Episode 17 - Interview with Michelle Olson - Choreographer, Dance Artist, Educator

Show notes below:   Talking Shit with Tara Cheyenne is a Tara Cheyenne Performance Production www.taracheyenne.com Instagram: @TaraCheyenneTCP  /  FB: Tara Cheyenne Performance Podcast produced, edited and music by Marc Stewart Music www.marcstewartmusic.com    © 2020 Tara Cheyenne Performance   Subscribe/follow share through Podbean and Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts/iTunes and Spotify   Donate! To keep this podcast ad-free please go to:  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/13386 Show Notes: Michelle’s Company and Bio:  https://ravenspiritdance.com/about/ Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (Yukon) and the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance. She studied dance at the University of New Mexico with Bill Evans (contemporary) and Andrew Garcia (Pueblo Social Dances), Banff Centre for the Arts in Aboriginal Dance under the direction of Marrie Mumford and Alejandro Roncerio and furthered her performance training with Full Circle First Nations as an Ensemble member under the direction of David MacMurray Smith and Margo Kane. Through her studies with the Laban/Bartenieff and Somatic Studies International, she received her certification in movement analysis. Michelle works in areas of dance, theatre and opera as a choreographer, performer and movement coach and her work has been seen on stages across Canada. Selected choreographic credits include Northern Journey(Raven Spirit Dance), Gathering Light (Raven Spirit Dance), Mozart’s Magic Flute (Vancouver Opera), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre/National Arts Centre), Death of a Chief (Native Earth Performing Arts/National Arts Centre), Ashes on the Water (Neworld Theatre/Raven Spirit Dance) and Evening in Paris (Raven Spirit Dance). She is the recipient of the inaugural Vancouver International Dance Festival Choreographic Award in 2013.   Raven Spirit Work https://ravenspiritdance.com/our-work/   Black Lives Matter Vancouver https://blacklivesmattervancouver.com/   Dismantle Collective resources for white allies https://www.dismantlecollective.org/resources/   The Unbearable Whiteness of Being-Essay by Hiro Kanagawa https://medium.com/@hirokanagawainfo/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-being-2f3ebef20284 White allies: Here's a basic list of do's and don'ts to help you with your helplessness: https://www.salon.com/2020/06/01/white-allies-dos-donts-racism-black-lives-matter-protest/   BC Alliance for Arts and Culture Indigenous History Month resources https://www.allianceforarts.com/blog/2020/6/1/the-bc-alliance-honours-indigenous-history-month?mc_cid=e1a498770b&mc_eid=%5BUNIQID%5D   Vancouver Places to donate: https://mutualaid.shadowsmile.ca   Anti-Racism book for kids: https://booksforlittles.com/racial-diversity/?fbclid=IwAR2Ja85EWb43G1TNAHaL0n5bPDcQ6bnZZUZYgonfFDJkAl_KaDOpy33D7cQ   About Tara: Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg is an award winning creator, performer, choreographer, director and writer. Artistic Director of Tara Cheyenne Performance, she is renowned as a trailblazer in interdisciplinary performance and as a mighty performer "who defies categorization on any level"(The Georgia Straight). Tara is celebrated nationally and internationally for her unique and dynamic hybrid of dance, comedy and theatre. The string of celebrated full-length solo shows to her credit includes bANGER, Goggles, Porno Death Cult, and I can’t remember the word for I can’t remember, and she partners regularly on multidisciplinary collaborations, commissions and boundary-bending ensemble creations. When she isn’t creating innovative movement for theatre, Tara performs around the world- highlights include DanceBase/Edinburgh, South Bank Centre/London, On the Boards/Seattle USA, and High Performance Rodeo/Calgary. Recent works include The Body Project (premiering 2020/21 season) The River with dance artist Miriam Colvin and artist and activist Molly Wickham (premiering 2021 in Wet'suwet'en Territory), empty.swimming.pool with Italian dance/performance artist Silvia Gribaudi, (Castiglioncello, Bassano, Victoria, B.C. and Vancouver, B.C.), how to be (Vancouver, B.C.) , and I can’t remember the word for I can’t remember (currently touring). Tara lives on the unceded and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlil̓wətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)/East Vancouver with her partner composer Marc Stewart.