Eternal Gestures 2025
Spanning over two decades with a track record of distinct, diverse repertoires, hybrid dance projects and community engagements, Co.ERASGA continues to be a pillar of dance generating artistic voices that amplifies diversity, ancestry, redress and decolonized arts and cultural practices, vision and intention. "Eternal Gestures" is Co.ERASGA's important visionary work to date in anticipation for its 25th anniversary arts season programming.
The commission, collaboration and endeavoured project with contemporary indigenous coast salish based choreographers Michelle Olson, Starr Muranko and Margaret Grenier will see several phases of knowledge sharing, studio research, development and creation between 2024-25 with Alvin Tolentino. The completed full-length solo project will unveil to a world premiere in October at The Dance Centre in 2025.
Tolentino personally chose to work with the three distinguished choreographers to continue and deepen his artistic relation to each artist and to be guided and influenced further by indigenous art land base practices, preservation of heritages and greater understanding toward the need and importance of indigenous and contemporary arts making and offering for our time.
We respond to and continue our learning and humble work towards the "Truth and Reconciliation" by recognizing, collaborating and uplifting the important roles and knowledge of Indigenous women, sisters, mothers and matriarchs. It is important to amplify their creative voices to resonate, to be danced and to be embodied for the world to see.
Alvin Erasga Tolentino's creation and interpretation of solo work spans three decades as one of his important dance legacy in contemporary dance praxis. The new commissions will see him focus solely as the interpreter to the visionary works of three Indigenous choreographers. Throughout this process of meeting new challenges, he will also learn, expand and reignite the positional working discovery between choreographers and dancer.
For Tolentino the project goes beyond the embodiment and expression of dancing but also towards personal inquiry, spiritual journey and offering as a matured artist, a migrant visitor and land settler living in the Coast Salish. It is through meaningful activity, art making and community relational as such that he is able to continue to ask the question of migration and continuity, give back and honor the land he inhabits.
