BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros (2010)

BEHINDFill in the Blanks. Why would a choreographer direct her dancers without ever seeing how their bodies inhabit the space? Marie Béland imposed that mad constraint in a bold experiment, BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros, where she invites the audience to view the choreography through the keyhole, as it were. It is up to us to observe the shadows made by the dancers and the diffuse reflection of their silhouettes and then fill in the blanks, piecing together the portrait of a couple’s increasingly forceful back-and-forth by interpreting visual and sound clues that are dispensed sparingly. And when is she going to open the damn panels that obstruct our vision? One of the most dynamic young choreographers of her generation, the Quebec artist asks radical questions in this short piece about codes of representation and the dancers’ relation to the spectator. A whimsical sensory experience alive with the playful and the unexpected.

– Fabienne Cabado for FTA 2011

Performers and collaborators on the creative process : Rachel Harris et Peter Trosztmer
Music : Avec pas d’casque (Stéphane Lafleur, Joël Vaudreuil, Nicolas Moussette)
Musicians on tour : Stéphane Lafleur or Carl-Éric Hudon, Hugo Gravel, Philippe Brault or Esther Rousseau-Morin
Dramaturg : Katya Montaignac
Rehearsal director : Thea Patterson
Light designer : Frédérick Gravel
Original stage set : Jonathan Inksetter
Actual stage set : Paul Chambers
Length : 30 minutes
Premiere : December 1st, 2010 at Tangente, Montréal, Canada
maribé – sors de ce corps would like to thank the Canada Arts Council, l’Agora de la danse, FTA and Tangente pour their support.

BEHIND Catherine Mytofir

EXCERPTS OF THE SHOW

PHOTOS OF A REAHEARSAL

Photos of a rehearsal taken by Julie Taxil (2010)

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THE CREATION TEAM

Rachel Harris
Rachel Harris / performer collaborator

Native from Vancouver, Rachel Harris moved to Montreal in 1990 and continued her training at l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Following her training, she joined Danse Partout in Quebec and co-founded Amorce Danse Théâtre. She collaborates, throughout her career, with the choreographers Blanca Arrieta, Marie Béland, Martin Bélanger, Sarah Bild, Sarah Chase, Estelle Clareton, Margie Gillis, Anne-Marie Giroux, Benjamin Hatcher, Avi Kaiser, Benoît Lachambre, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, Helge Letonja, Jean-Sébastien Lourdais, Jean-Pierre Mondor, José Navas, Aurélie Pédron, Jean-Pierre Perreault, George Stamos, Mariko Tanabe and Paula de Vasconcelos. She created in 2002-2003 The Coyote Project, a work for four performers, in close cooperation with the Nlaka’pamux community of British Columbia. Since 2011, she has been teaching for women in shelters as part of the Dance Against Violence program..

Work related: RADIOMATON, BESIDE, Dieu ne t’a pas créé juste pour danser, BETWEEN, BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros

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Peter Trosztmer
Peter Trosztmer / performer and collaborator

After receiving his B.A. in Classics, Peter Trosztmer studied at the Concordia University Department of Contemporary Dance before moving to Toronto to complete the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre training program. Since then, he has distinguished himself as in interpreter of the highest caliber and has worked and continues to collaborate with many national and international choreographers. As a choreographer Peter has created five critically acclaimed solo works. His choreography was selected as a top 5 show of the year (La Presse 2006 and Voir 2012). As well he was recognized for the best performance – (The Hour 2006). His work on the multi media work Norman also received many accolades including an Angel Award at the Brighton Festival UK (2009). Peter continues to define his place as a creator who is invested in work that is sensitive, deeply researched and physically realized. His co-authored article “Collaboration as Practice The Winding Road” was presented at the Canadian Society for Dance Scholars Conference 2012. Peter is current research includes “dna” a social investigation into industrial architecture, interactive movement tracking with sound and La Sociéte de les arts technologiques in Montreal with Zack Settle that will be presented in Oct 2016, as well he is artist in residence at Techno Lith – New City Gas in Griffintown where he is co-ordinating a new touring work #boxtape.

