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Braiding the Land
A Collection of Works from Raven Spirit Dance
As part of Kia Mau Festival’s He Ngaru Nui programme, the collection Braiding the Land traces the connections between vast ancestral landscapes with 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 that has been created within the arms of Raven Spirit Dance for the past twenty years.
Grounded, expressive, and always in honour of the land that holds us.
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.
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?
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.
A Premiere Season in Aotearoa, Braiding The Land journeys to us from Vancouver, Turtle Island, from the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh) First Nations.
He Ngaru Nui is more than just a collection of performances—it is a bold statement about the value and significance of Indigenous narratives. These shows take stories that sometimes feel small, intimate, or unheard, and amplify them on the grand stages they deserve. This programming strand honours the storytelling traditions of Māori, Pasifika and global indigenous cultures, while pushing the boundaries of contemporary performance. It’s about taking stories from our communities and sharing them with the world in a way that is both respectful and revolutionary.
“At its very depth, Confluence is about community.”
Dates
04-07 June 2025
8pm
Duration 90 mins
Venue
Te Auaha
65 Dixon Street
Te Aro
Wellington
teauahaevents.com
Tickets
Early Bird Adult Ticket: $25 (Available until 24 April 2025)
Adult Ticket: $35
Concession Ticket (Kaumātua, Senior Citizens, Community Services Cardholders and Unwaged): $30
Group 6+: $25
Student (including tertiary, te whare wānanga, polytech, kura kaupapa and secondary school students): $20
Student Standby: $15
Creative Credits
Frost Exploding Trees Moon
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
IMAGE CREDIT: Juan Contreras
DANCER IN IMAGES 1-2: Michelle Olson
Spine of the Mother
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 by 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)
Original Lighting Design: John Carter
Adapted Lighting Design: Jonathan Kim
Technical Director: Jonathan Kim
Costume Design Ines Ortner
Additional Dramaturgy Alejandro Ronceria
* 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
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 & Tasha Faye Evans*
Lighting Designer/ Technical Director: Jonathan Kim
Stage manager/Production 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
About Raven Spirit Dance Company
The artistic vision of Raven Spirit Dance Society is to share stories from an Indigenous worldview. Our medium is contemporary dance; and, we incorporate other expressions such as traditional dance, theatre, puppetry and multi-media to tell these stories.
By sharing this work on local, national and international stages, Raven Spirit Dance reaffirms the vital importance of dance to the expression of human experience and to cultural reclamation. Raven Spirit Dance aims to explore how professional artistic work is responsive and responsible to the community it is a part of and to continue to redefine dance’s place in diverse community settings.
Raven Spirit Dance is Vancouver-based yet indelibly tied to the Yukon through its projects and inspirations, as our Co-Artistic Director, Michelle Olson is from the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation.
Dancer Profiles
Michelle Olson
Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and the Co-Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance. She studied dance and performance at the University of New Mexico, the Aboriginal Arts Program at the Banff Centre and was an Ensemble Member of Full Circle First Nations Performance. Michelle works in areas of dance, theatre, and opera as a choreographer, performer and movement coach and her work has been seen on stages across Canada. Selected choreography/theatre credits include Gathering Light (Raven Spirit Dance), Salmon Girl (TYA – Raven Spirit Dance), Map of the Land, Map of the Stars (Gwaandak Theatre), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Raven Spirit Dance), Mozart’s Magic Flute (Vancouver Opera), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre/National Arts Centre), Death of a Chief (Native Earth Performing Arts/National Arts Centre) and Evening in Paris (Raven Spirit Dance). She was the recipient of the inaugural Vancouver International Dance Festival Choreographic Award. She graduated as a Certified Movement Analyst from Laban/Bartenieff and Somatic Studies Canada and is currently teaching at Langara’s Studio 58.
Starr Muranko
Starr Muranko is dancer/choreographer, Mother and Co-Artistic Director with Raven Spirit Dance. Her choreographic work has been shared locally and nationally including the Dance Centre, Talking Stick Festival, Coastal Dance Festival, Dancing on the Edge, Native Earth Performing Arts, Weesageechak Begins to Dance, Impact Festival and InFringing Dance Festival. Featured works include Chapter 21, Spine of the Mother and before7after.
A proud company dancer with the Dancers of Damelahamid since 2005, she has toured across Canada and internationally and trained under the guidance and mentorship of the late Elder Margaret Harris. She is currently the Artist-in-Residence at Ballet BC and has facilitated choreographic labs with the company over the past two seasons with colleague and collaborator Margaret Grenier. She holds a BFA in Dance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts and honours and celebrates her mixed Ancestry of Omushkegowuk Cree (Moose Cree First Nation – Treaty 9), French and German in all of her work.
