Diabo recognized as Great Concordian

If Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo could go back in time more than 30 years to when she was a fresh-faced student entering Concordia University, she’d have one piece of advice: “trust yourself.”

“Trust your authentic self and find your place in all that. Learn tools, it’s good to expand your comfort zone, but really find your voice in it all,” she said.

Last week, Diabo was highlighted by Concordia as a “Great Concordian,” an honour that recognizes the successes of esteemed members of the Concordia alumni community.

Having graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre in 1991, Diabo said Concordia has been a major part of her professional life as a dancer, and that she still carries with her today the lessons she learned there.

Learning she was to be recognized as a “Great Concordian” was therefore a special moment, she said.

“I was really surprised, I was like ‘Oh my god, what does that mean?’ because I do my work because I love it, it’s one of those careers where sometimes I can’t believe I get paid for this, so that itself is just satisfying that I can make a living off my passion,” she said. “But to have these moments where other people recognize the hard work that we put into it does feel good.”

Diabo was just 18 when she started out at Concordia. At that point she was living in a small farming community in Nova Scotia, and she didn’t know what to expect moving to the big city. She started out in the sociology program but decided to switch to theatre shortly after starting her studies.

“It was a great place to learn more about what it means to be an artist as a career. I learned a lot, I made some good friends there, and it helped me navigate what the artistic profession is all about,” she said.

Having danced a lot as a child, Diabo said she developed some shyness throughout the years. Switching to the theatre program helped her learn that she could express herself on stage, overcoming her personal anxieties.

“I was so shy as a person, so to be another character, it helped bring that side of me out, to take risks and look like a fool. That’s really the only way you can really push the limits,” she said.

Diabo continued to dance throughout her Concordia studies, but it was a few years after her graduation that she focused exclusively on dance more than acting. She said that her studies were instrumental in finding her identity as an artist and dancer, especially now with her dance company, A’nó:wara Dance Theatre, where she serves as artistic director and choreographer.

“I really felt that the theatre training really helped my performance in dance. It gave me a new level of confidence, a new way to perform. It was really closely related,” she said.

“It helped me understand all the aspects it takes to make a show, to understand what it takes in involving lighting designers, set designers, backstage crew, technicians.”

She remembers Concordia professors and fellow students who made a difference, including professor Joel Miller, who directed her in a show at Concordia.

“I felt he was really able to bring my performance to another level and I’ve always been grateful for that. He saw something in me which I didn’t see, and he was able to bring it out,” she said.

Reflecting on her time at Concordia and looking at the current cohorts of Concordia students graduating from the university makes Diabo feel more hopeful than ever for the future of Montreal’s dance and creative scene - particularly with regards to Indigenous creatives pursuing studies in the arts.

“I find that with more and more awareness of Indigenous arts and the need for them, that now institutions are supporting that more, and I find that’s really good,” she said.

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