Michael Greyeyes has performed on stage and in numerous film and television projects since he began his life in the performing arts at the age of 10. Prior to appearing on film and television as an actor, he was a member of the National Ballet of Canada, a world-renowned classical ballet company and a soloist in the dance company of Eliot Feld, the acclaimed New York-based choreographer. While continuing to appear both on screen and on stage, he is currently writing his Master’s thesis in Acting at Kent State University.
Michael Greyeyes is Cree, from the Muskeg Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. He began dancing at the age of six in the city of Saskatoon, studying tap, jazz, and ballet. Excelling in ballet, he was accepted in 1977 to The National Ballet School (NBS) in Toronto, Ontario. This school is Canada’s finest classical dance training institution and is considered among the world’s best dance academies. He graduated in 1984, then completed two more years of advanced dance training before joining The National Ballet of Canada as an apprentice. He then joined the company as a full corps de ballet member in 1987. While dancing in Toronto, he appeared in numerous classical works, such as Swan Lake, Giselle, and Sleeping Beauty, as well as a number of modern works, such as George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations, Etudes, and Concerto, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, and Glen Tetley’s Alice and Voluntaries.
In 1990, Mr. Greyeyes left Toronto to join choreographer, Eliot Feld and his dance company, then called Feld Ballets/NY. As a soloist, Mr. Greyeyes appeared in a number of Feld’s masterworks, such as Intermezzo, Skara Brae, The Jig is Up, and Endsong. Mr. Feld also created two roles especially for him in Common Ground and Bloom’s Wake (since renamed Dew Upon Their Feet). New York Times dance critic, Jennifer Dunning, described him as “a performer of forceful dignity.” (Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times, March 15, 1993)
During his time in New York City, he also began to choreograph. His first work was for a play, entitled Glory of the Morning. Working with non-dancers and actors, his interest in pursuing other forms of performances was awakened. In 1992, he appeared in Ancient Rivers, a multi-disciplinary performance work by choreographer Alejandro Ronceria. In her review of this piece, Paula Citron described him as a “powerful performer.” (Paula Citron, Special for The Toronto Star, December 7, 1992) In 1993, he retired from dance, leaving Eliot Feld’s company to pursue acting on a full-time basis.
Later that year he landed the role of Juh in Turner Network Television’s Geronimo. He then joined a talented young cast in Bruce McDonald’s feature film, Dance Me Outside, in the role of Gooch Lacroix, “an ex-con sensitively played by Michael Greyeyes.” (Jay Carr, The Boston Globe, June 30, 1995) Paula Citron, performance critic for The Toronto Globe and Mail, wrote, “If anything is going to make Michael Greyeyes a household name, it is the stunning acting job he pulls off as the brooding ex-convict Gooch…” (Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, December 4, 1994) The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was later invited to the Sundance Film Festival as well. McDonald’s film received glowing reviews and remains a cult-favorite of native communities across Canada and the United States.
Mr. Greyeyes then devoted much of the following year to performing on stage in a number of different plays, including two productions of Tomson Highway’s The Rez Sisters in the role of Nanabush/The Bingo Master, a role originally created for Highway’s brother, Rene. That year also marked his appearance as Frank in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s four-part series, The Four Directions, in the episode, The Hero, directed by Gary Farmer. He also made a brief appearance as a ghost dancer in Clement Virgo’s feature film, Rude, which explored the turbulent life of Toronto’s mean streets.
In the summer of that year, Mr. Greyeyes was invited to The Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa, Ontario. Together with Cree artists Floyd Favel and Kent Monkman, he formed the dance company Tipiskaki Goroh. The company performed two pieces, Night Traveller and A Child of 10,000 Years, both choreographed by Mr. Greyeyes. Pauline Tam, reviewer for The Ottawa Citizen, said of these works, “they resonate with purpose and integrity.” (Pauline Tam, The Ottawa Citizen, June 14, 1994)
In 1995, Mr. Greyeyes landed the coveted role of Crazy Horse in Turner Network Television’s Crazy Horse. The cable television movie was directed by noted British director John Irvin and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Schenkkan. For bringing this important historical and spiritual leader to life on screen, Los Angeles Times critic Don Heckman noted that “Michael Greyeyes brings a richly-layered sensitivity to his performance as Crazy Horse.” (Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1996) Mr. Greyeyes was also awarded Best Actor in a Television Movie by First Americans in the Arts, an American Indian organization dedicated to recognizing native achievement in cinema and television.
