Braiding the Land: Works by Raven Spirit Dance

Featuring Frost Exploding Trees Moon, Spine of the Mother, and Confluence

Frost Exploding Trees Moon is a solo piece following the journey of a woman traveling her trap line. She finds a place to set up camp, builds her temporary home, and settles into the centre of her world of breath and perception.

The piece tracks a physical human journey as well as a spiritual one. It asks: How does one house one’s spirit? What keeps us close to earth and what makes us long for stars?

CO-CREATED BY: Floyd Favel and Michelle Olson
PERFORMED BY: Michelle Olson
ALSO PERFORMED BY: Jeanette Kotowich
VOCALS: Kelly Daniels
MUSIC: Meewasin Oma
MUSIC COMPOSITION: Wayne Lavallee
LIGHTING DESIGN: John Carter
COSTUME DESIGN: Jules Francisco

Spine of the Mother began as an innovative collaboration with Indigenous artists in Canada and Peru. Tracing the inner terrain of our bodies as women through breath, impulse and memory unlocks kinetic energy creating ritual, which spans the spine of the mountain range we have shared for millennia.

The metaphor of the “Spine of Mother Earth” is a name given by Indigenous Elders in South America to the Andean mountain range that spans from the base in Argentina, through the Americas and ends at the tip of Alaska. Our bodies become the landscape like the mountain ranges that connect the North and South (the Eagle and the Condor) and through this we find our kinetic connection to others that transmits impulse, breath and spirit.

CHOREOGRAPHY: Starr Muranko In collaboration with past performers and artistic lineage of Tasha-Faye Evans, Andrea Patriau, Olivia Shaffer, Sarah Formosa and Marisa Gold
PERFORMED BY: Tasha Faye Evans and Marisa Gold
VIDEO/MEDIA DESIGN: Sammy Chien
COMPOSER: Edgardo Moreno (‘Gracias a la Vida’ sung by Daniela Andrade)
DRAMATURGE & MENTOR: Alvin Tolentino
MENTOR: Michelle Olson
CULTURAL ADVISOR: Jhaimy Alvarez-Acosta (Peru)
LIGHTING DESIGN: John Carter
COSTUME DESIGN: Ines Ortner
ADDITIONAL DRAMATURGY: Alejandro Ronceria

Confluence is a dance work that weaves our perspectives, our histories and our bodies to create somatic tapestry that speaks to the resilience of Indigenous women. We embody the space between land and sky through play, prayer, grief and gratitude and are the living testament to the legacy that has been offered to us. Aligning our lives with the direction of the water in a river or geese in migration, we acknowledge we are always in process, shaping and carving through landscapes, creating rhythms and discovering our stories.

PRODUCED BY: Raven Spirit Dance
ARTISTIC LEAD: Michelle Olson
CHOREOGRAPHIC VISIONING: Michelle Olson, Starr Muranko and Jeanette Kotowich
IN COLLABORATION WITH ARTISTS: Michelle Olson, Starr Muranko, Jeanette Kotowich, Tin Gamboa, and Emily Solstice
ARTISTIC LINEAGE: Margaret Grenier, Carlos Rivera, Yvette Nolan, Kristy Janvier, Salome Neito, & Tasha Faye Evans
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Brad Trenaman
STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandormirsky
ORIGINAL SOUND SCORE: Scott Maynard
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR: Salome Nieto
SOMATIC MOVEMENT COACH: Donna Redlick

MUSIC:
Ä́’sía Keyi
– Dyet and the Love Soldiers

All My Relations
– Iskwew Singers

Ammalu
– Russell Wallace