Back to Indigenous Arts Program 2021

Naked dancer seen from above, crouched over with their arms spread wide. The background is an aerial shot of sky and mountains that has been edited to look like a whirlpool around the dancer.

Medicine Duets

Medicine Duets is a ritual illustrated through dance, music and film.  An individual falls into a chaotic haze, losing sight of balance and stillness.  Calling upon the Ancestors of Turtle Island, they journey together, reminding us of our deeply rooted strength, resilience and reciprocity to each other and to Mother Earth.

Medicine Duets

  • Choreographer, Sound Designer, Director, Editor & Interpreter: Sophie Dow
  • Choreographer, Editor & Stage Manager: Connie Oreamuno
  • Interpreters and Choreographic Contributors: Maria Lucia Llano, Paige Sayles and Tyra Temple-Smith
  • Dance Mentor: Brian Solomon
  • Technological/Film Mentor: Fezz Stenton

Schedule

Part of the 2021 Festival

  • Jun 04 at 8:00pm

Special thanks to Kaeja d’Dance & New Blue Emerging Dance Creative Risk Residency, Residency Programs at Peggy Baker Dance Projects and Canada’s National Ballet School, and the Chimera Project Sponsorship.

Photo by John Paillé

Winnipeg-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary artist, inspired by dance, music, collaboration and her Métis-Assiniboine and settler roots. Sophie has a passion for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography.

Sophie has toured across Turtle Island with highlights featuring choreographing and performing in opening ceremonies of Shambhala Music Festival, filming with Vero Films and teaching dance in rural & urban school contexts throughout the mountains and prairies. With a unique list of credits deeply impacting personal creative process and vocabulary, Sophie has had the great fortune of working with some of the country’s wonderful dance innovators, including Chimera Dance Theatre and Kaeja d’Dance.

As a creator, Sophie is consistently nurturing and evolving an inventive voice.  Life-changing opportunities to choreograph with diverse ranges of movers continue exploding boundaries of Sophie’s ongoing compositions and curiosities. Presenters of her ideas include: Paprika Festival, Workman Arts, WindDown Dances, NightShift (Citadel&Compagnie), Buddies in Badtimes Theatre and grand varieties of festivals, stages and outdoor sites.

Presently Sophie is Artistic Associate of Chimera Dance Theatre, writes music with The Honeycomb Flyers and is a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage.