In partnership with The Dance Centre, O.Dela Arts presents the eighth annual Matriarchs Uprising Festival, February 16 to 21. The celebration of contemporary dance by Indigenous women from Canada and Australia, offers unique programs of live performance, along with artist-lead Talking Truths circle conversations, dance masterclasses, community workshops and the IndigiDance on Screen film series.
Once again curated by Olivia C. Davies, the 2026 festival program features:
Tuesday, February 17 @ 5pm: (Workshop)
World Champion Hoop Dancer, Beany John, shares the history of the hoop dance and the importance of creation through the hoop.
Wednesday, February 18 @ 10am: (Masterclass)
Yaliyat cocahq/Travelling spirit: Ivanie Aubin-Malo explores movements symbolically linked to the oral narratives of the Wabanaki people
Wednesday, February 18 @ 12pm: (Conversation)
Host Olivia C. Davies hosts the signature Talking Truths Circle Conversationwith festival choreographers Amelia O’Leary, Ivanie Aubin-Malo, Michelle Olson, Olivia Adams, Samantha Sutherland, Sandra Lamouche, and Sophie Dow.
Wednesday, February 18 @ 7pm: (Performance)
The festival opens with the Western Canada premiere of Wahsipekuk: Au-delà des montagnesby Wolastoq and Quebecois artist Ivanie Aubin-Malo.
photo: Jade Ellis
Thursday, February 19 @ 10am: (Workshop)
Learn Choreographic Method through improvisation, imagination, and collective grounding, Amelia Jean O’Leary leads a space of connection, sovereignty, and creative release, where dance becomes story, resistance, and renewal.
Thursday, February 19 @ 5pm: (Workshop)
Champion Hoop Dancer, Sandra Lamouche offers this introductory hoop dance that is open to all levels of movement experience.
Thursday, February 19 @ 7pm: (Performance)
a double-bill presentation features, ?a·kinq?uku by Ktunaxa choreographer, Samantha Sutherland. carriers and keepers of the ancestral portalsfrom Sophie Dow and Beany John.
Friday, February 20 @ 10am: (Masterclass presented in partnership with Training Society of Vancouver)
Olivia Adams leads an advanced Contemporary Dance class including improvisation and exercises that will get the blood pumping.
Friday, February 20 @ 7pm: (Conversation)Aspecial pre-show Talking Truths Circle Conversation: International Interconnectionsfinds Raven Spirit Dance co-artistic directors, Michelle Olson and Starr Muranko in conversation with choreographers, Amelia O’Leary and Olivia Adams
Friday, February 20 @ 8pm:
a double-bill presentation features, Sandra Lamouche’s Out of Woundsand Australian Indigenous choreographer, Amelia O’Leary’s Ngambaa.
Saturday, February 21 @ 3pm: (Workshop)
Join Sophie Dow & Samantha Sutherland in a workshop exploring both of their contemporary Choreographic Method practices.
Saturday, February 21 @ 5pm: (Performance)
where did you go, is a studio preview of a new work-in development by Michelle Olson.
Saturday, February 21 @ 8pm: (Performance)
Closing the festival performance program, Australian Indigenous choreographer, Olivia Adams presents Matriarchs.
Saturday, February 21 @ 9:30: (Reception)
The Festival Closing Reception welcomes live music by Tsimka and Michael Red creating an electronic soundscape with Tsimka’s vocals and drumming
In addition to workshops, masterclasses and performances IndigiDance on Screen returns with five short dance films by Indigenous women, available on-demand all week on the festival website.
Olivia C. Davies’ Curator’s Address states, “Oscillating between the edges of bold, vibrant victories and the quieter, elusive tragedies of our shared experience as women, our 2026 line-up offers a performance program from Canadian and Australian Indigenous choreographers invited to share their unique worldviews. At the centre of each performance is a woman who can be witnessed activating their capacity to pull inspiration from the deep recesses of their personal history and bridge the gap with their ancestors’ dreams. Makwendaan Endaa’aanh (Remembering Home in Anishinaabemowin). Through these women’s artistry, we are all invited to remember home, return to our roots, and recognize the truth of our nature.”
The eighth annual Matriarchs Uprising Festival, runs February 16 to 21, 2026 at Scotiabank Dance Centre – with one performance at Morrow – visit matriarchsuprising.com for Festival Passes, single tickets and registration for free events.