Review: (Montreal / Dance) Antigone Sr.

(photo by Bengt Gustafsson)

Twenty Looks at the mind and soul of Trajal Harrell

by Chad Dembski

A 10 minute introduction at the beginning of the evening greets the audience and serves as a good preparation for the epic onslaught we are about to experience. In the humble and insightful opening Trajal Harrell explains that this piece is part of a series of works that come in different sizes (xs,s,m,l). The entire series is based on the proposal of bringing the dance and style of voguing into the modern dance of the 1960’s and the Judson Church in New York City. He explains it is not a historical interpretation but more in the realm of imagination and fantasy.  He also cautions that both the costumes and lights are a work-in-progress and that no matter what they will go on.  

This intro leads into a series of solo dances on white islands on the front of the stage to variety of music. A system seems to be set in place as each of these solos present an individual take on the aforementioned combination of styles. Then suddenly out of nowhere Trajal screams out to stop the show and all the lights go out. It is here where the Antigone aspect of the show begins to emerge and bring an interesting and bizarre element to it all. For regular theatregoers this radical pulling apart and extreme deconstruction of the Greek classic would probably be too much but there is a commitment in it that is addictive. In a way that doesn’t seem possible all three inspirations feed into each other and seem to blend in a way that is unique and totally refreshing.

Review: (Montreal / Dance) Built to Last (FTA)

(photo by Julian Roder)

The Current destiny of our Community
by Chad Dembski

There is a moment with most shows where you feel, thank you, that was great and you wish it would just end there. Some shows it’s because of the ‘false ending’, a tease of the creators to make it seem like the piece is ending but really there is more. Sometimes, like with Built to Last the piece contains so many ideas that you’re not sure where it begins and ends. There is of course the obvious lights up and down, but with this piece from Meg Stuart and Damaged Goods, it was difficult to gauge where it all begins and ends. 

Review: (Montreal / Theatre) Culture, Administration and Trembling

(photo: Stephen Thompson, Dominique Petrin)

It's Not About Seeing
by Chad Dembski

I haven’t been to church in a really long time.  My parents used to take me every Sunday until I was 13 and had confirmation. (a bizarre ritual where you discuss the ultra-repressive Catholic religion with other kids all hitting puberty). Once confirmed I was told I could decide if I wanted to keep going to church; I decided that I never wanted to go again. Apart from one or two Christmas services I haven’t been back and can’t say I miss the Catholic church but miss the ritual, communion and the room full of strangers looking for transcendence. Last night at Agora de la danse I was reminded of the transformative power of performance, the ability of the live experience to provide a jolt of unexpected pleasure and confusion that offers to take you to a new place.  I felt I was brought into a new church, a place where transformation is not only possible but permitted as well.

The Question... Nicolas Cantin on Klumzy (FTA)

Painted With Fingers
by Estelle Rosen

Trained in clowning and mask work, Nicolas Cantin hovers on the edge of artistic boundaries and genres, cobbling together pieces that he strips to their bare bones in order to present the very core. Like a lab technician very curious about his research subject, he captures life in all its simplicity, dissecting it by stretching out time to the very edge of ennui. In each piece he zeroes in on intimacy, on what is most secret. Whether it charms or repels, his discourse hits home. With the somber and radical Mygale (FTA, 2012), he ventured into the troubled zones of emotional handicap previously staged in Belle manière and Grand singe. With a trilogy collectively entitled Trois romances, this French artist has made his mark in Montreal. In 2005 he established his dance reputation with Jachère, a solo by Christiane Bourget that led to a Paula Citron Dance Award in Toronto. He then settled in Montreal where he appeared in Glass House and Falaise, and later danced for Frédérick Gravel (Tout se pète la gueule, chérie, FTA, 2010). Co- choreographer of the circus solo Patinoire, presented by 7 doigts de la main, Nicolas also teaches at Montreal’s National Circus School and at the National Theatre School of Canada. He is the sound designer for each of his works, and is currently artist in residence at L'L (Brussels), at Montevideo (Marseille) and at Usine C in Montreal where last year with CHEESE he began his work on memory, further developed in Klumzy.