Related work: BETWEEN, BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros

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Photo : Karin Benedict


APDC
Avec pas d’casque / musiciens

The Avec pas d’casque group was born from the encounter between a drum bag, a Sears guitar and a good kick in the butt that we don’t expect, but that we thank years later. Since its beginnings, the group has been exploring the intimate in a folk/country/grunge with lo-fi flavour and pictorial texts.

Related work: BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros

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Katya Montaignac
Katya Montaignac / dramaturge

From 1995 to 2002, Katya Montaignac danced in Paris for the company La Gorgone directed by Vincent Lahache. Since 1998, she has contributed as a dance critic to several publications, including the journal JEU. In 2001, in Paris, she conceived the project Raymond, a solo for n interpreters that has brought together around fifty individuals, dancers or not. This project has been presented in France and Quebec more than thirty times. Member of La 2e Porte à Gauche since 2006, she regularly signs the artistic direction of her productions (Blind date, 9 ½ apart., the pARTy, 4quART, Danse à 10, Rendez-vous à l’hôtel and Pluton). Since 2007, Katya has created «Unidentified Dancing Objects» (Danses invisibles in 2007, Corps anonymes in 2009). As dance doctor, she treats the ailments of choreographers as a dramaturge, notably with Marie Béland, Frédérick Gravel, Milan Gervais and Isabel Mohn. She teaches in the dance department of UQAM and is also involved as a curator, notably for the OFFTA during 7 years.

Related work: Les Précédents, Dieu ne t’a pas créé juste pour danser, BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros, RAYON X : a true decoy story, Ils seront là à 8 heures

Photo : Julie Artacho


Frédérick Gravel
Frédérick Gravel / concepteur d’éclairages

Frédérick Gravel graduated in 2009 from UQAM’s (Université du Québec à Montréal) dance faculty with a thesis on “The role of the dance artist in a democratic society’’. The choreographer, dancer, musician and lighting designer Frédérick Gravel has been active on the Montreal scene for the past fifteen years. He turns the structures of choreography upside down, merging into his work various elements from rock and performance art. He joined DLD as an associate creator in 2010 and was appointed artistic director of the company in 2018. His productions – Gravel Works (2009), All Hell is Breaking Loose, Honey (2010), Usually Beauty Fails (2012) and This Duet That We’ve Already Done (so many times) (2015), Some Hope for the Bastards (2017) and Fear and Greed (2019) – have received great national and international reviews. He co-created with the author Étienne Lepage Ainsi parlait… (2013) and Logique du pire (2016). The works of Frédérick Gravel are created in close collaboration with all members of Grouped’ArtGravelArtGroup/GAG, a shifting collective of dancers and musicians actively involved in the creation process. More and more active as a teacher, Frédérick Gravel regularly gives creative workshops as well as teaching at CÉGEP Saint-Hyacinthe’s theater department, at Université du Québec à Montréal and at l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Frédérick Gravel is a member of Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique.

Related work: BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros, RAYON X : a true decoy story, Twis-manivelle

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Photo : Julie Artacho


Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers / set and lightning designer

Paul Chambers is a Montréal based set & lighting designer. Collaborating on new dance works has always been a priority for him. Teaching workshops has also been an important part of his development as an artist and mentor. At Studio 303 he teaches a yearly lighting design workshop for artists, in addition to teaching aspects of production in dance at Concordia University. From 2008 until 2013 Paul is Technical Director at Tangente: Laboratoire de Mouvement Contemporains.  In 2013 along with fellow designer & educator David-Alexandre Chabot, they inaugurate CHA a design collective aimed at creating & sharring design based works with artists from different disciplines. Recent design credits include work with Marie Béland, Public Recordings, 10 Gates Dancing, Audrey Bergeron, Dorian Nuskind-Oder,  Benjamin Kamino, Dany Desjardins, Katie Ward, Susanna Hood, Sasha Kleinplatz, Antonija Livingstone, Adam Kinner, Maria Kefirova & Hanako Hashimi Caines, Thierry Huard, Parts & Labour Dance, Lara Kramer Dance, & Destins Croisés.

Related work: BETWEEN, BEHIND : une danse dont vous êtes le héros

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