October 1, 2025 - Canadian Filipino dance artist Alvin Erasga Tolentino leads Co.ERASGA’s production of Eternal Gestures, a trilogy of solo works by Indigenous Coast Salish-based choreographers Margaret Grenier, Starr Muranko and Michelle Olson on October 9 and 10 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver.
In a media release, Eternal Gestures “uplifts the voices of Indigenous women, asserts our deep connection to the land, and speaks to truth, healing and the decolonization of art” and marks Co.ERASGA’s 25th anniversary.
Co.ERASGA’s artistic director Tolentino has created various solo works over the last three decades and sees Eternal Gestures as both a spiritual journey and a vessel for knowledge-sharing. Says Tolentino: “Through this project I hope to honour and celebrate the knowledge and legacies of Indigenous women as matriarchs, grandmothers, mothers and sisters - their care and nurturing of the world. It is important to amplify their creative voices, to be danced and to be embodied for the world to see.”
Eternal Gestures’ choreographers are all Coast Salish-based.
Margaret Grenier is the executive and artistic director for the Dancers of Damelahamid and has produced the annual Coastal Dance Festival since 2008. Growing up in the Northwest Coast of BC, Grenier is of Gitxsan and Cree ancestry.
Starr Muranko is of mixed Cree (Moose Cree First Nation), German and French ancestry and is the co-artistic director of Raven Spirit Dance. Her interests lie in stories that are carried in one’s body and ancestral connections to land that transcend time and space.
Michelle Olson is the artistic director of Raven Spirit Dance and instructor at Langara College’s Studio 58 Acting Program. A member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (Yukon), Olson’s work as a performer and creator embraces the arenas of dance, theatre, opera, dance education and community arts.
Co.ERASGA celebrates 25 years of over 20 original full-length productions, community engagements and advocacy for Asian voices. Known for its cross cultural and experimental works, the company’s programming continues to support and contribute to the development of contemporary dance.
For more information and tickets, visit www.thedancecentre.ca
About the Author
c started writing for magazines and newspapers when she was still a junior at the University of the Philippines’ Communication degree program majoring in Journalism. She continued to write in a public relations/corporate communications capacity in various private and government offices until moving out of the country in 1997 to work as Programme Officer for the arts and culture branch of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-SPAFA) in Bangkok, Thailand. At the end of her term, Rachel found herself immigrating to Canada in the year 2000 and again searching for new beginnings.
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