Cikilaxwm: Controlled Burn by Ballet Kelowna

$49 Adult $45 Senior 65+ $39 Youth up to 24 years old *includes all fees & tax Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn is a full-length narrative contemporary ballet by Tla’amin choreographer Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe. Set in a dystopian future where wildfire season has no end, the piece follows the journey of a young Indigenous firefighter whose beliefs are challenged when he meets Mothkʷ, a trickster-teacher figure and fierce protector of ancestral knowledge. The word cikilaxʷm [tseekiLAHkwum] means “prescribed fire” in nsyilxən, the language belonging to the syilx (Okanagan) People referring to traditional fire stewardship that restores the land and revitalizes community. Featuring a commissioned score by Cree cellist and composer Cris Derksen, the production is further brought to life with evocative projections by Euro/Omushkego Cree artist Andy Moro and costume design by Navajo/Cherokee artist Asa Benally. Co-produced by the National Creation Fund at Canada’s National Arts Centre, Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn is both a cultural reclamation and a vision of resilience, rooted in Indigenous knowledge and artistry. “This is not a tale of apocalypse, but of perseverance. Of memory that survives and endures. Of land that remembers how to heal.” — Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe