If the Shoe fits…
by Chad Dembski
I saw the premiere Fringe presentation of “Cour Arrière” in the intimate venue 11 Studio Multimédia. A company of five female dancers (Chloé Bourdages-Roy, Danika Cormier, Frédérique Forget, Stéphanie Saucier and Pascale Yensen) under the choreography of Cassandre Lescarbeau was a truly contemporary piece based around the slow reveal of 30 different pairs of shoes and boots that are treated as sacred, dangerous and difficult. An intriguing relationship emerges between both the women in this presentation and the footwear that they choose. In fact it was the aspect of choice that kept me engaged.
This was not a typical dance piece where you can see the dancers following instruction. The breath, the gaze and the silence were equally as important as the moments of frenetic action. The music of Tristan Henry (all original) which included live music mixing, a keyboard and a guitar was an integral part of the production and provided a great soundtrack. The only fault with “Cour Arrière” is that at times it valued the object over the person; I was way more moved by the human relationships than the relationships to the shoes. While a great object to choose -we all have to wear shoes and our choices (comfort vs. fashion vs. cost) are usually quite interesting - it is still just an object and it can be hard to see the inner dilemma when a dancer is in relationship to it.
This was not a typical dance piece where you can see the dancers following instruction. The breath, the gaze and the silence were equally as important as the moments of frenetic action. The music of Tristan Henry (all original) which included live music mixing, a keyboard and a guitar was an integral part of the production and provided a great soundtrack. The only fault with “Cour Arrière” is that at times it valued the object over the person; I was way more moved by the human relationships than the relationships to the shoes. While a great object to choose -we all have to wear shoes and our choices (comfort vs. fashion vs. cost) are usually quite interesting - it is still just an object and it can be hard to see the inner dilemma when a dancer is in relationship to it.
Still this piece is quite strong and I felt it may continue to grow over the run at the Fringe as it is completely original. I look forward to seeing more work from Corps Chorus in the future as they have shown they certainly have a distinct voice.
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