THE 6th EDITION OF FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES FASCINATING WORKS ATTUNED TO THE ZEITGEIST
From May 24 to June 9, 2012 the Festival TransAmériques (FTA) will set the city of Montreal ablaze with 28 dance, theatre and performance art presentations that candidly question the era we are living in. Through their work, the artists featured in this 6th edition resist the prevailing alienation and gloomy ambience of our times. Immensely talented, profoundly humanist and extremely courageous, they instead offer beauty and hope, thus providing us, their contemporaries, with something essential.
“Regardless of where they come from or their culture, their struggles or their dreams, the artists invited to the 6th Festival TransAmériques assert their uniqueness and frankly proclaim their differences. The profusion of forms, affirmations and aesthetics in this Festival presents a wonderful opportunity to slip from the clutches of the everyday and to plunge into the world of myriad possibilities offered by contemporary theatre and dance. The works range from calls for change to explosions of excess, burning desire and quests for identity. They are expressions of anger, humour, compassion, faith, doubt and
impelling hope, but they are also moments of suspension, silence, contemplation.
The Festival portrays both the liberating power of free expression not afraid to shock, and the fierce beauty of truth delivered in frank, forthright fashion.
This Festival is not the preserve of a single voice, a single body, a single generation.
It is a forum for openness and dialogue, for the clash of ideas and imaginations, for emergence, transition, transmission. It is a place of beauty, truth, celebration, subversion and freethinking.”
– Marie-Hélène Falcon, co-general director and artistic director
This spring the Festival TransAmériques will bring together under the same banner artists from Quebec, from all across Canada, and from a dozen other countries including Germany, Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland. Also, for the very first time, the FTA will be presenting works from Iraq, Morocco and Slovenia. In addition to artists making a return to Montreal such as choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, the man of the theatre Romeo Castellucci, the Nature Theater of Oklahoma with a totally new form of musical, and the Italian company Motus and their two shows featuring a very contemporary Antigone, festivalgoers will encounter the work of Iraqi director Mokhallad Rasem, the Moroccan dance pioneer Taoufiq Izeddiou and the Croatian director Oliver FrljiĆ. This year’s edition features seven world premières, nine North American premières, four Canadian premières and four Quebec premières.
A showcase for exciting work, the FTA program includes new pieces by Nicolas Cantin, Mélanie Demers, Danièle Desnoyers, Clara Furey and Benoît Lachambre, Daniel Léveillé, Emmanuel Schwartz, Annabel Soutar, Julie Andrée T. and Isabelle Van Grimde, ready to be discovered by a sensitive and informed audience. In keeping with its reputation for taking over the public space with brilliant élan and originality, the FTA will be presenting, free of charge, the amazing performance-installation x-fois gens chaise – featuring ten senior citizens perched twenty feet above the sidewalks of the Latin Quarter! – as well as the intriguing Dance with Me at the Georges Émile Lapalme exposition space at Place des Arts.
Renowned as a space for meeting, exchange, reflection and festivities, the Festival will be organizing 10 get-togethers with artists at its Quartier général – at noon or from 5 to 7 p.m. – and will also be inviting artists and audience alike to join in many an exciting evening with no less than seven special events on hand. And, as a complement to the program, four films will be presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise.
OPENING SHOW
SIDEWAYS RAIN
GUILHERME BOTELHO ALIAS GENEVA
May 24, 25 PLACE DES ARTS - THÉÂTRE JEAN-DUCEPPE DANCE
Fourteen dancers traverse the stage in an unremitting, magnetic and thrilling wave. A hypnotic, exciting panorama about the brute force of destiny. Brilliant.
-------------
FREE EXPERIENCES IN THE PUBLIC SPACE
X-FOIS GENS CHAISE
ANGIE HIESL + ROLAND KAISER ANGIE HIESL PRODUKTION COLOGNE
May 24, 25, 26, 27 QUARTIER LATIN - RUE SAINT-DENIS PERFORMANCE + INSTALLATION
Twenty feet above the sidewalk, sitting on chairs affixed to the walls of downtown buildings, ten senior citizens appear to float above everyday concerns. Old age becomes urban poetry.
