Michael Greyeyes


Michael Greyeyes is a Canadian actor, choreographer, director and educator. He is Plains Cree from the Muskeg Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan. His father was from the Muskeg Lake First Nation and his mother was from the Sweetgrass First Nation, both located in Saskatchewan.
In 2018, Greyeyes portrayed Sitting Bull in Woman Walks Ahead to critical acclaim.

Biography

Greyeyes completed his master's degree in Fine Arts at the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University and graduated in May 2003. He is a graduate of The National Ballet School in 1984, he went on to apprentice with The National Ballet of Canada before joining the company as a Corps de Ballet member in 1987. After three years, he moved to New York City to join the company of choreographer Eliot Feld. Greyeyes performed in many of Mr. Feld's seminal works including Intermezzo, Skara Brae, and The Jig is Up. He performed in roles created for him in such ballets as Common Ground and Bloom's Wake.
Greyeyes‘ acting career began in 1993 when he was cast as Juh in TNT's Geronimo, which led to numerous television appearances, including guest starring performances in ', Walker, Texas Ranger, Numb3rs, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Millennium, and in 1998 starred in ', with Janine Turner and Patrick Bergen. He is featured in the mini-series Klondike, Dreamkeeper, Rough Riders, Big Bear, and True Women. His films include: Dance Me Outside, Smoke Signals, Sunshine State, Skipped Parts, Skinwalkers, and Woman Walks Ahead.
Greyeyes continued his dance research on the modern form of traditional dancing, Powwow. His journey of exploration was documented in a documentary entitled He Who Dreams: Michael on the Powwow Trail for CBC Television by Adrienne Clarkson. He choreographed and performed in Rebecca Belmore's durational performance art work Gone Indian for Toronto's Nuit Blanche.
Greyeyes continues to perform regularly. His more recent works include The New World directed by Terence Malick, Tecumseh's Vision a PBS Documentary/ Live Action drama created for PBS, Passchendaele which opened the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, Untitled #1535 a site-specific dance work he choreographed for Dusk Dances, Triptych, and The Journey, an opera work he directed with music by Melissa Hui and libretto by Tomson Highway. He also did the voice of Tommy in the action game Prey and recently played a recurring role on Fear The Walking Dead.
In 2010, Greyeyes founded Signal Theatre, a company that explores intercultural and transdisciplinary live performance. As Artistic Director and choreographer, he has overseen the creation of three major works, including From thine eyes, Nôhkom, and A Soldier's Tale, a work examining the aftermath of war upon soldiers and their families. A Soldier's Tale was co-produced by The National Arts Centre and The Canada Dance Festival and opened the 2014 Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa at the NAC Theatre.
in 2018 for Woman Walks Ahead
Signal Theater has also produced installations and performance art works, such as Winter Home which premiered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Greyeyes is an Associate Professor of Theatre at York University. Married to wife Nancy, he has two daughters, Eva and Lilia.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games