Margaret Grenier
Artistic Director of Dancers of Damelahamid
Why They Matter
Grenier's work demonstrates how Indigenous dance practice sustains cultural memory and community healing across generations. Her leadership of Dancers of Damelahamid and direction of the Coastal Dance Festival establish ongoing platforms for Gitxsan and other Indigenous artists, centering ceremony…
Known For
Biography
Margaret Grenier is a Gitxsan and Cree dance artist and leader based in British Columbia. Born in Prince Rupert, she trained from a young age in traditional Gitxsan dance with her parents, Kenneth and Margaret Harris, grounding her practice in inherited song, dance, and ancestral memory. Since 1991, Grenier has worked with Dancers of Damelahamid, the company she now leads as executive and artistic director. Her choreographic works include *Sharing the Spirit* (2007) and *Flicker* (2016), and she produces and directs the annual Coastal Dance Festival. Grenier's artistic practice centers on multidisciplinary creation and the healing space of ceremony, drawing on the continuity of Gitxsan cultural knowledge. In 2020, she received the Walter Carsen Prize in dance and choreography from the Canada Council for the Arts, recognizing her sustained contributions to dance and cultural leadership.
Works
One stage work credited to Margaret Grenier.
- Raven Mother (2024)Ballet · Choreographer
Credits sourced from Wikidata (CC0), one citation per field. Works without a recorded premiere date are listed last. Titles link to the work in Limelight.
Legacy & Impact
Grenier's work demonstrates how Indigenous dance practice sustains cultural memory and community healing across generations. Her leadership of Dancers of Damelahamid and direction of the Coastal Dance Festival establish ongoing platforms for Gitxsan and other Indigenous artists, centering ceremony and ancestral knowledge as living creative forces rather than historical artifacts. For dancers and choreographers, her practice models the integration of inherited tradition with contemporary multidisciplinary creation.
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