''Dance Me Outside'' is a 1994 Canadian drama film, directed by Bruce McDonald. It was based on a book by W.P. Kinsella.Rob Salem, "Dance Me Outside struts a lively two-step". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', March 10, 1995. The film premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival, before going into commercial release in 1995.

Plot

On the Kidabanesee reserve in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

lives Silas Crow ( Ryan Black), a young man looking for direction in life. He is uncertain about taking an automobile mechanic's course in college. His general confusion with life is most readily evident in his appearance. He wears an old ratty black fedora, a strange assortment of cargo pants, as well as a long, black trench coat. Frank Fencepost (

Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in '' Smoke Signals''; Frank Fencepost in '' Dance Me Outside''; Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger''; Kickin' Wing in '' Joe Dirt''; U.S. Marin ...

) is Crow's best friend, and Sadie Maracle ( Jennifer Podemski) is his girlfriend. A young girl from the reserve is murdered by Clarence Gaskill ( Hugh Dillon); the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

man's sentence is light, leading the community to demand justice or vengeance.

Cast

Main

Ryan Black (

Saulteaux The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and Ojibwa ethnonyms, other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band governm ...

) as Silas Crow an 18 year old aspiring mechanic struggling to write a short narrative of his home.

(Saulteaux, plains Ojibwe) as Frank Fencepost the best friend of Silas. Who is joining Silas in becoming a mechanic. Lisa LaCroix as Illianna, Silas's Sister Micheal Greyeyesbr>(Muskeg Lake First Nation)
as Gooch, former boyfriend of Illiana and returns home from prison Jennifer Podemski (Anishinaabe,

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...

, an
Métis
as Sadie Maracle

Tamara Podemski Tamara Podemski (born October 16, 1977) is a Canadian film and television actress and writer.Rick Garrick"Indigenous multidisciplinary artist to host 13th Annual Outside Looking In Gala in Toronto this Spring" ''Anishinabek News'', March 9, 2020. ...

(

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

) as Little Margaret

Production

''Dance Me Outside'' was the first acting role for Dillon, who was previously known as a rock singer. He later starred in McDonald's '' Hard Core Logo'', and has since gone on to become an acclaimed actor in television series such as '' Durham County'' and '' Flashpoint''. The rock band Leslie Spit Treeo and singer-songwriter Vern Cheechoo appeared in the film, performing in concert at the reserve's community hall, "The Blue Quill Hall". Blue Quill is a borrowed name of a community in W.P. Kinsella's hometown of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Other contributors to the soundtrack included the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

duo

Kashtin Kashtin were a Canadians, Canadian folk rock duo in the 1980s and 1990s, one of the most commercially successful and famous musical groups in First Nations in Canada, First Nations history. Career The band was formed in 1984 by Claude McKenzie a ...

, singer-songwriter Keith Secola and Dillon's band The Headstones, as well as previously recorded songs by Redbone and

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...

, and an instrumental score by Mychael Danna. The film was shot primarily on the Shawanaga and Wasauksing First Nations reserves near Parry Sound, with a small amount of location shooting in Parry Sound.

Television series

A television series, '' The Rez'', was spun off from the film in 1996. In the series, Frank Fencepost was played by Darrel Dennis instead of

, who was instead given the role of the chief's son, Charlie. Ryan Black and Jennifer Podemski kept their roles, while Podemski's sister Tamara played a new character named Lucy.

Awards

The film won two

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...

at the 16th Genie Awards in 1996, for Best Editing ( Michael Pacek) and Best Sound Editing (Steve Munro, Andy Malcolm, Michael Pacek, Peter Winninger and Michael Werth). It was also nominated, but did not win, for Best Overall Sound (Keith Elliott, Peter Kelly, Daniel Pellerin and Ross Redfern).Rob Salem, "Lepage movie tops Genie list: Le Confessionnal nabs a dozen nominations as first-time directors dominate". ''

'', November 8, 1995.

Availability

After the film's spring 1995 theatrical run, the film was released on videocassette in 1995 by A-Pix Entertainment and in Canada that same year by

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada. The former corporation was one of North America's ...

. The Canadian tape contained the music video for "Cemetery" performed by The Headstones. Video Service Corporation released the film on DVD in 2008.

References

External links

* *Métis a
The Canadian Encyclopedia
{{Bruce McDonald 1994 films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama films First Nations films Films directed by Bruce McDonald Films set in Northern Ontario Films based on works by W. P. Kinsella Films scored by Mychael Danna 1994 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films Films based on Canadian short stories English-language drama films