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

Originally from France, Éléonore is a performing arts professional with a strong interest in intercultural collaboration and creative exchange. Her studies and her work have taken her to Germany, Austria, and Canada, enriching her perspective across diverse artistic contexts.

In France, Éléonore worked at the Paris National Opera for FEDORA, an organisation supporting innovation in opera and ballet, before moving to Canada, where she worked for Festival Quartiers Danses, a contemporary dance festival in Montreal. Now newly based in Vancouver and committed to contributing to the performing arts sector, she is the Administrative Manager of O.Dela Arts and also acts as Operations and Production Coordinator for the Vancouver Youth Choir.

Chiara Lucchetta (she/her) is an independent dance artist, writer, movement instructor, and arts organizer. Chiara’s artistic journey has led her down many paths, including art curation, production, and performance in commercial and fringe settings, including dancing for the Toronto Argos. Chiara also holds certifications in various mind-body techniques including yoga, pilates, and mental health crisis response. She draws on the experience and knowledge she has cultivated in her role as a somatic practitioner to facilitate community programming rooted in embodied awareness. Her work reflects an ongoing commitment to fostering spaces that weave the personal with the collective.

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.

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 Vancouver-based stage/production manager, producer, curator and performer, who works across theatre and dance. She is the new Operations Coordinator for The Chop Theatre, has toured both large scale and independent performances across Canada and internationally, and is currently developing her skills in design and Tour Management. A multi-faceted arts worker who has collaborated with an incredible roster of local and national companies. She recently worked with IPAA, Cheynne Scott/ Urban Ink, Raven Spirit Dance, Jeanette Kotowich, New Works, Theatre Replacement, FakeKnot, O’Dela Arts, The Biting School, Scotiabank Dance Centre, ITSAZOO Productions, Pulsive Party, Pi Theatre, RealWheels, and rice and beans theatre.

Jessica Han (she/her/hers) is a technical director, production/ stage manager, lighting designer, and filmmaker currently splitting her time between the unceded traditional and ancestral homelands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (known as Vancouver, BC), and Taiwan. She obtained a BFA from Simon Fraser University with a major in film production and a minor in theatre production in 2011. Jessica is the 2018 recipient of the Larisa Fayad Memorial Award in Lighting Design and Technical Direction; presented biennially by the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Jessica is currently the technical director of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. Some of the companies she has worked with since starting her career include KW Studios, Kokoro Dance, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Co. ERASGA, rice and beans theatre, Company 605, Some Assembly Theatre, V’ni Dansi, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Pi Theatre, Odd Meridian Arts, O.dela Arts, Holy Crow Arts, Corporeal Imago, Theatre Replacement, and Niall McNeil Productions. She also worked with Gerald King as an Assistant Lighting Designer for Vancouver Opera’s production of Faust in April 2019.

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.

Samantha Pelkey is a proud member of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Nation, with matrilineal roots to the ‘Na̱mg̱is, Ma’a̱mtagila, and Ławit̓sis nations, and patrilineal ties to the Tsawout of the Sencot’en-speaking W̱SÁNEĆ Nations. She is an experienced Indigenous arts and festival producer with over eight years of experience advancing Indigenous voices through culturally grounded programming.

Samantha has worked across theatre, festivals, and community-based events, collaborating with Indigenous artists, organizations, and host nations to deliver inclusive and respectful programming. Her past roles include Associate Producer and Indigenous Relations Manager at the Belfry Theatre, programming Indigifest for the First Peoples Cultural Council, and producing Indigenous programming for FernFest and other multi-day festivals.

Currently based in Victoria, BC, Samantha continues her work as an outreach coordinator, producer, and event planner, with a long-term vision of launching an Indigenous tourism business on the traditional territory of the Tsawout people.

G̱ilakas’la.

Karla Comanda (they/she) is a poet, playwright, editor, translator, educator, and arts administrator. Their poems have appeared in Contemporary Verse 2, filling station, decomp, Poetry is Dead, Room Magazine, and others. She has taught writing workshops for Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Public Library, Migrante BC, La Salle University - Ozamiz, Western Mindanao State University, Co.ERASGA, and other organizations and institutions in Canada and the Philippines.

Jodi Smith, executive director of JLS Entertainment has been working in the entertainment industry in various capacities for over twenty-five years. Throughout her career, Jodi has produced live events, is involved in artist management, entertainment coordination (including PNE, Harmony Arts Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, First Night & Vancouver Olympics) and has been a freelance publicist for festivals, musical concerts, dance, special events, theatre and literary fests.

JLS Entertainment’s past and present publicity clients include O'Dela Arts, Touchstone Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Vancouver Opera, MusicFest Vancouver, Ballet BC, CelticFest Vancouver, Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, Dance In Vancouver, Dancing on the Edge, Carousel Theatre for Young People, Toronto Dance Theatre, DTES Heart of the City Festival, Chutzpah! Festival, and the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival.

Jodi has sat on various boards throughout the years and has taught publicity and marketing at the Trebas Institute.

Adriana Contreras is an Interdisciplinary Artist, bilingual Graphic Recorder, Illustrator and facilitator born in Bogotá, Colombia, living and working with respect and gratitude on the unceded, traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh First Nations.

Artistic expression has always been a central part of Adriana's life and became an essential tool for navigating the world as a first-generation immigrant. Her migration journey profoundly informs her work and her commitment to social justice at both local and global levels. Her role as a Visual Practitioner is to witness, listen deeply, gather information, connect ideas and tell stories. Live scribing and graphic recording serve as living memories of the time we share in dialogue; they are a form of harvesting and mapping collective wisdom, stories, reflections, questions, and commitments to future action.

Adriana completed her BFA at SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts in 2006 and has worked at and partnered with numerous Arts and community-based organizations for over 20 years.

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).

Aside from design, Ahmed is musical composer/performer in Jeanette Kotowich's BOLT, with dancers Jeanette Kotowich, Kate Franklin and Deanna Peters. BOLT has its world premiere this March at VIDF 2026.

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.