Braiding the Land: Works by Raven Spirit Dance
Dates & Times
Fri May 16, 2025
Series
Venue
Sid Williams TheatrePrices
- Adult (ages 25+) $39
- Youth (ages 24 & under) $33
Box Office
This evening of performance traces the connections between vast ancestral landscapes and our bodies. Unearthed through movement are deep connections to the expansive mountain ranges of North and South America in Spine of the Mother, the stillness of a winter boreal forest in Frost Exploding Trees Moon, and the journey of a rushing river in Confluence. This repertoire is a testament to the work created within the arms of Raven Spirit Dance over the past twenty years. Grounded, expressive, and always in honour of the land that holds us.
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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
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
VOCALS: Kelly Daniels
MUSIC: Meewasin Oma
MUSIC COMPOSITION: Wayne Lavallee
ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN: John Carter
ADAPTED LIGHTING DESIGN: Jonathan Kim
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
COSTUME DESIGN: Alaia Hamer
---
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.
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, Samantha Sutherland, and Emily Solstice
ARTISTIC LINEAGE: Margaret Grenier, Carlos Rivera, Yvette Nolan, Kristy Janvier, Salome Neito, & *Tasha Faye Evans
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN BY: John Carter
ADAPTED LIGHTING DESIGN: Jonathan Kim
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
ORIGINAL SOUND SCORE: Scott Maynard
SOMATIC MOVEMENT COACH: Donna Redlick
*The participation of this Artist (these Artists) is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).
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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, Samantha Sutherland, and Emily Solstice
ARTISTIC LINEAGE: Margaret Grenier, Carlos Rivera, Yvette Nolan, Kristy Janvier, Salome Neito, Tin Gamboa and *Tasha Faye Evans
LIGHTING DESIGNER/TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
ORIGINAL SOUND SCORE: Scott Maynard
SOMATIC MOVEMENT COACH: Donna Redlick
*The participation of this Artist (these Artists) is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).
MUSIC:
Ä́’sía Keyi - Dyet and the Love Soldiers
All My Relations - Iskwew Singers
Ammalu - Russell Wallace
---
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
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
VOCALS: Kelly Daniels
MUSIC: Meewasin Oma
MUSIC COMPOSITION: Wayne Lavallee
ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN: John Carter
ADAPTED LIGHTING DESIGN: Jonathan Kim
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
COSTUME DESIGN: Alaia Hamer
---
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.
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, Samantha Sutherland, and Emily Solstice
ARTISTIC LINEAGE: Margaret Grenier, Carlos Rivera, Yvette Nolan, Kristy Janvier, Salome Neito, & *Tasha Faye Evans
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN BY: John Carter
ADAPTED LIGHTING DESIGN: Jonathan Kim
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
ORIGINAL SOUND SCORE: Scott Maynard
SOMATIC MOVEMENT COACH: Donna Redlick
*The participation of this Artist (these Artists) is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).
---
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, Samantha Sutherland, and Emily Solstice
ARTISTIC LINEAGE: Margaret Grenier, Carlos Rivera, Yvette Nolan, Kristy Janvier, Salome Neito, Tin Gamboa and *Tasha Faye Evans
LIGHTING DESIGNER/TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jonathan Kim
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Sandomirsky
ORIGINAL SOUND SCORE: Scott Maynard
SOMATIC MOVEMENT COACH: Donna Redlick
*The participation of this Artist (these Artists) is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).
MUSIC:
Ä́’sía Keyi - Dyet and the Love Soldiers
All My Relations - Iskwew Singers
Ammalu - Russell Wallace