CHARPO: It seems like you've gone a step further from your training in clowning and mask work. What is the process from Cheese (which began your work on memory) to Klumzy, and is it a natural evolution from your earlier works where you basically stripped pieces to the bare bones to present the core; to get to the root of intimacy. (cont'd)

The Question... Choreographer Tedd Robinson on Room With Sticks (FTA)

What Zen Is

by Estelle Rosen

Tedd Robinson is a Canadian choreographer, performer and educator, best known for his idiosyncratic solo works, including the Chalmers’ award-winning Rokudo: six destinies in three steps. After graduating with a BFA from York University and studying at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and with eminent British visual theatre artist Lindsay Kemp, his career trajectory first took him to Winnipeg, where he created highly theatrical ensemble works as artistic director of Contemporary Dancers from 1984-1990. Having returned to Ottawa in 1990 to study with Peter Boneham and pursue a solo career, his critically acclaimed works soon won him a multitude of commissions and an international schedule of teaching and touring. In 1998, he formed 10 Gates Dancing Inc. to promote the development and performance of contemporary dance creations. As artistic director, he has created repertoire for some of the most renowned dance artists in Canada alongside establishing choreographic consulting services for the milieu that have benefitted over 40 choreographers. From 2005-2012, Robinson took up residence in the Pontiac Region of Quebec, where he created La B.A.R.N., a rural venue for creation, residencies and performance. In 2013, he established Centre Q: A Centre for Questioning, a research space for dance and music in Canada’s national capital region. His collaborations have included creation with dance artists Louise Lecavalier, Margie Gillis, Ame Henderson, and composer/performer Charles Quevillon. Tedd Robinson is a founding member of Projet bk and an Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre. His work is influenced by his six years of study as a monk in the Hakukaze soto zen monastery in Ottawa. www.tengatesdancing.ca

CHARPO:  How much did studying in a Zen monastery influence the creation of Room With Sticks, tell us about the process and challenges to presenting the Zen poem Room With Sticks.

ROBINSON: Experience has taught me that sometimes everything we do is the cumulative effect of what we have already done. (cont'd)

(photo by Rod MacIvor) 

ROBINSON (cont'd): The effect on how I view things is influenced by my experiences studying zen. Does it have anything to do with this work, Room with Sticks? I would say about as much as anything else I have done in my life. If this work had anything directly to do with zen then it would be a lie and yet it is everything to do with zen and it is not a lie. I balance sticks on the heads of a few Buddhist statues that I had around my house. Is that zen? Is anything slow … zen? What is zen? It is bantered around these days like some corporate logo, a catchall word for “serenity” or “something to do with energy or house decor”. Yoga, another corporate logo is sometimes interchangeable with zen, except the logo for zen is more crisp and spare. It has become a noun when it is in fact a practice, an active opening to who and what you are, a life living, the sky breathing.

I actually don’t really know what “zen” is … and I am quite satisfied with that not knowing.

@estellemontreal

Room with Sticks actually came out of 2 summers, 2 explorations. I saw some conjunctions in the 2 works and we are presenting some of the ideas from both works as a new work. This new work changes with each new space. Espace Libre is the smallest space we have encountered so far.

Room with Sticks, for me, works with elements of space, the senses, balance, activities that require time, joy, wood, paper, sound, now.

A zen poem is most of the time thought of as a haiku. I won’t write one for you although maybe that is what was expected. I am not a poet who uses words.

June 5 - 7

Sunday Feature: Interview - Marie-Hélène Falcon, Artistic Director, Festival TransAmériques

(photo by Julie Gauthier)

The Pleasure of an Audience

by Chad Dembski

Marie-Hélène Falcon’s career has followed a path that explores the ever-shifting frontiers where art and ideas meet and interact in a co-mingling of tradition and innovation. Her artistic direction hones in on the essential – the tangible essence of a strong, vibrant stage piece, the quality of an artist’s presence in the flesh, the curiosity and enchantment of an audience keen to discover the new and the unknown. For over 30 years, Marie-Hélène Falcon has been committed to presenting the best of contemporary creations from the international scene. The co-founder of the Festival de Théâtre des Amériques, she was its general and artistic director as of 1983, going on to create Théâtres du monde in 1996 and Nouvelles Scènes in 1997. In May 2007, the Festival de théâtre des Amériques was transformed, becoming the Festival TransAmériques. Now a major annual showcase of dance and theatre, the new festival places Montreal in line with other major international events where the contemporary performing arts are the raison d’être of the festival, thus reflecting and updating the ideals underlying the original concept. Marie-Hélène Falcon is frequently invited to attend international festivals as well as conferences on issues facing the performing arts. She has received several awards, including being honoured as a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, and being named an Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec.

