A participatory ritual theatre work exploring ecological relationship, collective myth-making and the more-than-human world.

Salt Spring Island + Enliven Festival · BC · 2026

REGENESIIS was a multidisciplinary ritual theatre work exploring relationship with the more-than-human world during a time of ecological and cultural change.

Created through an interdisciplinary ensemble process, the work brought together movement, live sound, projection, scenography, storytelling, prayer and participatory ceremony.

At its centre stood the Mother Tree — both scenographic presence and more-than-human collaborator.

THE INQUIRY

REGENESIIS began by asking:

How might we listen to the more-than-human world?

What stories can help us locate ourselves during changing times?

What began as ecological storytelling evolved into an experiment in collective myth-making and community rite of passage.

Rather than making a story about the Earth, we explored what might happen when relationship with place became part of the creative process itself.

  • “I really enjoyed the intentional and ritualistic aspect of the process. Each day during the immersion began with sharing and alchemising our truth in real time, and this was really appreciated. I didn't understand that we wouldn't just be learning choreography, but that the show would emerge from our embodied state and personal connection to the Mother Tree. This was a most pleasant and meaningful surprise. 

    This experience reminded me to keep showing others my world, our world, what is really there that they are not able to see, but that once they look they will remember, and we can dance together again.”

    — Margo Free

  • “What drew me to this experience was performing arts, visibility, and getting to commune with women on the island. I enjoyed dancing and performing arts as a child and then I basically stopped dancing, stopped enjoying music, for the longest time. One of my intentions for the summer of 2026 was to get back into dancing, connect with my body, and release any inhibitions. When I saw this opportunity I thought it landed at the perfect time. Finally the theme of the mother tree was just so special because my life revolves around trees and communing with trees. Combining performing arts plus trees and the energy of creation, the feminine energy of creation, was just such a blessing.”

    — Jassy Blue

  • "I find Phoebe's offerings to be filled with the passion and joy of simply being able to fulfil the human need to create. I find them to be inspiring and powerful, especially in getting to be a part of their creation; in seeing them become more than just a vision. Most importantly they bring people together, they are the result of a community, a collective of people, all working towards the sam goal. It has been incredibly fruitful work alongside your and to lend my artistic capabilities to your creations. I feel confident coming to Phoebe for artistic critique, and for guidance in learning how to become a better (or more fulfilled) practicing artist.

    — Grace Love

THE PERFORMANCE

The work moved through a collective journey of:

Fragmentation → Dissolution → Rage → Mourning → Remembrance → Renewal → Reciprocity → Offering

Movement, voice, music, projection and scenography created an immersive world around the Mother Tree.

As the performance unfolded, the audience moved from observer toward participant — culminating in collective sound, witnessing and offering.

The boundary between theatre and ceremony began to soften.

SALT SPRING ISLAND → ENLIVEN

REGENESIIS was first shared publicly on Salt Spring Island before travelling to Enliven Festival in Princeton, BC.

The journey through a landscape actively affected by wildfire brought the ecological questions of the work into immediate lived experience.

The Enliven performance became the culmination of the first REGENESIIS creation cycle.

  • Witnessing the impact of Regenesiis in our community was something truly special. I saw people deeply moved, inspired, awakened in some ways. Moments when I really started to feel the Mother Tree speak to me were also profound and impactful. The many moments of deepening with women in profound and small ways are also cherished. Finding ways to turn grief into praise into prayer into connection. Giving life to life. Feeding the holy.

    This experience reminded me to make beauty with everything, the world needs your praises and your prayer. Don't wait until it's too late to protect what is sacred. Love fiercely. Remember your interconnectedness. We need all of you here. Feel it all and be moved by your devotion.

    — Sarah Sataya

  • The most meaningful part of my experience was the workshops leading up to the performances, like diving deep into cacophony, rage, grief, REGENESIIS. All those scenes and the workshops to feel the feelings in your body, to connect with that energy, to hold space for other women, and watching how the container was built was the most meaningful part. It unlocked, activated, and broke through quite a lot of points for me and a lot of breakthroughs emotionally and spiritually.

    Just being in a community of intergenerational feminine Shakti and Baby Rhythm obviously was so special. Just connecting with women who have grown up around the world and have such different experiences but at the end of the day we are all united by that same nurturing creative feral yummy force. Our connection to nature is divine.

