Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ

Project Spotlight: A collaborative performance project blends theatre and radio documentary to portray sounds and experiences of Nunavik.

Land Representation Possible Futures
A performer stands on stage in front of a projection in blue and black tones on a cutout house shape, and raises their hand to a window with an orange glow emitting from it. A second performer is seated on the other side of the window.

Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ is a hybrid project, combining both theatre and radio. On stage, two women from Nunavik live their lives in front of our eyes. Through the radio, which sits as a centerpiece in their household and occupies a crucial place in Nunavik, the sound of a documentary flows out for both us and them. We become immersed in the North through its soundscapes, its silences, and the voices of five young women and some members of their communities. Thus, the two women on stage listen as the documentary’s subjects speak about their very experience and will, at some point, need to challenge it.

A window with an orange glow emanating from it is shown at centre, with a projection surrounding it in black with the word “North” in blue printed script in English, French, and Inuktut. A performer sits inside the home on the other side of the window.
Hannah Tooktoo in Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ (2019). PHOTO: ANNE-MARIE BARIBEAU. COURTESY COLLECTIVE AALAAPI.

Collective Aalaapi

In 2018, Laurence Dauphinais, theatre artist and Marie-Laurence Rancourt, sound artist, gathered a group of Inuit and non-Inuit youth for the creation of a singular multidisciplinary piece where the spectator finds themself as a foreigner traveling north of the 55th parallel.

The hybrid project involves the creation of a radio documentary and then the creation of a play. The collective includes Akinisie Novalinga, Samantha Leclerc, Audrey Alasuak, Mélodie Duplessis and Louisa Naluiyuk, all young women from Nunavik that took part in the making of the radio documentary with Marie-Laurence Rancourt and Daniel Capeille, who are also part of the collective. Hannah Tooktoo, Nancy Saunders, Laurence Dauphinais and now Ulivia Uviluk and Angel Annanack, form the theatrical portion of the collective.

Two performers stand on stage, facing each other. Behind them, a projected text reads “Qu’est-ce qu’on fait maintenant?” (What do we do now?) above a window with curtains closed, emitting a faint glow.
Niap and Hannah Tooktoo in Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ (2019). PHOTO: ANNE-MARIE BARIBEAU. COURTESY COLLECTIVE AALAAPI.

Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ reflects the desire of the collective to position the piece in contrast to the often-conveyed images of the North. To open a door to a universe freed from clichés and preconceived ideas. It’s the possibility of meeting, both within the team and with the public. It’s an invitation to listen, as a means to better see. It’s a communion through bread and sound.

Niap, a core member of the Collective has been involved in the creation of the play since the very beginning of its production.

A performer stands on the stage with her back to the audience, and looks up at a projected text that reads “I’ve passed my school so I will do my internship at the General Hospital for a few months.
Hannah Tooktoo in Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ (2019). PHOTO: ANNE-MARIE BARIBEAU. COURTESY COLLECTIVE AALAAPI.
A projection of a black and white landscape on the cutout house shape with window at centre. A text projected above the dimly lit window reads “Tusautik… it’s the radio, the place where we hear things.
Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ (2019). PHOTO: ANNE-MARIE BARIBEAU. COURTESY COLLECTIVE AALAAPI.