Bear Grease coming to Cankdeska Cikana Community College

Bear Grease, a theatre performance combining hip-hop, parody, improv and freestyle will be held at Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) for two shows on Tuesday, August 8 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. It is free admission and anyone can attend.  

“It’s a decolonized version of Grease, you know, the classic we all grew up watching on TV,” said one of Bear Grease’s writers, directors, and performers, MC RedCloud. A passion for representation was behind the creation of the Indigenous take on the classic musical.

“We feel like representation matters,” explained RedCloud. “Grease is a classic, during the fifties and sixties, we weren’t able to run around the streets like Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. We were getting shuffled into some nonsense and boarding school.”

In terms of that representation, he says Bear Grease comes at a time where a big shift is happening.

“We’re being represented, it’s a really good moment for Indigenous people.”

Along with the two shows, there will be a question and answer session after the first show. A community meal will be provided by CCCC at 5:00 p.m. in the student union.

CCCC president Dr. Cynthia Lindquist encourages patrons to get involved and wear their '50s and '60s apparel to this fun event.

The visit is made possible by funding from the North Dakota Humanities Council, Sacred Pipe Resource Center, Bismarck State College and CCCC.