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Bodies to Bodies III (Les chemins de traverse – Metz)
Isabelle Van Grimde pursues her research into the relationship between dance and music. Once again, she does this in the context of open creation that has characterized her work since the creation in 2005 of Les chemins de traverse, first installment in the series. In this work as in Duo pour un violoncelle et un danseur, her choreography is inspired, amongst other sources, by reflections drawn from The body in question.
Four dancers and five musicians are gathered onstage for this third incarnation of Bodies to Bodies, a creation that was conceived in 2009 in the context of an association between Van Grimde Corps Secrets and the patrimonial institution of Arsenal de Metz (France).
The first two editions of Bodies to Bodies were presented in France and in the Netherlands. Co-produced by Van Grimde Corps Secrets, Arsenal de Metz, Agora de la danse and Montréal Danse, with the collaboration of the Consulate General of France in Quebec City, this new work is already programmed in three venues.
March 10th-13th at Agora de la danse, Montreal, Quebec
A discussion with the audience will be held on Thursday March 11th after the performance.
March 16th at the Centennial Theatre, Lennoxville, Quebec
April 21st at the Concertgebouw of Bruges, Belgium
Perspectives Canada
One may recall the way in which Isabelle Van Grimde played with the staging of her work, allowing excerpts of her choreography to be transformed by four theatre directors, a video artist and a painter, in Perspectives Montreal, presented at Festival TransAmériques in 2007. She now takes the concept one step further.
This time, Canadian artists in the visual and media arts will be offered choreographic material and reflections on perceptions of the body as a source of inspiration. She will then use the works created by these artists to choreograph five solos for a group of performers as intense as they are unexpected. The group includes actress Marie Brassard, choreographer Sarah Chase and dancer Brian Webb, who, as head of the Brian Webb Dance Company, is also artistic advisor and co-producer of the project.
The creation process for this performance-installation will continue into 2011. The creation of a visual and sound environment as backdrop to this body of visual and choreographic works is entrusted to architect and set designer Anick Labissonière and to composer Thom Gossage.
Migrations
This year, Isabelle Van Grimde will travel to Japan on two separate occasions to observe various forms of kagura, ritual dances from which Noh theatre stems. This project, the company's first foray into Asia, will lead to the creation of a choreographic corpus that transforms the gestural vocabulary of these dances, integrating it into the language of contemporary dance. The choreographer will take advantage of these visits to enrich The body in question with the views of various Japanese specialists.
This new research project is carried out in the context of Platform, a transcultural laboratory directed by choreographer Susan Buirge, a respected mentor and inestimable source of inspiration. After having worked with many pioneering figures in American modern dance and contributing significantly to the development of contemporary dance in France, this Franco-American artist has become an important reference in the exploration of connections between ancient traditions and contemporary art.
CIRMMT
In 2008 there was the T-Stick, a programmable musical controller operated by movement. Manipulated by a dancer, this interface made it possible to capture, transform and spatialize the music, which was interpreted live by a cellist.
The collaboration between Van Grimde Corps Secrets and CIRMMT (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology based at McGill University) continues this year with a team of researchers in new sound and image technologies. The goal: to allow composers, choreographers, instrumentalists and dancers to renew and extend their artistic practice through the intermarriage of digital technologies and live performance. The project also aims to explore new approaches in the staging of a work, and investigates the audience’s relationship to it.