Let it be said I went into the Festival TransAmériques (FTA) offices the morning they had to publicly announce that Helen Lawrence was cancelling out of the festival. This event has since exploded online into the troubling relationship between Actors Equity, producing theatre companies and increasing problems with touring. While I will leave my opinion out of the debate, it is extremely sad that the very first time a Canadian English theatre production was going to open the Festival TransAmériques it had to be cancelled due to mismanagement (I’ll let you look up all the articles posted the past week from each organization and make your own decision).

I have been going to the FTA since 1997 and its various works have brought me enormous pleasure, inspiration and challenge for almost 20 years. It was a pleasure to interview Marie-Hélène Falcon, a Montreal cultural icon who founded the festival back in 1985 and grew it into Canada’s largest international theatre and dance festival.  Its influence on the PuSh festival in Vancouver and World Stage in Toronto is massive and almost impossible to really measure as it was the first. 

CHARPO: How did it all start back in 1985?  

FALCON:  I founded it with Jacques Vezina, we both came from L'Association du Jeune Théâtre.  I was convinced Montreal needed an International theatre festival at that time.  I am still convinced that Montreal needs an International Arts Festival. We just put up the project and did it, it was not easy, there were lots of barriers. We had to convince everybody, of everything, including convincing the governments to give us money. We needed the community to trust that we were going to promote their work. We also had to convince the audience that they would have a great time, knowing what was happening around the world by showing side by side, our companies and the big international stars around the world, theatre-wise.  It was a huge job, but we did one, then two, then three and now 30 years later, here we are.  So the big thing in 2007 when we lost the dance festival (FiND) was, what are we going to do with that?  I proposed what the festival is now, and that project was accepted by the arts councils and by the funding bodies. And now by both milieu and the audience as well.  They cross from dance to theatre and theatre to dance. It’s easier from theatre to dance, it’s a bit more difficult from dance to theatre. But it’s improving, the challenge is to interest all of them to more than one discipline.

Review: (Montreal) Ganesh Versus The Third Reich (FTA)

(photo credit: Jeff Busby)

Taking the Risk to be Loved (and Hated)

by Chad Dembski

I need to confess that I do not know what to say about “Ganesh versus the Third Reich”, that opened last night at Usine C as part of the Festival TransAmériques.  Since the show ended at 9:40 p.m. I have been confused, inspired, frustrated, lost and upset about the piece which is challenging, unsettling but ultimately extremely rewarding as well.  Back to Back theatre is an Australian  company which  employs full time creators who are mentally disabled to create and perform their work.  

There are two worlds in “Ganesh…”, one with the actors, the writer and the director speaking directly about the piece to each other, figuring out the script, having conflicts about whether the show is right to perform, and if they have the right to play Jews and Indian Gods. The other is a story of Ganesh going to Nazi Germany in 1943 to claim back the swastika from the Nazis.  These two worlds contrast by their aesthetic; the world of 1943 is full of spectacular curtains, video, animation, and costumes and the other is an extremely bright empty room (after all the artifice has been stripped away).  

Review: (Montreal) Winners and Losers (FTA)

(Long (r) and Youssef (photo credit: Simon Hayter)

WE ARE ALL WINNERS, WE ARE ALL LOSERS
by Chad Dembski

I can’t think of a better way to review the Festival TransAmériques show from Vancouver “Winners and Losers” than:

Why Winners and Losers is a Loser.

“Winners and Losers” is a loser because it attempts throughout to being authentic and thought up on the spot when it is mostly set.  Although setting a theatre piece is one of cornerstones of what you are actually supposed to do it doesn’t always translate well into a performance arena. A simple show where topics (of all natures) are brought up for discussion and argued between the two performers, Jamie Long and Marcus Youssef, it seems natural maybe to let a majority of it be contemporary and completely change every night.  The setting of the answers seems to stifle the beginning of the show, holding back these highly energetic and charismatic performers who seem to have a lot more to say than what they are letting out.  Major topics such as the Canadian Senate, Africa, and the First Nations get a light touch but a superficial touch where a real discussion could actually take place.  At the half way point I became bored with the “game”, which didn’t seem to really have rules, or the rules were not being followed.  I was hoping for more personal touches that were only beginning to come through and then….