    — Ranju Raman

  • Sharing the piece on Salt Spring and celebrating with the community afterwards felt really good for me. To be witnessed in this new way and hear how our piece touched the hearts of people I know and care about felt really special. Planting the tree was also significant. I planted trees with my dad as a child - I have no idea if those trees are still there where I used to live. I love the notion of the tree at BPH as a friend and an anchor that I can return to, commune with, witness grow and feel proud that I was a part of it's rooting.

    — Jasmine Blue, Regenesiis 2026

WHAT EMERGED

REGENESIIS revealed something larger than a single production.

Through the process, a methodology began to take shape:

personal experience → collective council → more-than-human relationship → artistic creation → witnessing → reciprocity

This became foundational to the Animist Arts Method and the artist pathways that followed.

The 2026 production is complete. Its questions and creative lineage continue through Animist Arts.

EXPLORE THE METHOD
VIEW CURRENT PATHWAYS

PROJECT CREDITS

  • Phoebe Fae

    FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

    The heartbeat of REGENESIIS and the wings around its creative field, Phoebe poured her devotion into every thread of the production. As director and founder of Animist Arts, she tended the artistic vision, the people, and the prayer—inviting Earth, animals, ancestors, and stars into a shared ritual space where grief, imagination, and hope could belong.

  • Sarah Sataya

    MOVEMENT PILLAR

    Sarah held the movement pillar of REGENESIIS, guiding the ensemble toward expression rooted in body, breath, emotion, and devotion. For Sarah, dance is a language of communion—a place where the invisible becomes embodied and prayer grows roots. Her artistry brought us home to our bodies and into the poetry of liberated movement.

  • Jassy Blue

    PRODUCTION & ASTROLOGY

    Jassy brought steadiness, clarity, and devotion to the unfolding of REGENESIIS. Holding logistics, time, and the practical rhythms of our process, she also offered astrological reflections that helped the council orient to larger cycles and collective energies. Her grounded presence helped hold both the earthly and cosmic dimensions of our work.

  • Cat Wilson

    RELATIONAL EMBODIMENT LEAD

    Cat tended the relational field of REGENESIIS, bringing somatic awareness, emotional depth, play, and nervous-system attunement into our creative process. Through relational embodiment and movement practices, she supported the ensemble in building greater trust, capacity, and coherence—reminding us that how we create together is inseparable from what we create.

  • Chauntelle Atcheynum

    PRAYER PILLAR & MEDIA LEAD

    Chauntelle wove her creative gifts into REGENESIIS through media, storytelling, and the depth of her presence in council. Called into the project through a powerful dream of the Mother Tree, she brought a profound capacity for listening—inviting us toward stillness, remembrance, and the quiet song of Earth beneath the noise.

  • margo free

    SONIC PILLAR

    Electronic artist, producer, and vocalist Margo Free held the sonic pillar of REGENESIIS. Through original composition, immersive soundscapes, and live vocal expression, she shaped the emotional and energetic arc of the performance—creating a sonic landscape through which grief, remembrance, prayer, and regeneration could be felt in the body.

  • Christine Sa

    NOURISHMENT LEAD & PERFORMER

    Sa nourished the REGENESIIS council throughout our Salt Spring Island creation immersion, tending the ensemble through food, beauty, wisdom, and care. Her generous presence became part of the medicine of the process itself, reminding us that nourishment is not peripheral to creative practice, but one of the ways a collective becomes capable of creating together.

  • Rebecca Pearson

    COSTUME DESIGN & PERFORMER

    Rebecca held the costume design of REGENESIIS, helping translate the archetypal and mythic world of the performance into material form. Through fabric, adornment, and creative experimentation, she helped shape the visual identities of the ensemble for our Salt Spring Island and Enliven performances, bringing imagination and devotion to every thread.

  • Mackenzie River

    MAMA COUNCIL

    Mackenzie wove her loving presence, prayer, and embodied wisdom into the heart of REGENESIIS. As a new mother, she brought her baby, Rhythm, into our councils, placing the future generation quite literally within the heart of our prayers. Her presence reminded us of what—and whom—we were dreaming toward.

