MAINSTAGE 2026-27
BOLT
A visceral negotiation of land and lineage, BOLT moves through us as a living archive – it exists deep in our subconscious, where ideas flow across the landscape, and past meets future. – Jeanette Kotowich
BOLT is a reclamation of artistic sovereignty, forged through the kinship and collaboration between Jeanette Kotowich, Kate Franklin, Deanna Peters, Ahmed Khalil, and Gillian Hanemayer. Through this ensemble journey, a rich lexicon of imagery unfolds, embodying the meanings of BOLT—a connecting force, an activation of positive energy and kinetic joy. Like a current moving through the performers, it unleashes images and stories of land and lineage.
Kinetic joy evolves from synchronicity, laughter, and risk-taking. We journey into the unknown—visiting the liminal spaces at the horizon of our imaginations. We are confronted with desolate landscapes of fracture and extraction. Uncovering unity in dysfunction, we embrace acceptance and futurity.
BOLT is a live, responsive and co-written body of knowledge—never the same performance twice. It’s a radical act of productive instability, Indigenous-led by Jeanette Kotowich (Nêhiyaw/Mêtis) and co-creators, in an intercultural context that honours the timeless ethos of the land and all folk.
Jeanette Kotowich | Movement Healing
photo Laurence Rosset
TRAILER
ARTIST BIO
Originally from Treaty 4 territory Saskatchewan, Jeanette creates work that reflects Nêhiyaw/Métis cosmology within the context of contemporary dance, Indigenous performance, and Indigenous futurism. Fusing intercultural collaboration, anti-colonial practices and embodied research methodologies to explore concepts of emergence, relationship to the natural/spirit world, and Ancestral knowledge. Her practice is intergenerational and vocational; it’s a living and lived experience. Jeanette has self-presented and been programmed at theatres and festivals across Turtle Island and internationally.
Most recently she premiered her work BOLT, an ensemble work for four artists in 2026 at the Vancouver International Dance Festival and Festival Transamériques, Montreal. Her solo, Kisiskâciwan, premiered in Vancouver in 2022 and has since toured to 13 festivals nationally and to Germany, and Australia. Her ensemble work, Kwê, presented at Matriarchs Uprising and Dance in Vancouver (2021/22). Her earlier work Eloise (2017-2019) toured nationally, and Steppin’ (2015) continues to be performed.
Jeanette is the Artistic Associate at Raven Spirit Dance and a collaborating artist with Lara Kramer Danse (Montreal). She facilitates movement workshops with Indigenous worldview, workshops on anti-colonial perspectives in the arts, and is a Métis dance and cultural knowledge carrier. She resides as a guest on the Ancestral and unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ/, and Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories, colonially known as Vancouver. movementhealing.ca
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
2026 March: World premiere, Vancouver International Dance Festival, Annex Theatre–2 performances
2026 June: Montreal premiere, Festival TransAmériques, Le Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui –4 performances
2026 September: St.Johns NFL premiere, Festival of New Dance, LSPU Hall–confirmed
2027 January: Edmonton Premiere, Brian Webb Dance Company–confirmed
Project Created by: Jeanette Kotowich
Key Artistic Collaborators: conceived and produced by Jeanette Kotowich
co-created and performed by Kate Franklin + Gillian Hanemayer + Ahmed Khalil + Jeanette Kotowich + Deanna Peters
music Ahmed Khalil
lighting design + technical director Gillian Hanemayer
uniform by Jeanette Kotowich
set design Jeanette Kotowich + Kayleigh Sandomirsky
artistic support Lisa Mariko Gelley + Michelle Olson + Donna Redlick
somatic movement coach Donna Redlick
project management Kayleigh Sandomirsky
co-produced by Jeanette Kotowich, Raven Spirit Dance + Festival TransAmériques
With the support of British Columbia Arts Council + Canada Council for the Arts + City of Vancouver [Odd Meridian Arts] + Vancouver International Dance Festival
creative residencies Company 605 (Vancouver), Out Innerspace/Q7 Studios (Vancouver) + Scotiabank Dance Centre (Vancouver) + Vancouver Civic Theatres (Vancouver)
special thanks to Frederick Brummer + Alexandra Caprara + Claire French + Lara Kramer + Brady Marks + Carlos Rivera Martínez + sharai mustatia + Simon Riverin, Neil Sochasky
Performance type: THIS WORK IS BUILT FOR THEATRE
How do you define this work: Dance/ Multi-Discipline/ Indigenous-led/ live music/ living-archive
Length of performance: 65-70mins
Audience type: General Audience
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 5 (includes lighting designer)
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 1
Availabilities: 2027 Spring Season (Mar - June),2027/28 Season,2028/29 Season
Project Details
Community Engagement
General Technical Requirements: Stage: Black Marley-style dance floor. Preferred landscape orientation (wider than deep).
