Hybrid Women
Sunday, June 7 | 3:00 PM
The Arboretum, University of Guelph
250 Arboretum Rd
Attendance is P-W-Y-C by donation. Donate online prior to attending, or at the event via cash or card. Recommended donation $15 / $20 / $25.
In the case of inclement weather, the performance will take place indoors at the O.A.C. Centennial Arboretum Centre. This is also the meeting location for the beginning of the performance, where there are accessible washrooms and parking.
About the Work
Hybrid Women is a dance theatre-ritual action developed by Norma Araiza and Olga Barrios with music/sound by Edgardo Moreno. This performance explores the fragile relationship between humanity and the environment, reflecting on the urgent and complex issues surrounding the decadence of our planet. Through a clown-like, ritualistic lens, Hybrid Women invites audiences to reconsider our collective priorities in a time of environmental and societal crisis. Blending contemporary dance, theatre, performance art, sound, and visual elements, the piece acts as a hybrid ritual—a poetic intervention that transcends traditional genre boundaries. The work is deeply theatrical and symbolic, interweaving bodily movement with live sound composition and scenographic materials to create an immersive, transformative experience.
Choreographers
Olga Barrios and Norma Araiza
Performers
Olga Barrios, Norma Araiza, Edgardo Moreno
Music
Edgardo Moreno
About the Choreographers
Olga Barrios is a multi-award choreographer, dancer, educator, producer, and video dance artist, co-founding and co-directing Vanguardia Dance Projects in 2008. Originally from Bogotá, she holds an MFA from York University and collaborates internationally across dance, theatre, and multidisciplinary projects in Canada, the USA, and Colombia. Her recent works include Dreaming in Blue, Hybrid Women, Memories of Water, and Conversations: Hidden Stories.
Norma Papalotl Araiza, of Yoeme/Basque heritage, is a Mexico-born performer, choreographer, educator, and expressive arts therapist based in Tkaronto, blending contemporary performance with cultural traditions. She is Vanguardia’s co-artistic director with extensive international training and presentation experience worldwide.
About the Company
Vanguardia Dance Projects, is a collective based in Toronto dedicated to supporting, creating, and promoting works by dance artists of Latin American and Indigenous backgrounds living in Canada. This collective fosters international collaboration, multidisciplinary exploration, and cultural dialogue within and beyond Canada, with a strong focus on contemporary and cross-cultural artistic expressions.
Photo by Marcela Lucia Rojas