two dancers reaching arms towards each other on a stage

Spine of the Mother

Spine of the Mother began as an innovative collaboration with Indigenous artists in Canada and Peru. Tracing the inner terrain of our bodies as women through breath, impulse and memory unlocks kinetic energy creating ritual, which spans the spine of the mountain range we have shared for millennia.

The metaphor of the “Spine of Mother Earth” is a name given by Indigenous Elders in South America to the Andean mountain range that spans from the base in Argentina, through the Americas and ends at the tip of Alaska. Our bodies become the landscape like the mountain ranges that connect the North and South (the Eagle and the Condor) and through this we find our kinetic connection to others that transmits impulse, breath and spirit.

PRODUCTION

CHOREOGRAPHY: Starr Muranko
In collaboration with past performers and artistic lineage of Tasha-Faye Evans, Andrea Patriau, Olivia Shaffer, Sarah Formosa and Marisa Gold

PERFORMED BY: Tasha Faye Evans and Marisa Gold
VIDEO/MEDIA DESIGN: Sammy Chien
COMPOSER: Edgardo Moreno (‘Gracias a la Vida’ sung by Daniela Andrade)
DRAMATURGE & MENTOR: Alvin Tolentino
MENTOR: Michelle Olson
CULTURAL ADVISOR: Jhaimy Alvarez-Acosta (Peru)
LIGHTING DESIGN: John Carter
COSTUME DESIGN: Ines Ortner
ADDITIONAL DRAMATURGY: Alejandro Ronceria
LENGTH: 30 minutes

Previous performances

2024 · SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts; The Theatre at the Maury Young Arts Centre
2018 · Dance All Sorts (Vancouver, Coquitlam, and North Vancouver, BC)
2016 · Crimson Coast (Nanaimo, BC); Museum of Anthropology (Vancouver, BC)
2015 · Scotiabank Dance Centre (Vancouver, BC); Weesageechak Festival (Toronto, ON); IMPACT Festival (Kitchener, ON)

Gallery