Sound: Basic PA with monitors. All live music making instruments supplied by company.
Lighting: Includes touring LD to operate live/responsive show. Requires local rental of 8 Astera Titan Tubes.
Set & Rigging: Company supplies backdrop/set piece requiring setup on arrival. Requires local rental of a red velvet curtain on tracking (installed with backdrop).
Required amount of time for tech set up: Due to the responsive nature of the work, a full 8-hour tech day is required prior to the show. Our preferred schedule is Day 1 for technical setup and Day 2 for dress rehearsal and performance.
Alternative Venues: open to discussing low tech options for this work, if there is interest.
The project deeply values ongoing community outreach. Our team is open to panel discussions, artistic exchange experiences, + artist talks
Interested in the following related topics, but not limited to;
⚡️Indigenous led–intercultural process
⚡️BOLT the making of and performance approach/archive
⚡️artistic process, collaboration, co-creation, emergent practices
⚡️touring initiatives, and presenter engagement, anti-colonial practices
Interested to work with all age groups and all folks, to deepen engagement and exchange with the local communities desires.
Outreach Activities
COMMUNITY OFFERINGS | WORKSHOPS | MASTER CLASSES
⚡️ movement healing workshop with Jeanette Kotowich
⚡️ joy of jigging workshop with Jeanette Kotowich
⚡️ inter-disciplinary creative explorations offered by the BOLT team (*exploratory idea)
⚡️ somatic house dance with Deanna Peter/Mutable Subject
⚡️ contemporary technique for dancers with Kate Franklin
⚡️ movement healing workshop with Jeanette Kotowich
An experiential dance workshop; inspired by Indigenous cosmology, inter-cultural exchange, expressive sovereignty, and futurity. Connecting with the natural and Spirit world, we will explore the 4 elements (earth, fire, water, air) through embodiment and exploration. We will experience our own humanity through sensing into our animal body and tap into joy with authentic movement, dancing to curated sonic textures that will get your bones moving and your heart opening.
⚡️ joy of jigging workshop with Jeanette Kotowich
A Métis jigging inspired workshop exploring the dance's relationship with the fiddle music. Participants learn basic and fancy steps, with a focus on integrating the various rhythms into the body. An upbeat, joyful approach to sharing Métis traditions and social dance practice in community.
⚡️ somatic house dance with Deanna Peter/Mutable Subject
Dance artist Deanna Peters is teaching a unique workshop combining concepts + exercises from the Itcush Method of the Mitzvah technique with steps + approaches from House Dance. It turns out that Amelia Itcush, who devised the Itcush Method, loved club dances because of their use of rebound and rippling movement into and out of the floor. Deanna’s probably the only person in the world who practices both of these movement forms. If she’s wrong, and there is someone else out there, and you happen to be reading this, then this workshop is for you!
⚡️ contemporary technique for dancers with Kate Franklin
Kate teaches a contemporary technique class for dancers who want to give aesthetics a back seat for a while. Instead we will seek to understand more deeply the way our bodies actually function. Kate is a contemporary dance artist and educator who is obsessed with training; over the past 30 years she has done deep dives into classical ballet, various modern and contemporary techniques as well as Yoga and Pilates. Since 2017 she has been immersed in the world of strength training and functional fitness. There she has found so much exciting information to bring into her dance classes with the goal of helping other dance artists have long, healthy careers/practices.