NOMADA

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Nomada brings together contemporary indigenous dance, aerial dance and installation art. It is a journey inspired by personal stories of displacement, rituals of water, cycles of sustainability and the connections of our bodies to land. Nomada is supported by the CanDance Network commissioning program, with five presenters across Canada taking part. They are Public Energy Performing Arts (Peterborough), Canadian Stage (Toronto), Danceworks (Toronto), Crimson Coast Dance Society (Nanaimo), PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (Vancouver)

“NOMADA is a journey of the Creator of life through three worlds; Sky World, Underworld, and Earth. This journey helps maintain harmony of all the earthly and cosmological elements. Nomada is the physical and spiritual act of renewal, affirmation, and restoration of the fragile and continuously changing balance of the earth.” Synopsis by Alejandro Ronceria, collaborator.

Diana Lopez Soto talks about the ideas behind NOMADA and its connections to her family’s homeland in Mexico:
“NOMADA is a solo performance that brings together aerial dance, rigging design, installation art and Contemporary Mexican indigenous dance. A journey inspired by personal stories of displacement, rituals of water, cycles of sustainability and the connections of our bodies to land.

Every element of creation and development has involved in-depth research and fieldwork. This production is a restorative process and a gateway to connection; an experience that honors the stories of my family; our Otomi and Purepecha ancestry, our contemporary community, history and relationships to the land and culture of Michoacan, Mexico.

Thanks to the support of knowledge keepers, my mother and elders of the Community of Michoacan; I was able to participate in water rituals and ceremonies, visited family members, butterfly sanctuaries and bodies of water. The sound and video material from rivers, storms, streets, conversations, and celebrations that we gathered during these years of research; are crucial elements in the final sound composition and inspiration of movement.”

More about Diana Lopez Soto here. https://www.dianalopezsoto.com/productions

Produced by Uarhi Creations (Diana Lopez Soto)

Concept, Co-Creation, Performance, Choreography, Rigging Design: Diana Lopez Soto

Dramaturg and Rehearsal Director: Rebecca Carney

Script/Mentor/Director/Dramaturg/Co-Creation 2017-2022: Alejandro Ronceria

Knowledge Keeper, Purepecha Mentor and Regalia Co-Designer: Leonardo Martin Vargas Carrion

Ritual/Performance Dramaturg: Coman Poon

Set Co-Design: Andy Moro and Diana Lopez Soto

Pirekua Composition: Erandi Cuiriz Ramos

Live Musician and Final Composition: Edgardo Moreno

Composition (First Draft): Diego Marulanda

Lighting Design: Arun Srinivasan

Costume Design: Adriana Fulop

Ceramic Artists- Gustavo Bernal, Cynthia Cupples, Lisa Barry

Textile Artist – Jaime Ferreira, Carlota Soto Cortez

Projection Design: Samay Arcentales Cajas

Rigging Specialists: Rebecca Devi Leonard, Israel Barrera Hernandez

Movement Coach: Fernanda Leal, Ana Prada

Stage Manager: Taylor Zalik-Young

Production Manager/Technical Director: Patricia Levert

NOMADA COLLABORATORS

Diana Lopez Soto –

Producer, Creator, Rigging Design, Performance Artist  

Diana is an award-winning multidisciplinary Mexican/Canadian artist, mother and land caretaker. She has presented and exhibited her work nationally and internationally in France, Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, the USA and Canada. She creates, co-creates and performs site-specific work, vertical dance, art installations and experimental film.  Her interest in sustainable practices informs the direction of her collaborations and offerings. Some of her latest achievements are her participation at the Guapamacataro Art and Ecology residency, the Vancouver International Vertical Dance Summit and the ‘Ritual de las Aguadoras’ with the Tirindikua family from the Barrio de Santo Santiago Michoacan. Diana is the co-creator of Land Embodiment Lab with Coman Poon, an artist associate of Vanguardia Dance Projects and collaborates with Hercinia Arts, Femme du Feu, Look Up Theatre and Victoria Mata.

Rebecca Carney –

Dramaturgy and Rehearsal Director  

Rebecca Carney is a director, producer and actor with experience in theatre, film,  dance, and circus arts. She is the founder and director of Circus Orange, established  in 1999, a company that combines theatre, dance, circus, and stunts with fire and  pyrotechnics. Circus Orange has presented work in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Istanbul,  Australia, Bahrain and the USA. Some featured performances include Tricycle, Aviator  and Jump Jet. Her recent acting work has been in Stephen King’s Willa, the award winning Canadian episodic web series The Rebeccas, Gloria in The Ballad of Gloria  Sedgwick and Dana in Trigger. Rebecca studied  performing arts at the Actor’s Working Academy in Vancouver, Technical Theatre at  Humber College of Theatre Arts and Design, and Drama at the University of Waterloo.

Leonardo Martin Vargas Carrion –

Knowledge Keeper  

Leonardo Martin Vargas Carrion is from the community of San Lorenzo, municipality of Uruapan Michoacan. My ancestors were my grandfather, Santiago Carrion Morales, composer and musician of great pirekuas (a word of Purépecha origin that means song). My father, Santiago Carrion Reyes, is the precursor of the tradition and the first indigenous person who, apart from his Purépecha language, mastered the Spanish language and gained the position of interim president of the city of Uruapan, the great forerunner of the traditions of our state. I am interested in participating in the work of Diana López Soto because it is very important for us Purépechas that people from other countries recognize our culture, which includes music,

traditional dance and traditional food that has been preserved since pre-Hispanic times, in addition to the preservation and conservation of our clothing, which is classified as pre-Hispanic ceremonial, dance and daily use.

Alejandro Ronceria –

First NOMADA Script.

Alejandro Ronceria is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning director/ choreographer/producer in Toronto. As well as personal work, he has directed  and produced theatrical productions nationally and internationally. Ronceria is  also the founding Artistic Director of the first Aboriginal Dance Program in North  America at The Banff Center for the Arts and is the new Director of Dance at  The Banff Centre for the Arts. NOMADA Co-creator, Mentor, Director and Dramaturgue from July 2017-July 2022  

Erandi Cuiriz Ramos –

Pirekua Composer 

Mother, community leader, Purepecha composer and vocalist of the Orquesta Tata Vasco. Born in Santa Fe de la Laguna. Erandi’s upbringing has been surrounded by music. Her brothers, father and mother are all part of the Orquesta Tata Vasco. They tour nationally and regionally, maintaining the knowledge, tradition and language of the Purepecha community.

Diego Marulanda –

Composer (First Draft) 

Diego Marulanda is a well-established dance, theatre, film and television with vast experience in contemporary and world music. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Diego is a multi instrumentalist playing guitar as well as the instruments in his extensive 40 + collection.  Diego lives in Toronto, ON, where he has had an active music career since 1988; he has  been active as a composer, performer, music director, music arranger and producer. He was nominated for the Juno Awards and Canadian Music Week, composed scores and created music for dance performances has worked with choreographers across Canada such as Iqaluit, Nunavut and the Yukon First Nations.

Edgardo Moreno:

Composer (Final)  

Edgardo Moreno is a Canadian- Chilean composer commissioned for projects in  Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Sweden, Argentina, Colombia, England and the USA. He has worked extensively with indigenous contemporary dance choreographers and artists, including Penny Couchie, Justin Manyfingers, Alejandro Ronceria, Olga Barrios, Norma Araiza, Rulan Tangen, Starr Muranko, Tasha Faye Evans, Jeanette Kotowich, Carlos Rivera, Sara Roque. He is presently creating video and live sound pieces that are part of his Fireflyproject.

Other Artistic Collaboratorations include artisans, designers and elders of the community. Some of the essential partnerships that have developed are consultations and commissioned Reboso from two-spirit Purepecha textile artists and professor Jaime Ferreira. And Knowledge keeper Jose Trinidad and the community of the Barro de Santo Santiago. Other vital participants include ceramic artists Gustavo Bernal Varela, Guapamacataro curator Alicia Marvan, and Ontario ceramic artist Cinthya Cupples.

NOMADA TECHNICAL TEAM

Rebecca Leonard –

Rigging Specialist 

Aerialist, rigging specialist, actor, and choreographer, Rebecca Leonard, has performed locally and internationally with circus companies across Canada: Les Filles aux Lit, Hangtime,  Circus Orange, HighStrung, Cirque Sublime, Cirque Eos, Lookup Theatre, Anti-Gravity.  Feature film credits: The Tuxedo and Chicago. An honours graduate of Ryerson Theatre School. In 2003 she founded A Girl In The Sky Productions. Rebecca is a Graduate of the Ecole Nationale du Cirque and she has been in leadership roles throughout the U.S. and Canada including Toronto School of Circus Arts, Cirque du Monde, Cirkids, WiseFool, Banff Center for  the Arts, Harbourfront Circus Camp, Monica& Danz Gym, aerial and acrobatics coach  at NECCA and Winnipeg Children’s Festival.

Israel Barrera Hernandez –

Rigger  Specialist

Israel Barrera Hernandez is a Mazahua rigging artist from the community in the Municipality of Tunal of San Felipe del Progreso, Estado de Mexico. He was a professional Ballet and Contemporary Dancer at the beginning of his career in the performing arts. He has 17 years of experience as an acrobatic rigger, stunt rigger and field rigger, and ground support. He is recognized nationally and internationally due to his extensive experience as a mentor and specialized rigger in aerial dance.

Taylor Young –

Stage Manager  

Taylor Young is a Toronto-based Stage Manager and Production Manager, originally from Calgary, AB. They hold a BFA from TMU in Performance Production. They have worked with companies such as Dance Made in Canada, Pencil Kit Productions, Kaeja d’Dance, Nova Dance, ProArteDanza, Citadel + Compagnie, DopoLavoro Teatrale, Toronto Dance Theatre, Rock Bottom Movement, and Fall for Dance North.

Samay Arcentales Cajas –

Projection Design  

Samay Arcentales Cajas is a Toronto-based Kichwa artist and filmmaker exploring human-land relations, the new media dimensions of indigenous cosmology, and immersive art as a site of liberation. Her works have been shown at ImagineNATIVE,  Xpace Cultural Centre, Mayworks Festival of Working People, Maysumak Quichwa  Film Showcase, among others. Samay has also facilitated film programs at Sketch  Working Arts and Charles Street Video, where she currently works as a program  coordinator. She held her first solo show, “Will You Listen?: Latinx Voices in Tkaronto”,  a projection-based media installation at Whippersnapper Gallery. Samay works as a  video designer and editor for artists and filmmakers nationwide.

Arun Srinivasan –

Lighting Designer  

Arun has worked extensively in the performing arts. He trained at York University,  earning a Specialized Honours B.F.A. Dance collaborators have included Robert  Desrosiers, Peter Chin, Danny Grossman, COBA, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Tiger  Princess Dance Projects, The National Ballet School & ProArteDanza. He has  been the resident designer for Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre since 2002. Theatre credits include The Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre, The Canadian Stage Co., The Globe Theatre, The World Stage Theatre Festival, fu-GEN, Cahoots Theatre Projects, k’Now Theatre & Buddies In Bad Times Theatre. His career has garnered 8 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design in both the theatre and dance categories. Productions have taken him to Ukraine, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, and North America.

Adriana Fulop –

Costume Design  

Adriana Fulop is an award-winning costume and fashion designer. She was born in Bratislava, Slovakia and is currently residing in Toronto. She is one of the co-founders (together with Ryan Webber) of a future-thinking, Canadian independent fashion label PlastikWrap, which has been creating men’s and women’s fashions since 2001. (www.plastikwrap.com). Adriana’s main passion is creating. She embraces the challenge of designing any style required for the job at hand. She believes a good design is not just a sketch or a picture but a marriage between script, character research and communication with the director and cast. In the last decade, Adriana has created costumes for many video and film productions,dancers, musicians, and independent theatres and artists.

Andy Moro –

Set Designer 

Andy Moro is a mixed-blood multi-disciplinary artist. His practice began in studio visual arts, foundry-based sculpture, blown glass, large-scale public installation and pyrotechnics. He has worked in automobile assembly, production film graphics and animation, typography and print design, darkroom and digital photography, 3d display technology, construction and installation, set construction, projection, set, lighting, sound and property design. Presently Moro co-directs the Indigenous Activism Arts organization ARTICLE 11 with partner Tara Beagan. Moro most recently designed Beagan’s Ministry of Grace for the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, Ian Ross’ The Third Colour for Prairie Theatre Exchange, Natalie Sappier’s Finding Wolastoq Voice, the Dancers of Damelahamid’s Minowin, and Marie Clements’ Unnatural and Accidental Women at the National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre’s Inaugural Festival.

Links to Nibi Emosaawdamajig – Those Who Walk for the Water:

Nibi Emosaawdamajig Facebook Group

Sacred Water Circle Facebook Page

Sacred Water Circle Website