Why You Shouldn’t Miss Nigamon/Tunai: An Insider’s Look
Mary Roeder has been on staff at UMS for nearly 20 years. In her role as associate director of programming, her responsibility is to scout out innovative new dance and theater offerings from around the world, connecting with artists and agents to determine the feasibility of their complex productions for a tour to Ann Arbor.
Mary Roeder
We spoke with Mary about UMS’s first theater offering of the 25/26 season, Nigamon/Tunai, a unique performance that will immerse audiences directly on the Power Center stage this October. Translating to “song” in the Anishinaabemowin and Inga languages, respectively, Nigamon/Tunai, is a collaboration by two indigenous creators: Canadian artist Émilie Monnet and Colombian artist Waira Nina.
Discover how Mary first learned of the show, why she thinks it will resonate with audiences in powerful and unexpected ways, and how she and the UMS production team are working with the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens to transform the stage into a space surrounded by nature.
How did you learn about the performance?
I’ve known about Emilie Monnet’s work for a while. She’s usually presented in a museum context, but her work really lives between visual art and performance. Nigamon/Tunai is a great example of that.
I had planned to see Nigamon/Tunai in Montreal at Festival TransAmériques, but my flight got delayed. I had to decide whether to rearrange everything to catch it or stick with my original schedule.
I ended up skipping it, partly because I knew the space it needed probably wasn’t something we had access to. We’re missing that kind of large, flexible black box in our venue portfolio. So at the time I thought, why see something we can’t realistically present?
Then I started hearing from folks in Montreal that the show was incredible. They told me it was worth seeing no matter what. So when I found out it was also being presented at the Edinburgh International Festival, I made sure to catch it, and it completely blew me away.
It was exciting but kind of heartbreaking, because I still didn’t think we’d be able to do it here. We have occasionally turned the Power Center stage into a black box space for special projects, but this always requires special consideration and approvals due to building codes.
Thankfully, the fire marshal generously worked with us to find a solution. So it actually turned out to be a perfect setup for the piece.
What should people expect in terms of seating and the immersive experience?
The full experience runs close to 90 minutes, and the best way to experience the piece is by really immersing yourself in the natural world the artists have created on stage. That means sitting low to the ground, either on a cushion or simple wooden seating. At one point, I think I was sitting on a tree stump.
Thankfully, the setup also includes accessible options, and riser seating with chairs for those who prefer a bit more comfort or a bird’s-eye view of the action. So there’s a range of seating experiences, depending on how close you want to be to the world unfolding in front of you.
How does the show engage the audience’s senses?
I encourage people to enter into the experience prepared for something that feels theatrical. There’s a bit of narrative, but it’s best to approach it as a sonic experience, or really, a multi-sensory one.
There’s beautiful lighting, but for me, the strongest sense memory is auditory. Sound that borders on tactile, to the extent that you can “feel it.” There are all these different sounds and textures that the audience engages with. It’s really about feeling your way through the experience.
This show offers a tactile, visual, and sonic insight into the natural world. Whether it’s hearing the sound of a rock or the sound of trees, it gives a kind of voice to things we don’t usually think of as having one.
Looking at past seasons and the audiences who typically attend, who do you think might connect with this show?
I don’t love prescribing who a show is for. With something like this, I wouldn’t want anyone to assume it’s not for them.
This is the kind of piece people might decide isn’t for them based on the description, and I’d really encourage them to take a chance. I was surprised by how emotionally moving it was.
Sometimes when a show is about an issue or a crisis — like an environmental crisis — it can feel didactic or overly intellectual. That can create distance, where you feel removed from the experience. This didn’t do that. It reached me on a much more emotional and sensory level.
One thing people often look for, especially when seeing something in a theater series or season, is to understand what’s happening at every moment. This is a great example of a show that’s more about creating a “vibe” and an emotional trajectory. It’s not always explicitly narrative. The invitation is to give yourself over to that, and not stay in your head trying to interpret every detail.
Could you expand on the partnership UMS has with Matthaei Botanical Gardens for this performance?
Matthaei Botanical Gardens seemed like an obvious partner from the very beginning, honestly for a couple of reasons. When we were initially planning the show, the artists were aiming for a touring window around January.
However, some of the theatrical effects in the show [such as using live trees] depend on the trees not being dormant—they need to be fully leafed out and actively moving water through their system, from roots up into the leaves, because certain sound effects amplify those living elements.
I reached out to the tree experts at Matthaei Botanical Gardens to ask if there was any way to keep trees from going dormant or to “trick them” into staying active through January. It turns out there are some techniques, but they’re very labor-intensive and there’s no guarantee of success.
So we spoke with the artists and considered shifting the timing to September or October. Even then, trees are beginning to enter dormancy, so there was still some uncertainty about whether the trees would be just right.
The team at Matthaei was incredibly helpful in advising us on what varieties would work best. They are helping us source these trees and then find homes for them afterward.
We’re also collaborating with Matthaei Botanical Gardens on an event happening September 28. Our artists will be taking part in Harvest Fest, an afternoon celebration of the garden and some of its indigenous initiatives. They use the term “rematriation” to describe efforts to restore and honor elements of the gardens, which ties beautifully into the themes of the show.
In addition to engaging with the artists of Nigamon/Tunai during the performance from Oct 2 – 8, community members can also catch them at various events during Climate Week:
- Sunday, September 28 // 1-4pm // Campus Farm, Matthaei Botanical Gardens
- Guided walk to the water with conversation and song
- Beading workshop
- Thursday, October 2 // ~9:15 pm // Power Center Stage
- Post-show Q&A
- Thursday, October 9 // 5:30-7pm // Michigan Theater
- Penny Stamps Speaker Series
Tickets start at just $48 (+ fees), with many student ticket discount opportunities available.
