Raven Spirit Dance is inviting women and non-binary people to experience a special performance at the Anvil Centre this month.
The company, which creates contemporary dance that is rooted in Indigenous world views, is bringing its production of Gathering Light to the stage on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Thursday, Nov. 28.
The Wednesday night performance is specifically for women and non-binary audience members.
“Women and non-binary audience members may join us in this journey through dance which intentionally holds space for women’s experiences, for pain, for loss and for strength, healing and friendship,” says a press release.
The work, choreographed by Raven Spirit’s artistic director, Michelle Olson, follows the journey of a seed to flower.
“It begins with the stirrings of consciousness and blossoms to the full embrace of transformation,” the release says. “This work delves into the impulses rooted in our bodies that travel through us to find the light, exposing the structures that do not support our own truths, while revealing the ceremonies that support our full bloom.”
Olson hails from the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation in Dawson City, Yukon, and says the time she spends there each summer on the land, with her family and friends, provides inspiration for her work.
Gathering Light, performed in the round, creates a sense of ritual where transformation is an experience the audience shares intimately with the performers. Much of the movement is floor work, as the dancers twitch, stretch and gulp air as they reach down into the soil and up towards the light.
The dance is a quartet performed by Hailey McCloskey, Jeanette Kotowich, Tin Gamboa and Salome Nieto.
“This work is an evocative meditation on the deeply seated impulses within us to seek and embark upon transformation, helping us to find the light and reveal the barriers to our full blooming,” the release says.
Dramaturgy is by Su-Feh Lee and Alejandro Ronceria, while François Houle is the composer.
Tickets for the show are $22 regular, or $16 for students, plus service charges.
Gathering Light is on Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., with a Thursday matinee at 1 p.m.
The Anvil Centre Theatre is at 777 Columbia St. See www.anvilcentre.com for details and ticket sales.
