festival’s emerging artist competition, he won the audience award. Buoyed by this recognition, he toured Quebec: the connection with the public was immediate. Under the Canadian label The 270 Sessions, he produced three albums: Between Two Worlds (2015), Beautiful People (2016), and Darkside (2017). Named Jazz Revelation 2016/2017 by Radio-Canada, Simon Denizart performs in several European countries such as Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and his native France. Praised by critics, he was nominated in 2017 and 2018 at ADISQ in the Jazz Album of the Year category. Imbued with European jazz and world music, Simon Denizart plays gentle, sensitive, and energizing music, interspersed with subtle and accessible melodies.
Partners
Quotes
Both Small World and Marchande d’idées create and present art that speaks to an increasingly cross-cultural world; we created the groundwork for exchanges that we can learn from by embracing the differences and similarities of each other.
Alan Davis, Executive Director – Small World Music Society, Toronto, Canada
We believe that this type of project will contribute to broadening horizons and will also allow citizens from all walks of life to have a valuable and enriching cultural experience.
Malika Bajjaje, Executive Director, Sherbrooke World Traditions Festival, Quebec, Canada
Marchande d’idées was able to bridge the gap between two worlds through art and music. This helps strengthen human connections and creates a platform that fosters peace, trust and other human values between the two countries Morocco and Canada. We are in need of a multitude of these kinds of initiatives to strengthen the global culture exchange and dialogue.
Abdel Tahir, Technologist, CEO of AdelphaTech
How amazing!! loved it!! music spectacular and so fricking fantastic that Nathalie and the groups and most of all that she realized all of this. I remember the first day we spoke about it. Congratulations!! thanks so much for sharing the piece. Beautiful!
Phyllis Ellis, Director/Writer/Producer
