Dancers of Damelahamid

Good evening, everyone,

Throughout this week, we have the honor of presenting Raven Mother by the Dancers of Damelahamid. This company, deeply rooted in British Columbia's Aboriginal traditions, offers us precious access to a world steeped in memory.

Raven Mother is a long family story. Each movement, each carved mask, each image, and each song in this vibrant performance embodies a rich, essential culture, passed down from generation to generation.

At Danse Danse, we want to bring to the public an art form that broadens our horizons and celebrates the profound depth of Indigenous artistic worlds from around the world.

This is a wonderful opportunity to attend a show that tells stories, brings people together, and reminds us how important collective memory is, making dance a living bridge between the past and the present.

We invite you to let yourselves be carried away by these stories filled with meaning and beauty, opening a window into a captivating universe.

Enjoy the show!

Pierre Des Marais — Directeur général et artistique de Danse Danse

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Territorial Acknowledgement

It is important to acknowledge that this show takes place on the traditional and unceded Indigenous territory of Tiohtià:ke commonly known as Montreal. Presently, the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands on which we gather today, but we acknowledge that this territory is a gathering place for many Indigenous peoples for generations. We recognize that the history of this land has often been passed down incompletely, obscuring the past, present, and future realities and contributions of Indigenous peoples. We commit to respectfully continue to grow connections with the past, present, and future in our ongoing relationships with the Indigenous community.

The Dancers of Damelahamid started in the 1960s under the leadership of our parents Chief Kenneth Harris and Margaret Harris. At that time the focus was on dance revitalization, following the lifting of the Potlatch Ban (1884-1951). I was born into this dance lineage and my role as a leader for the company has grown over the past 20 years. In 2010 our company began taking contemporary approaches to create newly choreographed works based on our ancestral form. Through this we are establishing our cultural dance form and addressing decolonization within dance.

Raven Mother is a very personal piece for our family, and we have put all our efforts into realizing this work. It recognizes the legacy left by the lifetime of work that my mother Margaret Harris gave to her family and the dance community, as a Cree woman who married into a Gitxsan dance lineage. It is a work that acknowledges the vital role that women have held in this intergenerational dance practice, as visionaries, as caregivers, and as catalysts that have ensured the survival of the practice itself. It is a piece that speaks to both the beauty and the hardships of this journey as women, the love we have for our children, and the hope they bring us.

Margaret Grenier — Executive and Artistic Director of the Dancers of Damelahamid.

Raven Mother

Raven Mother is the Dancers of Damelahamid’s newly choreographed dance work in honour of late Elder Margaret Harris (1931 – 2020). Raven Mother illustrates the vast impact Elder Harris had on the revitalization of Indigenous dance along the Northwest Coast, and the integral role of women in holding cultural knowledge. It celebrates our mothers who created the stronghold of these artforms and influenced the next generation of women. Raven Mother illuminates the profound leadership of our mothers, their essential contribution in this resurgence, and the force and transformation of this awakening.

Raven Mother is the Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious production and will be the culmination of generations of artistic and cultural work. With Raven Mother, movement, song, regalia, sculpture, and design, are interwoven with the embodied narrative. The Raven crest, manifested in multiple forms, embodies transformation, the strengthening of culture, the unveiling of a new spirit, and breathing life into a promise made to the children of generations to come.

Raven Mother speaks to our current realities, drawing from a rich lineage of teachings and insights. Innovation is conditional upon revealing the truths of today to pursue cultural endurance and intergenerational sustenance. Raven Mother is a tangible remembrance of a woman’s spirit, marking the shift between generations that has sparked a new role for our daughters as the force to hold their grandmother’s vision.

Created and Produced by Dancers of Damelahamid

Artistic Director and Choreographer Margaret Grenier.

Set Designer and Artwork Andrew Grenier.

Regalia Designer and Creator Rebecca Baker-Grenier.

Song Composer and Vocalist Raven Grenier.

Collaborating Composer Ted Hamilton.

Lighting Designer Jeff Harrison.

Projection Designer Andy Moro.

Collaborating Director Charles Koroneho.

Northwest Coast Artists David A. Boxley, David R. Boxley, Jim Charlie, Raven Grenier, Kandi McGilton, Dylan Sanidad.

Composers of the song Strong Women Derrick Keeswood, Verrona Keeswood, Lawrence Trottier.

Elders Betsy Lomax, Lawrence Trottier.

Performers Margaret Grenier, Rebecca Baker-Grenier, Raven Grenier, Nigel Baker-Grenier, Renée Harris.

Production/Stage Manager Andy Grenier.

Technical Director Jeff Harrison.

Wardrobe Assistant Stevie Hale-Jones.

Collaborating Producer & Agent Eponymous.

World Premiere October 9, 2024, The Cultch Theatre, Vancouver.

Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.

This work is a co-production of the CanDance Network Creation Fund, DanceWorks, Dance Victoria, National Arts Centre and Danse Danse.

Dancers of Damelahamid gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia, British Columbia Arts Council and Metro Vancouver.

Raven Mother was created with the support of The Anvil Theatre, The Cultch, The Venables Theatre, Ballet BC, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Dancers of Damelahamid would like to thank The Hamber Foundation, Re:Naissance, Anndraya T. Luui.

Eponymous gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

DANCERS OF DAMELAHAMID

Executive and Artistic Director Margaret Grenier.

Creative Producer Andrew Grenier.

Artistic Associate Rebecca Baker-Grenier.

Artistic and Administrative Assistant Raven Grenier.

Language and Research Nigel Baker-Grenier.

Collaborating Producer Eponymous.