Sunday Feature: Interview - James Long and Marcus Youssef on Winners and Losers (FTA)

Long (l) and Youssef (all photos by Simon Hayter)

80% set, 20% Brand New, and Going too Far
What is it to win?  Was is it to lose?  What is it about approaching middle age and going, “do I have my shit together”?
by Chad Dembski

James Long and Marcus Youssef bring their two-person piece “Winners and Losers” to Festival Trans Amèriques (FTA). The piece premièred last year in Richmond, B.C. and then showed at the 2013 PuSh festival in Vancouver.  I have been to a few of Theatre Replacement’s pieces before (“The greatest Cities in the World”, Magnetic North Festival 2010, “Weetube” at the 2011 SuperNova Festival in Halifax) and always been intrigued by the variety in their work.  Marcus Youssef runs New World Theatre, a company I am less familiar with (as I do not get to Vancouver as much as I would like) but has a strong history of independent, political and risky work.  James Long and Marcus Youssef  are friends and collaborators. In this interview they share their unique and exciting new project and its beginnings.

CHARPO: When did you first meet?

LONG: My first memory was in 2005 at a shared office where Marcus was an associate artist at New World Theatre.  Marcus had just come back from Concordia with a distinct sense on his return of who would fit where at New World Theatre.  

YOUSSEF: We ended up getting to know each other as office mates.  I went to Concordia in 2004/05 as a replacement, as “Ted’s little friend”, I called myself.  Had a great time, considered staying in Montreal but decided to return to Vancouver. One of the reasons was being asked to take over the company for a while. Also the scene in Vancouver gave me the sense that for the first time in my life, I saw a chance to be part of something bigger, rather than just the individual thing each of us happen to be doing.

Review: (Montreal) Nella Tempesta (FTA)

(photo credit: Andrea Gallo)

Heart, yes! Substance...

by Chad Dembski

I did not see Too Late! (antigone) or Alexis. Una tregedia greca during the Festival TransAmériques in 2012 but heard plenty of positive and rave reviews of both shows after the fact.  The company MOTUS seemed to hit Montreal at the perfect moment of the Maple Spring, the daily orchestra of evening protests in almost every Montreal area of pots and pans and with a massive feeling of change in the air.  At the core of MOTUS seems to be a desire for change, to build a Utopia here and now and for the future of all mankind.  

Nella Tempesta uses Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” as its base to ask questions around power, master and servant and how we can help each other.  Huge piles of blankets are used in various ways to represent a wide variety of objects from a boat, a rock, and a cape. The piece begins promising with a storm scene with strobe lighting that instantly brings us into the space. From there though the piece falls apart more and more as it plods along with seemingly little to no direction. A script is brought on stage and various attempts at Act 1 Scene 1 are approached but often stopped or questioned before they really get going.  The piece plays more like an open rehearsal where none of the performers have made any solid decisions on how they want to play the piece. 

Review: (Montreal) Enemy of the People (FTA)

(photo credit: Arno Declair)

PERFECT TIMING
by Chad Dembski

Yesterday there was announced the largest water boil alert in Montreal history.  It has effected almost every citizen in the entire city and paralyzed some businesses (cafés) and caused chaos around buying simple bottled water. It would almost seem too perfect for the FTA to open on May 22nd with a radical adaptation of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” that has at its core a dilemma around contaminated water in the local Baths from which most of the city gains its profit. The plot of the play seemed a surprise to many in the audience and helped instantly engage them in this highly visceral and participatory theatrical event.

First-Person: Ann-Marie Kerr on The Debacle

(Photo credit: Scott Munn)

Musical Chairs – moving from director to actor in a solo show

The jarring jars

by Ann-Marie Kerr

Sue Leblanc-Crawford of Zuppa Theatre in Halifax approached me a few years ago to direct her in a solo show. We would co-create it and with any luck it would tour the world.  When we started, we waded into intimate territory immediately. We found that we had 100 things in common including coming from families of 7. We realized a mutual obsession with death and dying, our own and others, how it would happen and when. Like with lots of theatre made from scratch, the process had us soaring and falling daily. We’d try ideas for days and weeks at a time only to cut the heart of them knowing they didn’t work or they weren’t taking us to centre of the piece. We scraped away at the surface for a long time and then finally began to see what might be the core of the show.  It was our abject terror of being the only one left, being the end of our family line.  The show became about a woman finding the courage to crash through the immobilizing fear of losing everyone but needing to go on.