Photo: Tracey Lynne at National Arts Centre.
a hidden autobiography
a hidden autobiography is a solo dance work choreographed by Kiera Shaw, interpreted by Sophie Dow and set to an original composition by Laura Reznek.
Inspired by embodied experiences of physical and imagined adventures, a hidden autobiography is a celebration of setting forth on a personal journey; an ode to a ‘rogue traveler’.
a hidden autobiography is an athletic meditation on cultivating a personal energetic life force. By placing the interpreter in a series of figurative images and landscapes, the work honours the importance of internal vistas, especially in times when external travel was outlawed.
Motivated by how imagination can amplify presence, sensation, and expand physical capacity, our initial goal was to use imagery from our past travels (both physical and psychological) to provoke child-like fantasies, creating a surreal or supernatural experience for the mover. We began working on this project in 2016 and it has existed in many different forms. The work has lived as a five minute solo, research/process material, a dance film, and has now expanded into a 21 minute dance solo. The primary development of this work was done through the pandemic and supported by a residency at Dance Victoria. We are both excited by how the restrictions of the pandemic led us to new ways of working and making creative decisions. As a result we ventured into film making, virtual rehearsals, site specific research and use of text to realize this finalized iteration. These elements would likely not have been explored if not for the pandemic.
As both Shaw and Dow have been avid travelers, a hidden autobiography became a platform to reflect on the spiritual value of travel in a time when it seemed forbidden and socially irresponsible.
Kiera Shaw | Sophie Dow
Photo: Tracey Lynne at National Arts Centre.
Co-created and Performed by: Kiera Shaw | Sophie Dow
Key Artistic Collaborators:
Choreographic Concept & Direction: Kiera Shaw
Performer/Interpreter: Sophie Dow
Music Composition: Laura Reznek
Lighting Design: Kiera Shaw
Funding & Residency support: Dance Victoria, The Chimera Project Dance Theatre, Canada Council Arts Across Canada
Performance type: This work is built for a theatre. This adaptable for outdoors and alternative spaces. Mixed Program.
How do you define this work: Contemporary Dance. Indigenous voices and dance practices. Dance theatre.
Length of performance: 21 minutes
Audience type: General Audience
General Technical Requirements: Floor: sprung Marley
Sound: Recorded playback (1 file)
Lighting: happy to work with a standard house plot, no specific specials are required.
Access to a fog machine preferred. *We have our own theatre grade fog machine if there is not one provided.
Does the work require tech residency: Ideally 3-4 hours of tech prior to performance if traditional theatre lights are used. However, we are able to adapt to the venue. While a technical residency is not required, we would be grateful for an opportunity to explore and refine our current lighting design for the work. We have toured to two venues and have adapted the current design to each venue.
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 2
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 0. Potentially 1 Stage Manager (negotiable, and based on scope). Kiera works as the production coordinator and is able to call the cues if needed if a stage manager is not provided by the venue/presenter. Depending on scope of engagement, we may request to include a stage manager as support staff.
Availabilities: 2024/25 season, & 2025/26 season
Kiera Shaw (she/her) is a moving, thinking dance artist based in Victoria, BC on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekqungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University, and often wears many different hats as a dancer, choreographer, lighting designer, stage manager, and educator. A lifelong learner and traveller, Kiera is driven by how these different roles inform her artistic practice as a whole.
A lifelong learner and traveller, Kiera has sought to expand her training through festivals and programs including: TransFormation Danse (Montreal), ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival (Vienna), Batsheva’s Gaga Intensives (Tel Aviv), HASADNA (Tel Aviv), and Vertigo Dance Company Masterclass (Jerusalem).
Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and Michif/Assiniboine + French/Ukrainian roots. An avid adventurer, Sophie exudes passions for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University. Highlights of Sophie’s Turtle Island touring journeys include choreographing and performing at Burning Man and opening ceremonies of BC’s Shambhala Music Festival, presenting a digital installation at imagineNATIVE Film & New Media Festival, and sharing dance in many rural and urban school contexts throughout the mountains and prairies. Sophie presently fulfills roles as: a creative director of Prince Edward County’s Flight Festival of Contemporary Dance, artistic associate of O.Dela Arts & The Chimera Project, musician with The Honeycomb Flyers, a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage, a trained facilitator & student of BreathWave, a freelance dancer/choreographer/sound designer and a puddle jumping trickster.
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
Premiere: April 2023, Matriarchs Uprising Festival, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Canada.
July 2023, Dancing on the Edge Festival, Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada.
Work in progress studio showings:
Victoria (2021 & 2023)
Toronto (2023)
We are currently looking for upcoming performance opportunities for 'a hidden autobiography'.
Project Details
Community Engagement
OPTION 1
External/Internal Landscapes is a moving-meditation workshop appropriate for anyone 16+ that values play, curiosity and enjoyment. Participants are guided creatively through a series of immersive images that gently warm the mind, body & spirit. These images grow into larger sweeping physical improvisational tasks connected to some of the landscapes and processes used to research a hidden autobiography, followed by hands-on partner prompts (guided bodywork), a brief writing session and final sharing circle.
Informed by collective years of training in Skinner Releasing Techniques (K & S), Gaga (K), NeuroKinetic Therapy (K), Anatomy in Motion (K), Thai Massage (S), Cranio-sacral Therapy (S) & BreathWave (S), Kiera and Sophie weave their dance, choreographic and bodywork practices into a supportive class-based braid, to celebrate the body’s creativity when nurtured mindfully.
(*please note this is a 90 - 120 minute offering. We also have an option to share this as a 60 minute workshop for younger audiences - ages 6 - 13. )
OPTION 2
Screening + Circle Conversation + Guided Landscape Meditation
A dance film screening of our piece: a hidden playground - the adjacent, filmed work to a hidden autobiography, that captures major movement themes, portions of the choreography and images that appear in aha but in site specific locations. The screening is followed by a circle conversation about site-specific movement, land-based practices and a guided meditation & reflection period, tapping into personal memory and offering the opportunity for each individual to cultivate a landscape they can spend time playing in, within their own imaginations.
The application has captured the most important details about our work. In terms of spaces and capacities, we are open to discussions about performing in a variety of venues. While this piece is prepared for a traditional theatre venue, the piece has lived in many forms. If given the opportunity and available funding to adapt there would be interest in sharing a site specific version of this work (given connection to nature being integral to the creation of the work). In addition, we are open to sharing the work in high school and other educational environments considering the opportunity for outreach and engagement about creative process.
Contact information
Kiera Shaw, kieravshaw@gmail.com
https://dancevictoria.com/create/2023-24-artists-in-residence/kiera-shaw/
Instagram: @kieravshaw
Sophie Dow, https://thedancecentre.ca/story/member-spotlight-sophie-dow/
Laura Reznek, https://www.laurareznek.com