Waawaate Fobister
2025–2026 Artist-In-Residence
ARTIST BIO
Waawaate Fobister is a Two-Spirit Anishinaabe storyteller, actor, dancer, playwright, choreographer, producer, and theatre instructor from Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows). Their movement vocabulary is rooted in contemporary pow wow, with a focus on grass dance.
They trained in Theatre Arts – Performance at Humber College, studied Indigenous dance at Banff Centre for the Arts, and completed summer intensives with the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and Kaha:wi Dance Theatre.
Waawaate’s debut play Agokwe earned six Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding New Play. Other original works include Medicine Boy and Omaagomaan. They choreographed the Dora-nominated Bent Boy for Young People’s Theatre, and their works have been presented by major theatre companies across Canada and internationally in Japan, the UK, Australia, and the U.S. Highlights include presentations with Clutch, One Yellow Rabbit, Native Earth, and Canada’s National Arts Centre.
As a performer, Waawaate starred in Julius Caesar (NAC/Native Earth) and danced in Carlos Rivera’s I’m Not the Indian You Have in Mind. They also commissioned Dark Song, a duet with Arik Pipestem choreographed by Malgorzata Nowacka-May, and toured with The Chimera Project.
Beyond the stage, Waawaate founded the first-ever LGBTQ2S+ Advisory Council for Grand Council Treaty #3. Their leadership and advocacy have been recognized with the Mark S. Bonham Centre Award and nominations for the Ontario Premier’s Award, the K.M. Hunter Award, and Edmonton’s Sterling Award.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Miskwiin follows the way Anishinaabe knowledge moves through time. I think of it like a current — teachings, songs, and memory traveling through the body across generations. When I move, I feel that timeline open. That’s what I’m working with.
The piece uses breath, dance, prayer, and improvisation to tap into blood memory. Not the colour red — the feeling of something old waking up inside the body. Two-Spirit energy guides the shifts: past to future, soft to sharp, masculine to feminine.
In the residency, I’m tracing how the body receives these teachings and how movement becomes a form of time travel. I’m building a vocabulary that listens to the knowledge coming through, instead of forcing the body into set shapes. Miskwiin is the body returning to itself across time.
RESIDENCY DATES AND EVENTS
Residency:
January 26 – February 6, 2026
Open Studio:
Monday, February 2, 2026
Time: To Be Announced
Space to Create – 2B-468 Main Street
Pay What You Can
Accessibility Information:
17-step staircase
Gender Inclusive Washrooms
ASL Interpretation offered upon request
Public Sharing:
Saturday, February 6, 2026
7:00–8:30pm
Location: To Be Announced
Pay What You Can
Essayist: Maggie
Facilitator: Aria
This residency is made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.