Following his success in this role, he landed the romantic lead opposite Janine Turner, best known for her role as Maggie on Northern Exposure, in CBS Television’s Stolen Women: Captured Hearts. This movie-of-the week (MOW) was so popular that CBS re-aired it a year after its premiere, a great rarity for MOW’s. Noted critic for The Washington Post, Tom Shales, wrote, “Greyeyes makes his character’s combination of strength and tenderness believable and attractive.” (Tom Shales, The Washington Post, March 15, 1997). For this role, he was received his second Best Actor Award from First Americans in the Arts. Mr. Greyeyes also worked on a number of other film and television projects, including Firestorm (Twentieth Century Fox), and the mini-series Rough Riders for TNT and True Women for CBS Television. That year also marked his second collaboration with Kent Monkman, a visual artist and painter based in Toronto, Ontario. Together they created a short video project entitled, A Nation Is Coming. Under the direction of Kent Monkman, Mr. Greyeyes choreographed and appeared as the solo performer in this award-winning dance video which explored the intersection of decaying, urban landscapes with images of fire, disease and re-birth as symbolized in a ghost dancer.
In 1996, at the invitation of Lawrence Cherney and his company Soundstreams Canada, Mr. Greyeyes was asked to re-stage a dance theatre piece for children. Completely re-working the existing idea, he collaborated with the late, renowned composer Louis Applebaum and writer Floyd Favel to create Buffalo Jump, a love story based on a traditional Siksika myth. Paul Gessell of The Ottawa Citizen wrote that “Buffalo Jump holds children and adults spellbound.” (Paul Gessell, The Ottawa Citizen, July 9, 1998) Buffalo Jump has been invited to a number of theatre festivals, including the 13th Assitej World Congress and Festival in 1999, held that year in Tromsø, Norway.
Mr. Greyeyes has continued to perform in film and television, including guest star appearances on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Millennium; Harsh Realm; The Magnificent Seven; Walker, Texas Ranger; and Charmed, while also appearing in the films Big Bear, The Lost Child (which won him his third First Americans in the Arts Award), Zigzag, A League of Old Men, Race Against Time, Skipped Parts in the role of Hank Elkrunner opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh (again receiving a Best Actor in a Film award by First Americans in the Arts), and Smoke Signals, which won both the Audience and Filmmaker awards at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
In addition to his work as an actor, Mr. Greyeyes was the subject of a Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary entitled He Who Dreams: Michael Greyeyes on the Pow-wow Trail. A documentary film crew followed Mr. Greyeyes as he returned home to Saskatchewan where he interviewed elders, dancers, and singers in order to learn how he might use traditional native dance as the basis for a more personal form of choreography. The culmination of this journey was a commissioned dance work, entitled songs for the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto in 1998. This documentary was screened at The International Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and aired nationally across Canada on Adrienne Clarkson Presents.
This past year he has appeared in John Sayles’ latest film, Sunshine State, which played across the United States and Canada in the summer of 2002. During that time, he returned to the stage at Porthouse Theatre, in a revival of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, in the pivotal role of Chief Bromden. Reviewer Jacqueline Gerber said, “Michael Greyeyes beautifully transforms himself…” in this role that traces Bromden’s journey back to sanity and life on Nurse Ratched’s ward. (Jacqueline Gerber, Special to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 9, 2002) Cleveland Free Times theatre reviewer, James Damico, said, “Michael Greyeyes is both impressive and imposing as Chief Bromden.” (James Damico, Cleveland Free Times, July 10, 2002)
Most recently he has appeared in an episode of Body and Soul and as Dr. Stone in Skinwalkers, an adaptation of the Tony Hillerman’s novel of the same name, written by James Redford and directed by Chris Eyre, best known for directing Smoke Signals. In November of 2003, Mr. Greyeyes will appear in the highly anticipated ABC mini-series Dreamkeeper, written by John Fusco, who also wrote the feature film Thunderheart.