FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

All times PST

February 14 - February 19

• Indigenous Dance Films (24 hr access) [Online] - No registration required
• the films will be available on our website Feb 14-19: https://oliviacdavies.ca/matriarchsuprising/

Monday February 14

• Masterclass with Olivia C. Davies (10:00 AM -11:30 AM) $5 Registration here (no one turned away due to lack of funds, email matriarchsadm@gmail.com if cost is a barrier for you)

• Circle Conversation with Jeanette Kotowich, Maura García, Christine Friday, Sophie Dow, moderated by Olivia C. Davies (12:00 PM - 1:00PM) [Online]
• Presented in Partnership with DanceHouse and SFU Woodward’s
• Registration through Dancehouse

Tuesday February 15

• "Dance to Film & Film to Dance" Online workshop led by Christine Friday (3:00 PM - 5:00PM) [Online]

Wednesday February 16

• Masterclass with Starr Muranko (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM)
• $5 Registration here
• (no one turned away due to lack of funds, email matriarchsadm@gmail.com if cost is a barrier for you)
• Circle Conversation with Sandra Lamouche, Animikiikwe Couchie, Jessica McMann, Samantha Sutherland moderated by Olivia C. Davies (8:00 PM - 9:00 PM) [Online] *presented in partnership with Dance West Network

Thursday February 17

• Community Workshop with Maura García (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM)

Friday February 18

• Masterclass with Michelle Olson (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM)
• $5 Registration here
• (no one turned away due to lack of funds, email matriarchsadm@gmail.com if cost is a barrier for you)
• Performances: Kwê & Ancestor Dances + Post-Show Talkback (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM)

Saturday February 19

• Community Workshop with Jeanette Kotowich (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
• Grandmothers Creation Residency Showing (3:00PM - 4:00PM) [Online]
• Performances: Kwê & Ancestor Dances + Post-Show Talkback (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM)

PERFORMANCES

Kwê is the current research project being held by Jeanette in collaboration with Stephanie Cyr, Olivia Shaffer, Tamar Tabori and contributing artistic designers. Jeanette Kotowich’s work reflects Nêhiyaw/Métis cosmology within the context of contemporary dance, performance, and Indigenous futurism. Kwê derived from iskwêw (femme Spirit) and iskotêw (fire) - it provides a fluid container to intentionally define and amplify iskwêwak sovereignty and dismantle dominant colonial and patriarchal narratives with vulnerability, courage and heart.

We are bodies seeking sovereignty, imperfectly tethered to homelands near and far… Containers of complex histories, tears, and joy... We journey through liminal territories of vulnerability and strength. We embrace multiplicity and settle into the untamed knowing of our courageous hearts. Harnessing bravery, we weave our presence into vast futures.

Ancestor Dances, shared by Maura García, are 7 small dances for 7 new ancestors. When we think of the ones who came before us, sometimes we are speaking of the ancient distant ones and collective community teachings. But the “new ancestors” also shared teachings. “Ancestor Dances is inspired by the tales, movements, habits and gestures of 7 of my recently deceased ancestors. The dance is a translation of their adventures, iconic advice and wisdom phrases into choreography. It is my way to remember them, to honor them and to share their stories with the world.”

DTES GRANDMOTHERS CREATION RESIDENCY

Gathering Hope Creation Residency

"Gathering Hope" is an improvisational creation residency that weaves threads of cultural sharing and intergenerational knowledge with Vancouver Downtown Eastside community artists Dalannah Gail Bowen, Rosemary Georgeson, Savannah Walling, and Sharon Jinkerson-Brass along with Olivia C. Davies, Sophie Dow and Rianne Švelnis. This residency is generously supported by Dumb Instrument Dance / Morrow and the Talking Stick Festival. Public is invited to gather with us online for a sharing of our week-long residency and Talking Truths circle conversation.

MASTERCLASSES

Indigenous and non-indigenous folks welcome! Masterclasses are suited for professional and pre-professional dance artists.

Masterclass with Olivia C. Davies: I believe that our bodies hold the potential for powerful story-telling. Movement and gesture can connect our bodies to the world around us and facilitate the sharing of our lived experience. In this class, I share a Contemporary Indigenous dance methodology that is intended to open new ways of experiencing the world with breath, impulse, and shape guided by imagination and our connection to earth and sky. We will tap into the material of bone and muscle, mind and body, and presence work to explore the space within our body and surrounding us. Guided improvisations generate intentional gestures sourced from our imaginations and our blood memory. Set sequences will apply basic movement fundamentals and take us into momentum with reach, push, pull, yield, and spiralling action.

