Re-Centering Margins 2022-23 — Dance West Network

Dance West Network gratefully acknowledges that our work is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

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Street Dance Tour, Sept 2026

Mainstage 2026-27

Dances Beyond the Theatre

Residency Alumni Showcase

Hip Hop & Street Dance Showcase

Book: Conversations and Essays on Dance in British Columbia

Digital Library: Artists in Conversation

Traduction de textes

Writings: Dance Artists & Wordsmiths

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DADAO - Des Arts Dehors / Arts Outside

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Re-Centering/Margins

2022-23

4th Annual Creative Residency

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SOPHIE DOW

Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and familial Michif/Assiniboine + French, Ukrainian, German 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.

Sophie presently fulfills roles as: Artistic Associate of O.Dela Arts, The Chimera Project & V’ni Dansi/The Louis Riel Métis Dancers, residency coordinator at Dance West Network, fire spinner & board member with Ember Arts Fire Society, a creative director of Prince Edward County’s Flight Festival of Contemporary Dance, board member with the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance and the Toronto Dance Love-In, musician with The Honeycomb Flyers, a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage, a trained facilitator & student of BreathWave, a student of cranial-sacral therapy, a freelance dancer/choreographer/sound designer and a puddle jumping trickster.

Photo Vita Spinelli

AGRIMONY

Agrimony walks the edge between an evocative live concert and visceral contemporary dance. Four dancers in animal masks & five musicians generously weave songs by Laura Reznek into a heart-centred story that honours the small yellow flower: agrimonia eupatoria – in plant medicine: a catalyst for honesty, dissolving the masks society forces us to craft; unveiling a truest self.

Project Details

Year of creation: 2024
Choreographer and performers

Choreography: Sophie Dow

Composer: Laura Reznek

Interpreters (Dance): Amanda Testini, Tavia Christina, Mohammed Rashead, Sophie Dow

Interpreters (Music): Laura Reznek, Roisin Adams, J Daniel Baxter, Ryan Stephenson, Jonah Ocean

Audience Type: All ages
Length of work: 65 minutes

Preparation time required on site: Load In & tech day & at gallery installation - 8 hours. Tech, dress & show day - 12 hours

Technical requirements required on-site & Space required

Sound: performed live by 2-5 musicians - Detailed music section plot on technical rider
Lighting: Basic grid + side lighting; ~85 cues
Props: 4 microphone stands with clips; 4 paper maché masks; 1 x 40 ft elastin braid (Provided by company)

Previously presented 5, 10, & 15 minute excerpts of the work on various indoor & outdoor stages
Minimum requirements: general sound playback + 2 DI's for minimum of 2 instruments & microphone, any floor except concrete, grass or mud/soil, enough lighting to see bodies moving in space

Project Availability: Sept 2027 and beyond.

Performance History

Premiere:

September 20-21, 2024, presented by The Dance Centre at The Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver, BC

Tour:

October 7-17, 2026 - Smithers, BC (presented by Bulkley Valley Concert Association at the Della Herman Theatre); Prince George BC (presented by PG Arts Council at the PG Playhouse); Calgary, AB (presented by Fluid Fest at the Heather Edwards Theatre of Contemporary Calgary.)

Excerpt Performances:

-Oct 23, 2026, Fall For Dance North's International Presenter's Program Canada Showcase 3, Citadel & Compagnie, Toronto, ON

-Oct 3, 2025, Pacific Contact Showcase at Granville Island Waterfront Theatre, Vancouver, BC
-May 30, 2024, presented by Vancouver District Dance Festival at Churchill Secondary, Vancouver, BC
-April 5-6, 2024, presented by The Chimera Project at The Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Toronto, ON
-September 21-23, 2023, presented by Toes for Dance at Common Ground Dance Festival, North York, ON
-August 18-20, 2023, presented by FLIGHT Festival of Contemporary Dance, at County Stage, Prince Edward County, ON
-April 28-29, 2023, presented by co.ERASGA: Studio Salon Series at WhatLab, Vancouver, BC
-August 9 - 14, 2022, presented by FLIGHT Festival of Contemporary Dance, County Stage, Prince Edward County, ON

CommunityEngagement

Agrimony Workshops program

Experience an embodied window into the physical philosophies, tools and avenues that were used in the process of creating Sophie Dow & Laura Reznek’s show: Agrimony. These practices & shows pay tribute to agrimonia eupatoria: in traditional plant medicine, a small yellow flower that is a catalyst for honesty, dissolving masks of fear and pain to unveil our truest selves.

These workshops are available for all abilities - from recreations/beginner to professional artists; Ages 10 +

Specific classes extend:

-Mask Making:

This workshop is a three-day immersive mask-making experience in the ways in which the masks were crafted for Agrimony. Day 1 = Face-Casting ; Day 2 = Paper Maché; Day 3 = Shaping & Adorning. Facilitated by 2-4 cast members from the show.

-Dance/Movement:

This workshop invites participants to feel into their bodies through guided opening circles, discussion, physical warm up, group training, creation & body work, facilitated by 1-2 dancers from the show.

-Music:

This workshop invites participants to feel into their connection to voice, poetry & song through opening circles, discussion, guided meditation & songwriting/creation, facilitated by 1-2 musicians from the show.

-Dance x Music:

This workshop invites participants to explore the connection between humanity's most ancient forms of expression: dance & sound, through guided warm ups, discussion and somatic experiencing, facilitated by 1 dancer & 1 musician from the show.

Agrimony Immersive Art Gallery:
The lobby or entrance space of the performance is designed as a portal that engages all the senses of audiences before they enter into the theatre, offering a deeper scope into the creation process and a softening of the nervous system. The materials of the art gallery are also available to be installed through partnerships in local art gallery spaces.

Email: sophie.c.d@hotmail.com

Website: https://www.sophiedow.com/

Located: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

#250 - 997 Seymour St.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6B 3M1

Tel: 604-893-8830
To get in touch, email admin@dancewest.net

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Dance West Network gratefully acknowledges that our work is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territory of the
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish),
Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.