“bang bang” is a personal—and therefore universal—contemporary ritual that allows the body to express itself at its most combative and desperate, at its most free. A present-day study about surpassing oneself, “bang bang” is a stage creation for a kamikaze soloist that has resistance as a theme. The work follows a score that is also an ordeal. It both literally and figuratively questions the notion of performance, from the space of representation to the metaphors of our contemporary Western pace of life.

Progressively, sweat begins to trickle, faults become alive, the intimacy of being appears in the background. The performer dances until he loses himself, until the why and the how stop making sense, until the necessity of presence has vanished. All the while, the spectators travel along through kinesthetic empathy.

No narrative, only a lonesome body, immersed in the exhilaration of an ordeal in which pleasure and suffering mix together and modestly come to life in a paradoxical, ambiguous and multi-faceted space.

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Manuel Roque won the Prix du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) pour la meilleure oeuvre chorégraphique of the 2016-2017 season as well as the Prix de la danse de Montréal, catégorie INTERPRÈTE (2017) for this creation.

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Choreography and performance Manuel Roque

Rehearsal director and artistic advisor Sophie Corriveau and Lucie Vigneault

Dramaturgy Peter James

Costumes and scenography Marilène Bastien

Light design Marc Parent

Music Manuel Roque incluant des extraits de Debussy, Chopin, Merzbow, 2001 Space Odyssey, Tarkowky

Production director Judith Allen

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Production Cie Manuel Roque

Executive producer  DLD - Daniel Léveillé Danse

Co-production Festival TransAmériques

With the support of Fabrik Potsdam (Potsdam), Maison de la culture Frontenac, Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique, Théatre Hector-Charland (L’Assomption), Les Subsistances (Lyon), L’Agora de la danse, Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal.

Acknowledgments Indiana Escach, Élise Bergeron, Alexia Martel 

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This production receives administrative/development support from Daniel Léveillé Danse as part of its sponsorship project. | Manuel Roque is a member of Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique.

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Created in 2017