Masterclass with Starr Muranko: This class will be a somatic-based practice which will focus on connecting to breath , our bodies in relationship to Mother Earth, and to the land that we dance on. Starr will guide participants through a series of explorations that will facilitate a deeper connection to the stories that we each carry within our bodies. We will work together to unearth these deeper connections that travel through the pathways within our bodies and out into the larger world. Witnessing one another we will layer together the movement we have discovered into a fully embodied experience while honouring who we are; both individually and within the circle.

Masterclass with Michelle Olson: Moving our questions, dancing our answers - Our bodies are a site of inquiry. Through structure exercises and open ended explorations, we will explore the movement patterns that support this inquiry and this will offer us opportunities for expression and sense of well being. This time will be for movement reflection and engaging with how moving our bodies are a part of integrating knowledge and sparking inspiration.

COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

Community Workshops are entry-level movement/dance workshops for artists, dance enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to learn from the creative dance practice of artists featured in this year's festival! No experience necessary. Indigenous and non-indigenous folks welcome!

Dancing Ancestors Workshop with Maura García: An invitation for participants to connect with their recent & ancient ancestors and homelands through breath, dance and improvisation. Maura will also share some of her creative process, stories and choreography for her work Ancestor Dances.

Movement Offering with Jeanette Kotowich: We gather for this workshop to connect with embodied practices related to Jeanette's research in Métis & Nêhiyaw Cosmology that bridge movement expressions into contemporary dance and performance practices. This is an experiential movement workshop, sharing Indigenous cultural perspectives and contemporary dance approaches. Bring your courageous hearts as we intentionally explore specific values to nourish our practices. Together we will stoke our creative fires with compassion, kindness, bravery & joy. Hiy Hiy!

ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Dance to Film & Film to Dance led by Christine Friday.

Inspired by land based performance, participants will gather insight on the creation of dance film Firewater Thunderbird Rising by Dance Artist and filmmaker Christine Friday, who will share insight and process on how it was created and then evolved from film to stage production.

INDIGENOUS DANCE FILMS

Online video work will be available on-demand for the duration of the festival, February 14-19, with pieces exploring Indigenous world views, identity, land, ancestors and connection. Films include work by Animikiikwe Couchie & Bella Waru, Christine Friday, Sandra Lamouche, Samantha Sutherland, Jessica McMann, Sophie Dow and Jeanette Kotowich.

ONLINE CIRCLE CONVERSATIONS

Monday, February 14 with Jeanette Kotowich, Maura García, Christine Friday, Sophie Dow moderated by Olivia C. Davies.

Talking Truths: Shaping Our Presence and Remembering Our Past presented in partnership with DanceHouse and SFU Woodward’s

What does care look like when we create work that holds ancestral spirit? Four Indigenous women from across the country speak about the choreographic impulses that guide their creative process and the cultural heritage informing their practice. Hosted by Matriarchs Uprising festival director, Olivia C. Davies, and presented in partnership with Dance House, we are excited to offer this free, online event for all to experience. Audiences are invited to join this circle live on zoom and be part of an intimate conversation presented as a way to learn, listen, and witness these dance artists speaking their truth.

Register here

Wednesday, February 16 with Sandra Lamouche, Animikiikwe Couchie, Jessica McMann, Samantha Sutherland moderated by Olivia C. Davies.

Talking Truths: Shifting Our Way Forward presented in partnership with Dance West Network

How does the creative force shift our ways of being in connection with land, memory and ancestral knowledge? Four new dance films by Indigenous women hold a collective truth —- that we are always more than what meets the eye. In partnership with Dance West Network, this special cross-national edition of Talking Truths is hosted by festival curator, Olivia C.Davies and features the voices of emerging artists Samantha Sutherland, Aniimikiikwe Couchie alongside Sandra Lamouche and Jessica McMann. Audiences are invited to witness as we gather in circle to hold space for conversation, reflection, and imagination of our shared future. Note: Each of the artists’ films can be accessed through our website — available online February 14 through to February 19, 2022.

About Matriarchs Uprising

For more information about our programming, artists, and festival partners please visit https://oliviacdavies.ca/matriarchsuprising/