TRAction is a collective that believes in engaging the public in art-making to address issues of climate justice. The leadership team – which includes Indigenous and settler artists – works with diverse publics and in relation to the land. Each TRAction project expands and adapts to include other interested allies, professionals, scientists, volunteers and artists who work at the intersection of art-making, social justice and climate change.
TRAction works from five core Pillars – Self-Reflexivity, Care, Action-Based Work, Relationship Building, and Centering Indigenous Voices. TRAction aims to embed these five Pillars in all visioning, decision-making, curation, creation, communication, and community engagement processes. The Pillars also correlate with the Decolonial Toolkit for Climate Artists, in which key terms are defined and applied. View TRAction’s Pillars here.
Chantal is a Cree/Métis singer, drummer, artist, storyteller, actor, educator, workshop facilitator, and social justice advocate and activist with roots in Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. She shares traditional Indigenous songs, stories, culture, history, arts, craftsmanship and teachings in both online and in-person settings. Her presentations – which have occurred in classrooms, professional and community settings, and at social justice events and gathering – aim to entertain, engage, enlighten, educate, and inspire.
Kevin Jesuino is a Portuguese-Canadian multi-disciplinary performer, performing arts educator, movement coach, arts facilitator, LGBTQ+ activist and community organizer. His work is oftentimes collaborative, site-specific, participatory, and process-oriented. His practice explores relationality, the stories within our bodies, and the queer joy of uncertainty. He draws from research in queer performance, ecology/biology, somatics, social art practices and site adaptive/responsive performance. His community-embedded projects engage participants in performative actions, discussions, creative interventions, activations, and other forms of organizing.
Melanie (MFA, PhD) is a settler performance maker, scholar and educator based in Treaty 7 territory (Moh’kinsstis/Calgary). Director of the dance theatre company kloetzel&co., and co-director of the art intervention collective TRAction, Kloetzel’s research work spans stage, site and screen. Employing practice-as-research methodologies, Kloetzel develops events, workshops and encounters in theatre spaces, alternative venues, spaces of public assembly, and online environments. Kloetzel is Professor of Dance at the University of Calgary.
Sandra Lamouche (she/her) is a Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree Woman) from the Bigstone Cree Nation in Northern Alberta. She married into the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta and is now a proud mother of two boys with braids. She holds a BA in Native American Studies from University of Lethbridge, and an MA from Trent University where she focused on Indigenous dance and health. Sandra is a multidisciplinary creator, artist, writer and storyteller, a Champion Hoop Dancer, an award-winning educator, and a two-time TEDx Speaker. She has performed, collaborated and trained with such Indigenous artists and companies as Rosalie Jones, Rulan Tangen, Yvonne Chartrand, Santee Smith, Raven Spirit Dance, O. Dela Arts, and Jack Gray, among others.
