Reaching Toward: Seeding Connection within the Matriarchs Uprising Festival

Abstract

Abstract:Matriarchs UprisingFestivalwas founded and is curated by mixed Anishinaabe, French-Canadian, and Welsh dance artist Olivia C. Davies. Birthed to gather and to present the works of Indigenous women artists who create within the realm of contemporary dance, the inaugural festival took place in 2019 on the ancestral and unceded Indigenous territories of the məθkʷəỷəm, sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and seỉíỉwitulh First Nations (Vancouver), at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Within this review, I weave the thinking, praxis, and voices of Olivia C. Davies and the many artists who have been housed within Matriarchs Uprising. I speak of the festival being a container of attuned connection to empowered living.