Santee Smith is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand, Ontario. Santee works as a choreographer, dancer and pottery designer. As an artist, she is committed to sharing traditional and contemporary stories of her indigenous culture. It is her interest in her culture and the cycles of the natural world that are the inspiration and focus of her creative direction. Santee holds a Masters Degree in Dance from York University.
Santee attended the National Ballet School of Canada from 1982-1988. Santee expanded her knowledge of human movement by completing an Honours Degree in Kinesiology at McMaster University in 1994. In 1996, Santee choreographed, SkyWoman and Three Sisters, for The Gift, a National Film Board documentary. Santee was a part of the Aboriginal Dance Project, Chinook Winds at the Banff Centre for the Arts 1997-2001, as a dancer, choreographer’s assistant and guest artist. Santee performed the leading role of First Woman in BONES: An Aboriginal Dance Opera. In 1997, she performed improvisational dances for the documentary film, See and Hear the World, the Mystic Arts of Tibet and Santee Smith, aired on BRAVOTV. Santee has been a guest teacher for Six Nations Community Youth Outreach Program, and Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre, The Iroquoian Indian Museum, NY, York University- Dance Department and Red Roots Theatre. Santee’s choreography has been showcased at numerous festivals: Toronto (ImagiNative Media Arts Festival) and in the United States (Iroquois Festival, NY) and Indonesia (JakArt 2002, Canadian Embassy, Kalimantan). Santee’s choreographic work has been highlighted on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN), Seventh Generation and First Nations Arts and Music and Buffalo Tracks.
She was a featured artist at the Canadian Heritage National Gathering of Aboriginal Artistic Expression, Dream Weavers in Ottawa 2002 and at National Gathering of Aboriginal People and Tourism in Whistler B.C. 2003. Santee was a featured dancer and choreographer for the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, 10th Anniversary Special, 2003. Santee has created works for Dancers Dancing (Vancouver), Woodland Cultural Centre and Canadian Children's Dance Theatre. She is actively involved in aboriginal contemporary dance in Canada and the United States having performed and presented her work at the Aboriginal Dance Symposiums in Nova Scotia and Manitoba and at the Red Rhythms Conference at the University of California - Riverside.
Santee successfully self-presented the world premiere production of Kaha:wi on June 3-6, 2004 at the Premiere Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Santee's Kaha:wi CD received two Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards nominations for Best Producer and Best Song, as well as, being a featured performer. Up-coming in 2005, Santee will be a featured choreographer/dancer for the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards and for the CanDance Network's Aboriginal Choreographers Exchange, Montreal, Peterborough, Regina.
