[Complete Bios are available on request]

BONES: An Aboriginal Dance Opera was conceived, created and staged by Sadie Buck and Alejandro Ronceria

Sadie Buck (Seneca) – Composer, director, singer, mentor, teacher, and writer from Six Nations, Ohsweken, Ontario, Sadie Buck is also a member of the Tonawanda Territory in New York. From a noted family of singers, instrument makers, dancers, and longhouse members, Buck is the lead singer and artistic director of the Six Nations Women Singers, a unique singing group that has been increasingly in demand throughout North America -- the first Aboriginal group invited to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Buck is the program director for the Aboriginal Women’s Voices program at The Banff Centre, recording the Hearts of the Nations CD, distributed by Sweetgrass Records and EMI. The CD was nominated for a Juno Award, a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award and for the Native American Music Awards in 1999. Recently performed with Robbie Robertson on his CD, The Underworld of Red Boy and with his documentary film, Making a Noise.

Alejandro Ronceria - Director, choreographer, dance educator, and filmmaker based in Canada, Alejandro Ronceria is of native heritage from Columbia. He is one of the founders of Chinook Winds Aboriginal Dance Program at The Banff Centre. Ronceria’s internationally acclaimed work explores Aboriginal themes and aesthetics. His own stage productions include The Jaguar Project and Ayahausca Dreams, which have been presented at national venues such as the Canada Dance Festival and the Du Maurier World Stage Festival. His films have premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. Ronceria choreographed for the 1997 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards; was the artistic director for the Spirit in the Sun Festival in Phoenix, Arizona; choreographer for TRIBE, a musical in Minneapolis; and artistic director for the Gala Performance of Nunavut’s opening ceremony. His films have premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival.

David DeLeary (Ojibway) – Music Director/Musician - Bass player, composer, producer, and performer, David DeLeary is from the Walpole Island First Nation in southern Ontario. He has worked in the theatre, film/video, and music industries for a number of years, combining a background in contemporary pop music, intertribal music, computerized sound design, and classical composition with projects ranging from alternative rock productions to theatrical sound design and television scoring. DeLeary’s film company, Cool Native Productions, produced the first television drama ever created in the Ojibway language, The Strange Case of Bunny Weequod. It won second place at the 1999 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. DeLeary was also the bassist and music director for the groundbreaking Native alternative rock band, Seventh Fire. Currently freelancing as an instrumentalist and composer, DeLeary can be found performing with fellow practitioners of a form of rock ‘n roll referred to as grunt rock in a band called Kiiznun.

Russell Wallace (Stla’limx) – Music Arrangements/Director, Recorded Score - Musician, composer, actor, and singer Russell Wallace’s music has been part of a number of soundtracks (film and video) and theatre productions, and was even integrated into a computer game. Wallace has been the composer for the Chinook Winds Aboriginal Dance program since 1996. He has co-recorded numerous CDs, and produced Hearts of the Nations, Aboriginal Women's Voices…in the Studio for the Aboriginal Arts program. Recently the CD Chinook Winds Aboriginal Dance 96/97 was launched as part of the series, "Spirit…I am your Bones." Wallace currently performs with Tzo'Kam, and has established the production company Wallace Media Productions, as well as the record label Red Planet Records.

Malcolm Lim – Percussionist—Malcolm Lim is a freelance percussionist, teacher, and composer of Singaporean Chinese descent. Currently residing in Calgary; Lim’s orchestral background includes training at McGill University, performing with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Red Deer Symphony, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and Altius Brass. Lim is currently a member of Lamba, Move to Strike and Trickster Theatre, and is an artist on the C.A.P.E.S. roster.

William Martina – Cello- William Martina was born in Canberra, Australia, graduating with honours from the Australian National University winning a number of prizes for Cello. Martina worked for the national classical music broadcaster, ABC Classic FM, and produced their contemporary music program  New Music Australia. He was offered a place in the Australian National Academy of Music's Advanced Performer's Program for 2000.

Harry Frehner - Lighting Designer - Harry Frehner’s past productions at Banff include Festival Dance (1992-1999), Jackie O, Sticks & Stones, Wozzeck, School for Scandal, White Rose, El Cimarrón and Cosi Fan Tutte. Frehner has a long relationship with the Stratford Festival, lighting over 35 productions. In Alberta he has been associated with Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, the Citadel, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Harry collaborated with Lola McLaughlin (1992 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award recipient) on angelus Novus/Shifting Ground; work from previous years’ Festival Dance (Petites danses pour mammiféres, Theft, l’Etiquette, and Quest) has appeared in the repertoire of Alberta Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Ballet British Columbia. The 1996 Festival Dance production of God's Children was adapted for television and shown on BRAVO.

Christine Plunkett – Set/Costume Designer - Originally from Vancouver and now residing in Toronto, Christine Plunkett has been designing sets and costumes across Canada since 1982. The companies Plunkett has had the pleasure of working with are The Shaw Festival (Dark Lady of the Sonnets and Nymph Errant), Theatre London-The Grand (A Moon for the Misbegotten, Liars, and All Fall Down), The Globe (The Tree) and the Native Earth Performing Arts (Trickster of Third Avenue East and Annie Mae’s Movement). Plunkett also designs for film and television and is the cofounder of Set/Reset; North America’s first recycling company for the entertainment industry.