Jeanette Kotowich
Originally from Treaty 4 territory Saskatchewan, Jeanette Kotowich creates work that reflects Nêhiyaw/Métis cosmology within the context of contemporary dance, Indigenous performance, and Indigenous futurism. Jeanette has self-presented and been programmed at theatres and festivals across Turtle Island and internationally. Her solo Kisiskâciwan premiered in Vancouver 2022, and has since toured to 11 cities nationally, and to Germany and Australia. Her ensemble work Kwê was presented at Matriarchs Uprising and Dance in Vancouver 2021/22. She is now working on a new ensemble called BOLT, a work for 4 performing artists which will premiere in 2026, at Vancouver International Dance Festival and Festival Transamériques, Montreal. Jeanette is the Artistic Associate at Raven Spirit Dance, and co-founder of aka collective. She facilitates movement workshops with Indigenous worldview, workshops on de-colonial perspectives in the arts, and is a Métis dance and cultural knowledge carrier. She resides as a guest on the Ancestral and unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ/, and Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories, colonially known as Vancouver.
Emily Solstice Tait
Emily Solstice Tait’s practice is rooted in contemporary dance but happily crosses into theatre, stage management and film. She is of mixed settler and Ojibway ancestry (Urban member of Berens River First Nation). Her dances have been performed at The Manitoba Museum, The Forks National Historic Site, and along the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Select performances include The War Being Waged (Prairie Theatre Exchange), The Secret to Good Tea (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Actualize (Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers), moi, suel·e (Théâtre Cercle Molière), Confluence (Raven Spirit Dance) and The___ Place video with CBC Arts.
Samantha Sutherland
Samantha is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and teacher based in Tkaronto. Her ancestry is Ktunaxa and Scottish. She grew up on unceded Coast Salish Territories and graduated from the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program in 2018. Samantha has been choreographing dance works since 2021 and has had the pleasure of presenting in festivals across Turtle Island. Some include the Matriarchs Uprising Festival by O.Dela Arts with presentations both in Vancouver and at the National Arts Centre, Sharing the Stage with The National Ballet of Canada, Night Shift by Fall for Dance North, Dance Made in Canada, and Weesageechak Begins to Dance. Recently Samantha premiered her first ensemble work naⱡa at the Citadel Spring Mix festival in Toronto. She has performed in dance works by Indigenous choreographers Alejandro Ronceria, and Jera Wolfe. She is currently on faculty at The Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and an Artistic Associate with O.Dela Arts.
Tasha Faye Evans
Tasha Faye Evans is a dance and theatre artist from a legacy of Coast Salish, Welsh, and European Jewish grandparents. Her career continues to be a collection of collaborations and performances with national and international Indigenous artists.
Recent performances include Starr Muranko’s Spine of the Mother, Raven Spirit Dance’s Salmon Girl and Confluence and work in progress presentations of her own work, Cedar Woman. Tasha also focuses on redress and Coast Salish cultural resurgence, particularly in Port Moody where she is raising her two children. This past year, Tasha collaborated with Kwikwetlem and Tsleil Waututh Nation to create the first two of five house posts being raised along Port Moody’s iconic 2.5 km Shoreline Trail as part of a lifelong exhibit, “In the Presence of Ancestors”. Tasha’s work is an expression of her sacred and shared responsibility for these Coast Salish Lands and Waters and a future of health and well-being for all of our relations.
Marisa Gold
Marisa Gold is an intuitive multidisciplinary dance artist with a passion for all things soulful. She has trained in a variety of Modern/Contemporary styles, with a BFA in dance (SFU), certificate of completion from The Ailey school Independent Study program (NYC), and The Graham school(NYC). She is an expressive dancer, poet, vocalist, choreographer, stylist, and actor whose work is embedded in self reflection, a deep love for humanity and reverence for our planet earth.
Learn More About Kia Mau Festival
Tihei mauri ora!
Ka mihi ki ngā uri o te whenua o Te Upoko o te ika a Māui.
E ngā haukāinga o te rohe nei, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Taranaki Whānui,
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa!
Kia Mau Festival is at the forefront of contemporary Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous theatre and dance in Aotearoa and beyond. We are innovators—pushing boundaries, redefining forms, and forging new paths with creative risk-taking at every step. Right here, right now, we bring together local, national, and international artists in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We find the intersection where our stories intertwine, creating an experience that is uniquely ‘local’ yet unparalleled in Pōneke throughout the year.
Kia Mau offers a truly unique experience, led by Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous voices at every level—from our leadership to our artists and audiences. Unlike any other festival, we are not just a platform for presentations; we are a hub for kōrero and whanaungatanga.
Our festival serves as a whare where Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous artists and their communities are supported throughout the creation, development, and staging of their works. By providing a nurturing environment, we empower individual artists, strengthen their capabilities, and enrich the arts sector, celebrating the diversity and talent of Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous artists.
With our deep understanding of the arts sector and strong relationships with artists from emerging talents to established figures, we identify those at pivotal moments in their careers or with significant projects. By including them in the Kia Mau Festival programme, we support them in taking strategic steps forward. This approach has allowed Kia Mau Festival to make a substantial impact on numerous artists and, consequently, shape the contemporary arts landscape.
Returning to Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, Aotearoa New Zealand from 30 May – 14 June 2025. Nau mai, haramai! Nau mai, hoki mai ki te hui ahurei o Kia Mau!
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