MAINSTAGE 2026-27
Eternal Gestures
Eternal Gestures is a trilogy of evocative solo works commissioned from Indigenous Coast Salish-based choreographers Starr Muranko, Michelle Olson, and Margaret Grenier. The performance is led by Artistic Director Alvin Erasga Tolentino. This poetic work elevates the voices of Indigenous women, emphasizes our profound connection to the land, and addresses themes of truth, healing, and the decolonization of art. Tolentino’s captivating performance transforms into both a spiritual journey and a vessel for knowledge sharing. This milestone production marks Co.ERASGA’s 25th anniversary and reaffirms the company’s unwavering commitment to cross-cultural, experimental dance. This exploration delves into identity, ancestry, and the environment.
Tolentino, an established choreographer and renowned performer with a distinctive stage presence, has created numerous acclaimed solo works over the past three decades. This new commission allows him to focus on interpreting the works of three Indigenous female choreographers. Tolentino expresses his hope to honour and celebrate the knowledge and legacies of Indigenous women as matriarchs, grandmothers, mothers, and sisters. He emphasizes the importance of amplifying their creative voices and having them embodied for the world to witness. Eternal Gestures reflects his mature artistic perspective, his experiences as a migrant visitor, and his identity as a settler living on Coast Salish territories.
Alvin Erasga Tolentino/Co.ERASGA
Photo Credits: Yasuhiro Okada
TRAILER
ARTIST BIO
Vancouver’s acclaimed dance company Co.ERASGA celebrates 25 years of dance making and presentations across the globe. Renowned for its cross cultural and experimental works, Co.ERASGA’s remarkable dance contributions to Vancouver include over 20 original full-length productions, community engagements and Asian voices advocacy. Led by acclaimed Filipino-Canadian Alvin Erasga Tolentino, the company's ongoing programming supports and contributes to the development and enhancement of contemporary dance and continues to seek new and challenging projects that provide opportunities and cross-cultural issues in today’s society.
The Choreographers:
Margaret Grenier is of Gitxsan and Cree ancestry. She is the Executive and Artistic Director for the Dancers of Damelahamid. She has produced the Coastal Dance Festival since 2008. Margaret’s multimedia choreographic works bridge Gitxsan and Cree dance forms with current expressions.
Dancer/choreographer and educator, Starr Muranko is of mixed Cree (Moose Cree First Nation), German and French ancestry, a mother, and Co-Artistic Director with Raven Spirit Dance. As a choreographer she is most interested in the stories that we carry within our bodies and Ancestral connections to land that transcend time and space.
Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (Yukon),the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance, and instructor at Langara College’s Studio 58 Acting Program. Her work as a performer and creator embraces the arenas of dance, choreography, theatre, opera, dance education and community arts.
Dancer:
Alvin Erasga Tolentino
Philippine born Alvin Erasga Tolentino is one of the most active
Asian/Canadian dance artists contributing three decades to Canadian dance
and internationally as a choreographer, dancer, mentor, teacher, advocator
of the arts and community relations. He is the founding and artistic director
of Vancouver based Co.ERASGA.
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
Co.ERASGA’s “Eternal Gestures” was presented at the dance centre as part of a global dance series on October 8-9, 2025. Another full-length work, “Accumulation,” premiered in Yokohama, Japan, as part of the 2025 Yokohama Performing Fringe Festival.
One of the solo works from “Eternal Gestures,” created by Starr Muranko, was featured to open the recent Dancing on the Edge festival at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver. Co.ERASGA is about to embark on its second national tour of the Philippines from August 9-30, 2026 for "Accumulation" .The company is also in negotiations to be part of the upcoming Push Festival 2027 to present Eternal Gestures.
Project Created by: Co.ERASGA commissioned works with Coast Salish-based Indigenous choreographers Starr Muranko, Michelle Olson, and Margaret Grenier.
Key Artistic Collaborators:
Performance type: THIS WORK IS BUILT FOR THEATRE
How do you define this work: Contemporary dance, hybrid with Indigenous and land based practice.
Length of performance: 55min
Audience type: General Audience
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 1-4
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 2-3
Availabilities: 2027/28 Season
Project Details
General Technical Requirements: Lights, Video projector, Cyclorama, amplification.
Required amount of time for tech set up: 1 full day-
Alternative Venues: We’re delighted to present the full-length production in a studio setting or a multi-purpose hall with a dance floor capacity, without any technical staging support.
Outreach Activities
What/Where is home?
(2 hours)
Workshops can be given several times:
Join Starr Muranko and Alvin Tolentino for a collaborative land-based dance workshop exploring the question of home, both physically and metaphorically. This workshop spans two decades of their creative relationship and delves into our connection to the land we inhabit. Participants will engage in seeing, feeling, and sensing to map movement, gestures, and stories of the land, fostering a deeper understanding of our shared environmental responsibilities. The workshop provides an opportunity for the community to close interact and dialogue with the artists about their creation, relations and creative processes.
This workshops is open to all with no dance experience.
Other Details
The creation and sharing of Eternal Gestures seeks to ignite a community dialogue across the Coast Salish about art and land-based practices that support Indigenous artists’ visions, relationships, and creativity. Beyond stage presentations and productions, we offer opportunities for broader engagement. The entire creation can be experienced minimally and simply, with each solo work performed independently. The dancer and choreographer can then offer workshops and discussions about this creative work, which exemplifies Indigenous tradition and contemporary creative knowing and sharing for our time. This creation emphasizes the embodiment of land acknowledgment, a crucial aspect of accepting, honouring, learning, and sharing our Indigenous ways in the Coast Salish.
Contact information
companyerasgadance.ca
FB: Co.ERASGA
IG: co.erasga
Youtube: @co.erasga2060
TikTok: companyerasgadance