about

Olivia C. Davies creates and collaborates across multiple platforms including choreography, creative writing, film, improvisation, and sound design. Davies' body of work explores the emotional and political relationships between people and places, often investigating the body’s dynamic ability to transmit narrative, seeking to traverse boundaries and challenge social prejudice by conveying concepts and impressions that open different ways to experience the world. Her work has been presented in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec since 2011. She is the Managing Artistic Director of O.Dela Arts, and creator and curator of the Matriarchs Uprising Festival series that celebrates the work of Indigenous women dancing stories of transformation. Recent choreographic projects include Maamawi: Together through the Fire, a virtual reality immersive experience and live performance retelling the Anishinaabe 7 Fires Prophecy through the lens of Indigenous Futurism, created in collaboration with Peppers Ghost New Media Collective; where you go, in collaboration with the choral ensemble Music Intima; and Straight, No Chaser, a biomyth monodrama that explores Olivia’s blood memory and the lessons passed down to her from her mother. She honours her mixed Anishinaabe, French-Canadian, Finnish and Welsh heritage. oliviacdavies.ca

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Rianne Švelnis (they/she) is a queer dance artist and teacher, a community facilitator, organizer and producer, with ancestry in Lithuania, Belgium and England/Ireland. Rianne was born, raised and lives on the unceded territories of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ Nations (Vancouver BC). They have had the great pleasure of working as a dancer with beautiful artists such as Olivia Davies, Ziyian Kwan, Justine Chambers, Lee Su-Feh, Zahra Shahab, Kelly McInnes and Areli Moran, among others. Rianne is the facilitator of All Bodies Dance Project Downtown Eastside group as well as the Carnegie Dance Troupe (Karen Jamieson Dance), and is co-facilitator of Movement Classes for Support Workers, alongside Alexa Mardon. Rianne is proud to be a co-producer with Holy Crow Arts Society, a Coast-Salish focussed performing arts presenter.

Kelly McInnes (they/she), a settler of Irish, Scottish & British ancestry, is gratefully based on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. As a queer dance artist, Kelly is concerned with embodying care, sensuality, and generosity. As choreographer, performer and community-engaged facilitator, the intention of her work is to inspire collective healing. She creates as a way to remember and honor our interconnectedness with and responsibility to all life. Her Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice powerfully inspires her artistic process. A lover of DIY, collaboration and site specificity, Kelly has performed her work in theatres, galleries, studios and parks in Canada, Germany & Mexico. Community-engagement is integral to her practice. She worked with youth over several years through her projects MINE and Epoch Youth Project and enjoyed 4 seasons as facilitator and artist-in-residence with the Roundhouse Community Dancers. Her most recent project Late Stage Remedy, a collective dance meditation, invites a large group of dancers to gather in public parks to share love and care with the lands upon which they dance.

Nico Dicecco is a technical director, production manager, video artist, and photographer based in Vancouver, BC on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Some favourite past (and some ongoing) projects include Through My Lens (Theatre Replacement), The River (Myriad Dance Projects), Body Parts (Tara Cheyenne Performance), In Camera (Realwheels Theatre), #whatnow (Alley Theatre), Mambo and Other Works (Ballet Kelowna), Benevolence (Ruby Slippers), and of course Matriarchs Uprising. Nico holds a PhD in English from Simon Fraser University for his research on adaptation, digital media, and performance.

Jonathan, better known as Jono, is a Korean-Canadian lighting designer/director/mentor who currently lives and works on the unceded, stolen and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories (Vancouver, BC). He is a graduate of Simon Fraser University's Theatre Production and Design program. Recent credits: Into the Woods (Studio 58); CHILD-ish (Pacific Theatre); Jade Circle (rice & beans theatre); Red Velvet (Arts Club Theatre Company); Parifam (vAct & Medusa Theatre); Family Room (The Falling Company); Homecoming (Urban Ink); Take Form (Ballet BC); Eyes of the Beast: Climate Disaster Survivor Stories (Neworld Theatre); Agrimony (Sophie Dow & Laura Reznek); Ridge (Brendan McLeod & The Fugitives); The Hobbit (Pacific Theatre); Kim's Convenience (Theatre NorthWest); Miracle on 34th Street (Arts Club Theatre Company).

Kayleigh Sandomirsky is a stage/production manager, producer, curator and performer, as well as the Operations Coordinator for The Chop Theatre. Kayleigh works in both theatre and dance, and has toured productions across Canada. She is also starting to dabble in design and tour management, and loves to constantly shake things up artistically.

Recent Stage and Production Management credits: Dance in Vancouver (PM - Scotiabank Dance Center), Empty-Handed (PM/SM - The Biting School), Agrimony (PM/SM - Sophie Dow and Laura Reznek), Lip Service 3 (PM/SM - Pulsive Party), DBLSPK - Olivia Etey's Emberré Váltam (PM - rice and beans theatre), All Over the Map 2024 (PM/SM - New Works), Family Room (PM/SM - The Falling Company), Disability Tour Bus: A Radio Play (SM - Realwheels), Medicine (ASM - Pi Theatre), Sunrise Betties (SM - ITSAZOO Productions), Zahak: The Serpent King (PM/SM - The Biting School), Lip Service 2: Breaking Down Barriers (PM/SM - Pulsive Party), Peace Country (PM - rice and bean theatre), PLUNGE Mentorship Program (PM/SM - The Falling Company), Dancing to Remember (PM/SM - Aeriosa Dance/Butterflies in Spirit), Matriarchs Uprising 2023 and Maamawi (SM - O.Dela Arts), Double Happiness: Detour this Way (SM - Nancy Tam and Robyn Jacobs), The Array (SM - UpintheAir Theatre).

Touring credits: Black and Rural (We Are StoryFolk/Pi Theatre), PIÑA (FakeKnot), Confluence (Raven Spirit Dance), 003_playback (Caroline MacCaull/ Chimerik), BLUSCRN (FakeKnot), New Societies (Re:Current Theatre), and Ying Yun (Wen Wei Dance).

Design Credits: Family Room (The Falling Company - Co-Set Design), Medicine (Pi Theatre - Props Design).

Tour Management credits: Black and Rural Fall 2024 (We Are StoryFolk/Pi Theatre) and Lia + Dor ( Ensemble Theatre).

Ahmed Khalil is a designer and musician living and working on the unceded, stolen and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations (Vancouver, BC).

Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and Michif/Assiniboine + French/Ukrainian roots. An avid adventurer, Sophie exudes passions for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University. Sophie presently fulfills roles as: artistic associate of O.Dela Arts, The Chimera Project& V’ni Dansi/Louis Riel Métis Dancers, residency coordinator at Dance West Network, musician with The Honeycomb Flyers, a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage, a trained facilitator & student of BreathWave, a freelance dancer/choreographer/sound designer and a puddle jumping trickster.

Samantha Sutherland is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and teacher based in Tkaronto. Her ancestry is Ktunaxa and Scottish/British Settler. She grew up on Coast Salish Territories and graduated from the Arts Umbrella Dance Diploma Program in 2018. Samantha has been choreographing solo 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 by Native Earth Performing Arts. She has danced in new works by Alejandro Ronceria and Jera Wolfe. She is currently an Artistic Associate with O.Dela Arts.

Bob Baker (Squamish Ancestral name is S7aplek, Hawaiian name is Lanakila) is co-founder and Spokesperson for Spakwus Slolem (Eagle Song) the most reputable Dance Group of the Squamish Nation.

Born and Raised Squamish, Bob has been exercising his Culture through Singing, Dances, and various presentations, for over 35 years. Accomplishments range from revival of Sea-going Canoes and traditions, to Cultural projects such as the 27 ft. Grandmother Welcome Figure at Ambleside Beach Park, to dance presentations in Taiwan, Hawaii, Japan, Switzerland, (Montreaux Jazz Festival), and opening Ceremonies for Western Canada Summer games, Nation Aboriginal Hockey Championships, International U18 Lacrosse Championships, and recently, opening ceremony for the Canada Aboriginal Music Awards. To Blessing Ceremonies for B.C. Ferries, in Flensburg, Germany and the Tallships flotilla Blessing Ceremony here at English bay, Vancouver. On-going performances and projects continue through-out the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, Squamish-Whistler and Vancouver Island.

In the warmer months Bob can be found training in the traditional dug-out war canoes, as well as the Great Sea-going Canoes, and as a steersman for Tribal Journeys, and the Pulling Together Journey, visiting Villages along our beautiful coasts of British Columbia and Washington State.