Poetry meets power in groundbreaking new opera – Winnipeg Free Press

Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North is based on a libretto by Vancouver-based Métis poet/storyteller Suzanne Steele, and co-composed by Métis fiddler Alex Kusturok and Canadian Mennonite University music prof Neil Weisensel. | The 135-minute (including intermission) production, sensitively directed by Winnipeg’s Simon Miron, is a love letter to the Métis nation, as well as a joyous celebration of its women and culture. | It’s also a fascinating showcase for Indigenous heritage languages, with its cast of 11 principals and adult/children choruses seamlessly slipping among five languages — Southern Michif, French-Michif, Anishinaabemowin, French and English — with English surtitles provided throughout. | The highly imagistic, poetic narrative, which moves from 1870s Montana through to the 21st century, unfolds through a series of dream-like sequences. The plot centres on Josephine-Marie (local actor Charlene Van Buekenhout), a feisty, modern-day Métisse university student struggling with an essay on decolonization and self-location.

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