Andy has worked on stages and in stadiums nationally and internationally. As Creative Producer with Punctuate! Theatre, Andy premiered Takwahiminana (with Soulpepper), toured First Métis Man of Odesa (to NAC, Soulpepper, TIFT) and now Kohkom’s Babushka (with Banff Centre & Pyretic) and will premiere Strife (with Tarragon) later this season. He is also a Producer on Bright Star (GTP & Mirvish). As actor/creative: Disney’s FROZEN (Citadel; Sterling nom), Charlotte (Theaturtle/ National Theatre Prague), Hunchback (Catalyst/ Playhouse), Godspell (Arts Club), Fiddler on the Roof (Persephone; SATAward nom), Circle Game (Firehall/ Persephone; Ovation & SATAwards, Jessie nom), Elf (Chemainus), Hair (Mayfield). Andy has worked on ceremonies and major events including the JUNOs, CCMAs, Volleyball Nations League & Beach Pro Tour, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic & Paralympic Games (Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro), AIMAGames (Ashgabat), Invictus Games (Sydney), Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast). He was responsible for the Sitewide Programming at Expo 2020 Dubai, and was lead Producer for the COP28 Opening Ceremony in UAE.

Donna Lee Dumont is a proud descendent of the Red River Settlers. Donna Lee has been interested in art since her childhood in northern Ontario where she first sketched her environment. She feels fortunate to have painted in northern Saskatchewan with A.Y. Jackson, and to have studied Oriental brushwork with Szeto Kei in Vancouver. She has had several one-person art shows in Western Canada. She is the author and illustrator of Peter Fidler and the Métis, and illustrator of Manny’s Memories and Kohkum’s Babushka, publications of Gabriel Dumont Institute Press.

Krista Leddy (she/her) is a proud Métis woman and artist whose family comes from the historical Métis communities of St. Albert and Lac St. Anne. She currently calls amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) home. Krista is passionate about her culture and community and loves to share the depth and wealth of Métis identity through art and story.

Aaron Macri is an award-winning composer and sound designer based out of Edmonton, Alberta. Credits with Punctuate! include Takwahiminana, First Métis Man of Odesa.

Over his twenty-five year career, Aaron has created music and sound design for theatre, television, dance, and film. His works have been broadcast nationally (APTN, SuperChannel) and on stages across Canada and Off-Broadway.

From Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, AB, Darla Daniels is a celebrated Métis fiddler, singer-songwriter, recording artist, actor, and composer with a dynamic stage presence and a deep reverence for tradition. She has spent over two decades sharing her passion for traditional Métis fiddle music & dance while forging a bold, contemporary path through Roots, Folk, and Americana genres. 2012-2025: Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Mardi Gras, North Country Fair, Mariposa Music Festival, The Diviners (The Stratford Festival). Awards: Arts and Culture Award (Métis Settlements General Council); The Young Woman of Vision Award (Grant MacEwan University); The Aboriginal Youth Female Role Model Award (Canadian Native Friendship Centre); Top 5 finalist - Specialty Instrumentalist of the Year (Country Music Alberta Awards).

Stephanie Bahniuk (she/her) is a Ukrainian-Canadian designer of theatre, tv, film, opera and dance. She is originally from Edmonton and now resides in Brooklyn, NY. Stephanie is a graduate of the Masters of Fine Arts in Design program at the Yale School of Drama and a recipient of the Jay Keene and Jean Griffin Keene Prize in Costume Design. Stephanie is also a Sterling Award winner and was nominated for a Connecticut Critics Choice Award. Recent credits include Dance Nation (Skirtsafire Festival), Ragtime (Goodspeed Musicals), Carmen (Rutgers Opera) and Harvest Truce (Studio Theatre). In addition to her theatre work, Stephanie has contributed to Broadway and Off-Broadway productions as a costume shopper, and has lent her expertise to major TV productions including The Gilded Age and And Just Like That. She is a proud member of USA Local 829 and serves on the Board of the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers.

Joleen Ballendine is a mixed-blood Métis writer, actor, improviser, and educator based on Treaty 6 Territory. She has been a core member of Canada’s third-oldest improv company -- Rapid Fire Theatre -- since 2009 and currently serves as Director of Outreach and Welcome. In 2011 she launched the companies first Outreach program, working extensively with Indigenous youth and communities to share stories through improv and comedy.

Joleen’s work has taken her across North America and on seven European tours, performing and teaching. Her writing includes projects with CBC, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Mosaic Entertainment, and Historica Canada where she penned a Canadian Heritage Minute on Mary “Bonnie” Baker.

Following the birth of her child, she turned her focus to young audiences. She is thrilled that her latest project, Kohkom’s Babushka—adapted from a children’s book in collaboration with Lianna Makuch—is being premiered with the support of Punctuate! Theatre, Pyretic Productions, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

A proud Métis artist of Cree, French, Irish, and English ancestry, Michaela is delighted to based in her home province of Alberta once again after living in Ontario for the past 25 years. An award winning actor and writer, Michaela also has multiple nominations; most notably, for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, Ontario Arts Council’s Indigenous Arts Award and the K. M. Hunter Artist Award for Theatre. A published author, Michaela’s performance and written work has been shared internationally at festivals and theatres in Wales, Aruba and across Canada and the United States.

Jessica is a queer film and theatre actor based in Toronto and Montreal. Selected theatre credits include: The Secret Garden of An Sìthean (Festival Antigonish), Trojan Kids, Macbeth, Antigonick, As You Like It, 365 Days/365 Plays (NTS), Art Ambulance (Clay and Paper Theatre) and The Stranger 2.0 (DopoLavoro Teatrale). On screen she has appeared in the series Hotel Paranormal and Haunted Hospitals. She is a recent graduate of the National Theatre School in acting and is grateful to be able to discover and play in beautiful Banff with this incredible group of artists. When she’s not acting, you can find her stilt walking in a park or bothering her cat, Gus. Thank you to her family and friends who always cheer her on, even from a distance.

Rick is very grateful to be here, on stage, as Kohkom’s Babushka comes to life before an audience. He last appeared at the Banff Centre twenty eight years ago as Will Donnelly in James Reaney’s St. Nicholas Hotel. Selected credits include: Man of La Mancha (Magnus Theatre); Fiddler on the Roof (Persephone); Hamlet (Manitoba Theatre Centre); Christmas Carol, Real Estate, How It Works, Tuesdays With Morrie, When the Reaper Calls (Sudbury Theatre Centre); Full Monty, Buddy Holly Story, Sound of Music, Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown Festival); Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Fire, Black Bonspiel (Globe Theatre); the Foursome (Foster Festival); Film/Television: Law and Order Toronto (Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures); Murdoch Mysteries, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures (Shaftesbury); Hemlock Grove (Netflix). Rick lives in Toronto with his delightful wife, Donna Garner (Actor/Singer/Multi-Instrumentalist/Artistic Director, Garner Theatre Productions) and Gustav Mahler (Gus), a stoic Mini-Schnauzer.