  • Alifia Kapasi

    PROJECTION DESIGN & PERFORMER

    Alifia shaped the visual world of REGENESIIS through immersive projection design, creating layered landscapes that allowed the performance space to continually transform. A multidisciplinary artist, poet, and facilitator, she also brought a profound receptivity to Earth, Mother Tree, and the imaginal—rooting the work through her gentleness, artistry, and depth of listening.

  • Heather Doy

    PERFORMER

    Heather brought an artistry rooted in myth, eros, psyche, and the more-than-human world. Working through poetry, movement, and sound, she gave form to the imaginal and transformed emotional depth into beauty. Her presence within REGENESIIS brought soulfulness, mystery, and a willingness to listen deeply to what lives beneath the surface.

  • Ranju RAMAN

    PERFORMER

    Ranju danced her way into the heart of REGENESIIS, bringing devotion, radiance, and embodied feminine wisdom to the ensemble. Her presence carried both lightness and depth, enriching the collective field through movement, expression, and heart. We were deeply grateful for the beauty and vitality she brought to the work.

REGENESIIS was never created by one person, or even one ensemble. It was carried by a much wider ecology of artists, builders, facilitators, documentarians, organizers, volunteers, advisors, friends, family, community members, and more-than-human kin who offered their hands, hearts, resources, wisdom, time, and belief along the way.

Special Thanks & Additional Project Credits

With deep gratitude to the many artists, makers, technicians, and community members whose hands and hearts helped bring REGENESIIS to life:

  • Rea Zogia — Photography + Social Media Management

  • John Luther — Mother Tree Sculpture & Set Design, Performer

  • Kaylian Jay — Mother Tree Sculpture Design, Performer & Drummer

  • Alicia Miecznikowski — Immersion Support, our beloved “Immersion Elf & Mama”

  • Asaya & Gabrielle Aigner — Technical Direction, Lighting & Sound

  • Jenaya Belcourt — Mother Tree Sculpture, Performer

  • Amaya Sophia — Performer

  • Blair Francis — Performer, Drummer

  • Syd Del — Performer, Drummer

  • Forest Tate — Sound & Technical Support

  • Mario Geiger — Videography & Photography

  • Riley Arnold — Enliven Technical Production, Sound & Lighting

  • Corinne Donnelly — Performer

  • Isa Wild — Performer

  • Vern Petty — Performer

  • Cloe Aigner — Performer

  • Mathieu Parent — Photography

  • Micaela Carron — Enliven Festival’s Mama

and every additional performer, volunteer, elder, photographer, filmmaker, technician, builder, donor, audience member, community supporter, and friend who helped bring REGENESIIS into being.

Thank you to Beaver Point Hall, Enliven Festival, the Salt Spring Island community, and all those who offered spaces, materials, meals, transportation, equipment, financial support, labour, prayer, encouragement, and care.

And our gratitude extends beyond the human: to the Mother Trees, forests, waters, animals, ancestors, elements, and lands that held and informed this work. REGENESIIS grew through relationship, and every being who entered that relationship became part of its story.

To everyone who said yes: thank you. This prayer carries something of each of you.

SupPort the MisSion

This project was entirely community funded. We have been able to cover our basic costs through the generosity of many people, but we are still at the very beginning of this journey. If you believe in the vision of REGENESIIS and would like to help it continue to grow, we would be deeply grateful if you would consider making a contribution to our GoFundMe or sharing it with someone in your network who may resonate with supporting this work.

Your generosity directly supports the creation of REGENESIIS productions in service to creating greater bioregional resiliency, awareness and environmental stewardship

Donate
Donate

  • “This experience reminded me that what we pray for in the darkness can bloom beyond anything we could have imagined. That the parts of ourselves we think we've lost may simply be sleeping beneath the soil, waiting to be called back into life. It reminded me that my creativity is sacred, my gifts are meant to be shared, and there is profound freedom in offering them in devotion to something greater than myself.”

    — Leaf Moonchild

  • “By just being around a group of women taking care of themselves, nourishing themselves, asking for what they want, having boundaries, expressing pleasure, grief, and the whole spectrum of emotions, just witnessing that was a huge shift for me personally. It expanded my ability, my thoughts, and my own spectrum of emotions, which was much narrower before this experience.”

    — Ranju Raman

  • “This journey reminded me that magic is absolutely real, everything is listening, and we are profoundly powerful, especially when connected.”

    — Sarah Sataya