Started in 2017, the Indigenous Artist Spotlight series was created to foster greater awareness and understanding of the strength and diversity of Indigenous artist in Canada.
In 2018, Ontario Presents sat down with Michelle Olson, artistic co-director at Raven Spirit Dance. RSD is a contemporary dance company that produces work by Indigenous artists that is an expression of their unique worldview. At the time of the conversation, Michelle was staging the pieces Salmon Girl and Gathering Light. The company had also just released a documentary revealing the process behind the creation of Confluence.
Sitting down with Michelle again, our conversation turned to themes of longevity and how one’s relationship changes with a piece over time. She expanded upon her vision of worldview as resistance, and about how the community formed around Raven Spirit Dance becomes part of the practice itself.
Michelle's Links: Instagram • Website • info [at] ravenspiritdance.com (info[at]ravenspiritdance[dot]com)
Eight Years Later
In 2019, we did Gathering Light in Toronto at Native Earth, which was really great. It was a great opportunity. Salmon Girl sort of was a COVID casualty. We had lots of big plans. We were going to be at the NAC, in Indigenous Theatre, and we had a tour planned, and it just all fell apart.
But Confluence continued on. We had a big tour of a show called Braiding the Land, which is a combination of Frost Exploding Trees Moon, Spine of the Mother by Starr, and Confluence, which became our 20th anniversary tour. In 2024 we went up to the Yukon, to the Adäka Festival and Dawson City. We went to Aotearoa with it, the Kia Mau Festival.
The 20th anniversary tour was the culmination of so much work. Now that it’s come and gone, we’re trying to figure out what to focus on next.
Repertoire, Longevity & Prayer
Someone was talking about how you have to be careful about the pieces you make because you might be stuck with them for a long time. And I was like, oh that feels like Frost Exploding Trees Moon to me. It and Spine of the Mother have become like signature pieces.
I’m finding the deeper meanings of being in that work now, compared to ten years ago when I first performed it. The patterns and choreography are so clear – I know it so, so well – that I’m finding the transcendence of that. Jeanette talks about it being prayer. Prayers have that structure; they don’t change. And it’s always an offering to the moment. I think that creates renewal.
Resistance Through Movement
We’re living in a colonial capitalist society where we’re only validated by things that are acceptable within that system. White hegemony sets the standard. You’re considered successful if you succeed in that standard.
That worldview infiltrates education, daily life. Stories that come from the body can confront those systems that challenge us not to really know who we are. By tapping into our inner systems, we start to understand how we’re truly connected.
Donna Redlick is a somatic coach who comes into the room and watches what bodily systems we’re working with, or if there’s an organ that needs to be at the forefront, or how we shift our feet and transfer our weight. She sees what the movement is doing and tries to translate that so we can deepen our experience of it.
I feel like when people come into Raven Spirit’s space, it allows them to listen deeper, to ask what story really wants to be told, what movement needs to come out.
Community in Practice
In Confluence, there’s a circling moment. The youngest dancer follows, then takes the lead, then recreates material from the whole piece. When we first discovered that part of the choreography, we realized: “this is the work of the company in dance form.”
It speaks to the intergenerational aspect of what we do. In touring these pieces we created a community outside the work, a circle of women. The work gets to transform, not just be consumed.
We started an emerging artist mentorship program during COVID. We’re still figuring out how it evolves, but we’re in it. It’s our hope to continue to support the work that starts to bubble up from that.
Performing in Aotearoa
Performing last year in Aotearoa was probably a highlight of my career. There’s something about being hosted by an Indigenous arts festival that feels really good.
I’d cultivated this relationship with the artistic directors for 20 years. To sit in the circle and realize it was years and years of relationship building – that’s part of indigenizing practice. Knowing that you’re in it for the long haul.
My only regret really is just that I wasn’t younger, but I guess part of that piece is that I needed to build the path to get there.
Life Now
These days I’m looking after my dog, looking after my son, and touching base with my daughter who’s at OCAD. I’m busy. I’d like to slow down a little bit, but I’m thankful too for all the opportunities. ∎