Alvin Erasga Tolentino’s Co.ERASGA confronts the climate crisis in season opener at the Roundhouse
What on EARTH features world premieres of ensemble pieces by Tolentino and artists in residence Naishi Wang and Alvin Collantes that speak to global warming
Co.ERASGA. Photo by Yasuhiro Okada
Co.ERASGA presents What on EARTH in partnership with the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre from September 18 to 20 at 8 pm at the Roundhouse
WHEN STIR CATCHES up with local dancer-choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino by phone, it’s a cloudless September afternoon measuring 30 degrees Celsius that feels more like 37 with the humidity. In other words, it’s another unseasonably hot day—and just one reality of the climate crisis. Global warming has been on Tolentino’s mind a lot lately, so much so that he’s dedicating an entire evening of dance to it.
What on EARTH features the world premieres of three ensemble works: Fire-Air-Water-Earth, choreographed by Tolentino, the founder of Co.ERASGA; Weathering Rhythms by Naishi Wang; and Bulkan by Alvin Collantes. (Wang and Collantes are Co.ERASGA artists in residence.) Together, the pieces explore the toll our heating globe is taking on us, with the aim of getting people to think about what changes they can make to help turn the situation around.
“It’s so hot,” Tolentino says upon picking up the phone. “I made a commitment that we would do a project that really deals with environmental stewardship and responds to the climate crisis, and continues to question what is our relationship in arts and culture, and being artists, to pay attention to this climate issue that’s really alarming. We can be a witness to that just with what’s happening in our own province.
“It really affects me personally, in terms of growing up here in Vancouver; I never thought we would have fires as we have been having in the last six, seven years,” he continues. “I grew up thinking this would be a rainforest that would always be pristine and not have the kind of fires where the air is bad and you can’t walk or take your bicycle out; it’s very hard on the body. There’s a personal effect on each of us, and I imagine each of us is navigating it in a different way.”
While wildfires have plagued different parts of B.C., Tolentino has relatives in the Philippines who are being “bombarded” by typhoons and flooding, along with extreme weather that makes it too hot to do traditional farming. “I get very emotionally concerned and affected by this, and I continue to ask the question: How can I play a role, even in the smallest way, to help improve the situation? The only way I can do that is through my practice of dance and choreography and storytelling through the arts. It’s creating a kind of conversation, and it really starts with a conversation and getting people to be aware of the situation.”
Fire-Air-Water-Earth features video projections by Pauline Adalid, images that form a kind of discussion with the movement. “We’re not separate from the elements,” Tolentino says. “Whatever happens to the natural world, we’re affected by it. I’m using movement, dance, and choreography to look at: How does fire destroy the earth? How does air pollution move in our space? What about the plastics that are sifting through the ocean? It’s all relevant.”
Weathering Rhythms is by Wang, who was born in Changchun, China, and who began his training at Jilin College of Art before moving to Canada in 2004 to attend The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. He was a company member of TDT for nine years, and in 2015 embarked on an independent career. His piece speaks to resilience, hope, and how people find themselves determined to achieve a sustainable future.
Bulkan, by Collantes—a Filipino-Canadian artist, drag performer, and choreographer based in Berlin who pulls from his experiences as a queer, immigrant, and person of colour in his work—takes its name from the Filipino word for volcano. Collantes draws parallels between spewing mountains and the depths of human emotion, with anger so often repressed.
What on EARTH marks the launch of Co.ERASGA’s 24th season, with the three works being performed by Yuha Tomita, Ysadora Dias, Samantha Krystal, Juolin Lee, danielle Mackenzie, Juan Villegas, and dance apprentices Lillian Wallman and Avery Ebenal. “We’re welcoming a new generation of artists who are questioning where they sit with land stewardship, environmental stewardship, and the climate crisis,” Tolentino says. “The show is part of my three-year planned vision towards art creation for environmental awareness.” 
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