Meeting Place/Spirit House


From multicultural Canada comes Evelyn Roth's Meeting Place/Spirit House. This one-hour dance-theatre celebration is more than an installation, a performance or a spectacle. It is an opportunity to participate in an eclectic ritual, celebrating the relationship of the peoples of the world to nature, through culture. The story features myths from the Northwest Coast Native Indians of Canada, and peoples of Europe, the Far East and Africa.

The centre piece of Meeting Place/Spirit House is a large inflatable "Spirit House," 15 metres long, constructed from 3000 pieces of colorful nylon. Interwoven into the performance is a spectacular array of masks, costumes, props and sculptures, created by artists, performers and artisans from five continents. Meeting Place/Spirit House ideally features participation by local community members wherever it appears.

Meeting Place/Spirit House is characterized by its multi-faceted flexibility. Amazingly portable, the entire assemblage fits in a trunk while the spectacle can fill a stadium! In residency, the Meeting Place/Spirit House troupe can train local participants and stage numerous events suitable for all age groups. As a whole or in any of its conponent parts. Meeting Place/Spirit House will delight at an evening performance, a winter carnival, a children's festival, a grand opening, a commemorative ceremony and all manner of celebrations.

The music for Meeting Place/Spirit House was composed by Albertan, Roger Deegan, well known for his numerous film scores. The choreography is by international performer, Maria Formolo.

Meeting Place/Spirit House is available for review on video. Please email us for further details.

Performed Expo 1986 Vancouver Canada.  Ottawa 1987 Dance Expo.  2001 still available for local performance or 3 week residency. Evelyn Roth




Salmon Dance


Evelyn Roth was first introduced to the Indian culture of the Pacific Northwest by famous Haida artisan, Robert Davidson while visiting his community in the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1977. It was there that she was inspired to create and build her first large inflatable salmon.

The following year, Hannalore, a West Coast artist, wrote the dance story of the Salmon; the emergence of totem animals - eagle, raven, bear and frog, their interaction with man, the invader, and then, a final resolution in dance. She and Toronto composer, David Mcley, using a computer and synthesizer, produced the music score that now accompanies Salmon Dance.

Salmon Dance is a 30 minute west coast themed dance, music and poetry drama in which a 50' inflatable salmon acts as a backdrop. The story of the salmon unfolds with the birth of Frog, Raven, Bear and Eagle emerging from the giant salmon as eggs, completely encapsulated in plastic bubbles. Slowly shedding these shells, the characters perform individual dances exploring the environment, and then, together, form a Living Totem. Human enters, costumed in video tape, and upsets the Living Totem. The animals react by stripping the Human, taking away layers of civilization and preparing him to be receptive to their dance. Human becomes light and learns to move in harmony with all living creatures. At the end of the dance, Human, Frog, Raven, Bear and Eagle return to the stream from whence they came.

In 1996, Evelyn Roth expanced the Salmon Dance piece with the addition of 5 extra playworkers who, along with the 5 dancers combine their talents and interchange their roles to accomodate the performance piece. Before each performance, approximately 20-30 children in the audience are asked to don frog, waterdroplet, seal and salmonoid costumes to be lead in a parade of color around the inflatable salmon.

Playworkers interact with the children giving them the movement to act out their animal costumed part. Large salmon banners are carried through the parade as the pied piper leading the school of children on a costumed dance adventure. The children are given 10 minutes to perform their dance and are then lead back to one side to allow the Salmon Dance performance to begin. They will then rejoin the group of performers at the end of the performance for a final costume parade.

Salmon Dance is available for review on video. Please email us for further details.


Salmon Dance Performance
Living Totem, Eagle Raven, Bear & Frog
by Eastern Washington Theater Students