English musician Peter Gabriel has boarded the CBC-commissioned documentary New Blood as an executive producer.

The  documentary, which will premiere Nov. 22 on CBC Gem as part of the series Absolutely Canadian, tells the story of the New Blood Dance Show at Strathmore High School in Alberta. The show is inspired by a poem on the life of Blackfoot Elder and former chief of Siksika Nation, Vincent Yellow Old Woman (pictured).

The New Blood Dance Show began in 2014 and uses dance and theatre combined with music from Gabriel’s New Blood album to explore Yellow Old Woman’s life, including his experiences at residential school, addiction issues and eventually becoming the Chief of Siksika Nation.

Directed by Adam Solway and written by Solway and Austin Ladouceur, the doc combines performances from the dance show along with interviews with Old Yellow Woman and his grandchildren.

Gabriel allowed Strathmore teachers Eulalia Running Rabbit and Deanne Bertsch to use the album for the decade that the show has been running.

Ladouceur produced and edited the film while Sheila Peacock produced for CBC.

“When we approached Peter Gabriel about the documentary, he graciously granted us permission to use his entire New Blood album in-kind, citing his great respect for Indigenous people,” said Ladouceur in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to use songs such as ‘San Jacinto,’ ‘In Your Eyes,’ and ‘Wallflower’ to bring Chief Vincent’s story to life beyond Strathmore High School.”

New Blood was produced in association with CBC, with the assistance from the government of Alberta, the Alberta Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, the Government of Canada and Calgary Arts Development.

The documentary began production on Feb. 15 and wrapped on June 21. New Blood was filmed in the Strathmore High School theatre, the Engineered Air Theatre at Arts Commons in Calgary and on the traditional Blackfoot territory of Siksika Nation.

Photo by Josh Boak