Women Weaving Stories of Transformation

Speakers: Maura Garcia (Maura Garcia Dance), Jessica McMann (Wild Mint Arts), Michelle Olson (Raven Spirit Dance), Santee Smith (Kaha:Wi Dance Theatre)

Co-facilitators: Olivia C. Davies (O.Dela Arts), Starr Muranko (Raven Spirit Dance)

Matriarchs Uprising festival was launched in 2019 by O.Dela Arts as a way to center Indigenous women who are creating and producing contemporary dance. In this conversation hosted by Olivia C. Davies (O.Dela Arts) with Matriarchs Uprising artists Michelle Olson (Raven Spirit Dance), Maura Garcia (Maura Garcia Dance), Jessica McMann (Wild Mint Arts), Santee Smith (Kaha:Wi Dance Theatre), and Starr Muranko (Raven Spirit Dance) we consider how contemporary choreography by Indigenous women from across Turtle Island considers our collective responsibility to land, to self, and to one another. At its core, our contemporary Indigenous dances require that artists are accountable to their traditional values while asserting their place in the present as dreamers of potential futures that can be communicated through movement. Defining this reality through dance can reveal the ways our Indigenous worldview strikes a balance between old and new ways of being, thinking, and reacting to the world around us.

Audiences are invited to sit in circle with us and listen as we speak to each other, with open hearts, and open minds. To learn more about Matriarchs Uprising and this event, visit their Instagram, Facebook, and on Olivia C. Davies’ Talking Truths page.