becoming-stone: a mineral manifest

Performed at the Barbara McIntyre Theatre at the University of Victoria March 4-6, 2026

Rock-song, rock-talk, rock-dance. It’s a rocky road and time to listen in. Becoming-stone, a mineral manifest is a contemplative and playful attempt to activate our very old relationships with stone. Based in movement and sonic vibration, this investigation asks what we might glean from centering the rocks around us and taking on perspectives of our beyond-human kin.

Our Lineage:

This collaboration is indebted to the theorists and practitioners who came before us and whose research and practices were integral to our process. This work sprouts in the soils and in the shelter of the practices of Mary Overlie, Alyson Hallett, Conrad Alexandrovicz, Tatsumi Hijikata, Jerzy Grotowski, Steve Paxton, Deborah Hay and Gabrielle Roth. This work is watered and sunned by the constellations of indigenous scholars and practitioners Suzanne Keeptwo, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Nigel Baker-Grenier, as well as thinkers and guides Donna J. Haraway, Jane Bennett, Fred Moten, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.

becoming-stone is the second iteration of The Rock Project, made possible with the support of the Governor’s Island Artist Residency and research collaborators Deborah Black, Youlim Nam, Steph McIsaac, Susannah Wilson, Nathan Shu and Lila Livingston.

The Rocks:

The rocks in this piece were all ceremonially invited to create and perform with us. There are many more stone-teachers and inspirations who we felt indicated that they would prefer to observe, consult or simply be left alone. Rocks, rock faces, mountains and crystal formations from all of our home towns have been brought into our process through shared stories of our life-long relationships.

The stones the audience members held as companions were gifted to us by the creatives of Obitus, who saved them from Facebook Marketplace.

The talking stones in the rock song are composed of two groups. The first group comes from Mary Overlie’s driveway in Bozeman, Montana. These rocks performed in Mary’s retrospective Brain to Brain: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Mary Overlie at Daspace on St. Mark’s in New York City in 2019. This is their Canadian debut. The second group of rocks were individually sourced by the cast and have been present collaborators and guides throughout the entire rehearsal process. 

The scenographic rocks live on Vancouver Island and were returned to their homes ceremonially.