History

Raven Spirit Dance was formed in 1999 and incorporated in March of 2005. The core members of the company are the General Manager, Janice Beley, and Artistic Director, Michelle Olson, Artistic Associate, Starr Muranko and Training Coordinator, Cherith Mark. Currently Raven Spirit has a 4-member board of directors. Raven Spirit Dance Society is also known as Raven Spirit Dance Company.

Raven Spirit Dance currently has 6 active productions and two projects in research and development. Cello & Butterflies and Frost Exploding Trees Moon.  Raven Spirit is active in contemporary dance and aboriginal communities by teaching, facilitating workshops, mentoring and residencies. In 2008 and 2009, Raven Spirit performed 13 shows from two different productions (in BC, Ontario and Saskatchewan). Over the past 4 years Raven Spirit has created 4 new works, Ta’wan, Evening in Paris, Luk T’äga Näche and Gathering Light.

In the past few years, the company has had a successful six-week tour of a show for young audiences, assisted in the development of a theatre/dance piece at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver and continued its relationship with the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre (Dawson City) bringing fully realized dance works and teaching opportunities to Artistic Director Michelle Olson’s home community of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. In 2007 Raven Spirit premiered Evening in Paris at the Firehall Arts Centre and 2008 toured Songs of Shär Cho with CanDance Indigenous Dancelands and performed a new site-specific work, Ta’wan during International Dance Day.  In September 2008, Raven Spirit Dance began a year-long residency at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver and completed the residency with a performance as part of the Noon Dance Series in September 2009.   Currently the company is in collaboration with urban ink production society and the Downtown Eastside Writer’s Group on Dreamcatchers.  This was performed on November 1, as part of the Heart of the City Festival.  In 2010 the company performed an excerpt of our new production, Gathering Light, at the Weesageechak Festival in Toronto and will premiere the piece at Dancing on the Edge on July 17.  We hope to see you there!