Carte blanche à Daniel Léveillé Danse

Made in Montreal / Contemporary Dance Scenes

Daniel Léveillé’s La Pudeur des icebergs is amongst the ten chosen works. This second part of the Anatomie de l’imperfection trilogy subjects six dancers to inhuman physical demands, offering for contemplation the extreme vulnerability of beings and their sheer nakedness, stripped of all expressivity or aesthetic form.  The choreographic writing is disjointed while the structure is implacably mathematical.  A work of purity and brightness that is forever revealing new treasures.

Two of the artists that have been supported during the past few years by Daniel Léveillé Danse at the level of production and/or international diffusion are also on the bill. Julie Andrée T, the most nomadic of the convened artists, returns with Not Waterproof - L’érosion d'un corps erroné and Rouge, two works that were presented in Avignon. Forming a trio with lighting designer Jean Jauvin and sound designer Laurent Maslé, the visual and performance artist ruthlessly throws her entire self into a process of radical transformation propelled by the contact with simple scenic elements. A troubling metamorphosis of the body as cult-object by this kamikaze artist who carries the public along with her to the brink of the precipice.

Choreographer, composer and performer Frédérick Gravel bares the mechanics of representation and its dramatic devices in works that have the appearance of rock concerts, where energy is more important than form and where public speeches are coloured with humour and a refreshing irreverence. In Tout se pète la gueule, chérie, the quest for self-definition of three somewhat outcast males showcases an America that is rarely seen on our movie screens. A portraiture of a fragile masculinity that asks questions and will blow you away.

Gravel is also part of 4 quART put together by the dynamic group of creators of La 2^e Porte à Gauche under the artistic direction of playwright Katya Montaignac. The idea : a choreographic buffet cooked by four choreographers with contrasting signatures (Frédérick Gravel, Marie Béland, Catherine Tardif et Alain Francoeur) and served by a bevy of impressive dancers in an installation space energized by the images of videographer Martin Lemieux. A crazy project that leaps right into the vibrant heart of Montreal’s creativity while provoking an intermingling of generations and a cross-contamination of writings and choreographic drives.

Alain Francoeur has dared to set up an improbable encounter in Un homme et une femme, co-created and interpreted by choreographer Dominique Porte whose creative world is diametrally opposed to his. Tackling Béla Bartók’s monumental Bluebeard's Castle, they take a minimalist approach to movement that produces spatial tension and lets the dramatic intensity of the music resonate with the bodies. The result of this artistic and human collision is a powerful choreographic haiku that, beyond the impossible meeting of Judith and Bluebeard, expresses the dreadful distance that separates beings in modern societies.

With BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros, Marie Béland for her part makes the insane bet that dance can be hidden away from view. Positioning dancers and musicians in a device that transforms the spectators into voyeurs, Marie Béland invites us to watch the performance through the keyhole, so to speak; to create our own images of the increasingly heated exchange of the members of a couple by using the very few available sound and visual clues.  An audacious short form masterfully presented to exalt the senses and the imagination.

Two other half hour long shows are the result of a collaboration between composer-performer Martin Messier and two young choreographers-performers. His association with Anne Thériault gave birth to Derrière le rideau, il fait peut-être nuit, another work that plays with the senses to stimulate imagination. Through a meticulous articulation of the relations between sounds and movement, the artists immerse us in a chilling film-noir atmosphere. A completely different tension is however operating in Hit and Fall, created with Caroline Laurin-Beaucage. That of a muted violence and a contained sexuality that expresses itself in the struggle between a drummer and a dancer. A fight to death opposing sound and flesh.

Is this dance? Or is this not dance? Unavoidably, this question arises after seeing a show by Nicolas Cantin. But one thing is sure : no one will leave unscathed. Trained as an actor but fascinated by clown theater, he uses props, protracted scenes and unexpected musical choices to galvanize his subject. He has a precise feel for drama. His worlds are pregnant with meaning and his characters emerge from archaic zones of the human psyche. In Belle manière they are couple frozen in a relation that has lost all meaning. A pathetic and comical work interpreted by two dazzingly accurate performers. Stunning.

Ten works presented by about thirty artists. Treat yourself, with or without stopovers, to an exciting trip through the choreographic landscapes of Montreal.