Co-presented by Quartier des spectacles
DANCE WITH ME
GRÉGORY CHATONSKY MONTREAL
May 15 to June 7 PLACE DES ARTS - SALLE D’EXPOSITION DE L’ESPACE CULTUREL GEORGES-ÉMILE-LAPALME EXHIBIT
A downright playful space where the spectator becomes the DJ, choreographing virtual dancers.
An invitation to direct the orchestra, if only for one song.
Co-presented by Place des Arts
---------------
SEVEN WORLD PREMIÈRES FROM CANADIAN ARTISTS
CHUTES INCANDESCENTES
CLARA FUREY + BENOÎT LACHAMBRE PAR B.L.EUX MONTREAL
May 25, 26, 27 AGORA DE LA DANSE DANCE + MUSIC
The choreographer Benoît Lachambre and the musician and dancer Clara Furey share a dream, and have combined their talents in this remarkable, passionate solo for two bodies.
LE CORPS EN QUESTION (S)
ISABELLE VAN GRIMDE VAN GRIMDE CORPS SECRETS MONTREAL
May 28, 29, 30, 31, June 1 GALERIE DE L’UQAM EXHIBIT + DANCE
Dancers and other artists have concocted a panorama with many-hued perspectives of the body and its evolving destiny, affected as it is by nature, culture, science and technology. This captivating exhibit-show is a unique experience.
SOUS LA PEAU, LA NUIT
DANIÈLE DESNOYERS LE CARRÉ DES LOMBES MONTREAL
June 2, 3, 4 USINE C DANCE
In a highly charged world, people approach each other to either make love or tear each other to pieces. A playful, invigorating and sensual work of great emotional intensity.
NATURE MORTE
JULIE ANDRÉE T. SAGARD
June 4, 5, 6 ESPACE GO PERFORMANCE + THEATRE
An unusual journey into a dreamlike world of paintings composed of flesh, colour, light and sound. A jubilant combination of audacity and charisma.
MYGALE
NICOLAS CANTIN MONTREAL
June 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 THÉÂTRE LA CHAPELLE DANCE + THEATRE
A piece that freely mixes genres as it ventures boldly down the slippery slopes of intimacy and the dark side of fragility. Poignant and disturbing.
GOODBYE
MÉLANIE DEMERS MAYDAY MONTREAL
June 6, 7, 8 AGORA DE LA DANSE DANCE + THEATRE
Physicality and emotional virtuosity underscore this spirited look at the creative force, a powerful blend of dance and theatre.
SOLITUDES SOLO
DANIEL LÉVEILLÉ DANIEL LÉVEILLÉ DANSE MONTREAL
June 7, 8, 9 CONSERVATOIRE D’ART DRAMATIQUE - THÉÂTRE ROUGE DANCE
A series of solos set to demanding choreography and Bach sonatas for violin. As finely honed and polished as a diamond necklace.
------------------
THEATRE
IRAKESE GEESTEN
(IRAQI GHOSTS)
MOKHALLAD RASEM BAGDAD + ANTWERP
May 25, 26, 27 THÉÂTRE PROSPERO THEATRE
Mokhallad Rasem meets an almost impossible challenge with brio, staging a play, imbued with humour and beauty, about the disasters that have befallen the Iraqi people because of war.
CHANTE AVEC MOI
OLIVIER CHOINIÈRE L’ACTIVITÉ MONTREAL
May 25, 26, 27 USINE C THEATRE + MUSIC
Olivier Choinière assembles 50 actors to present a musical comedy that is radiant and enthusiastic and ripe with the utopia of a collective communion, but one that is transformed into nightmarish conditioning.
NATHAN (NATHANBÉNÉDICTESTUNYIKING)
EMMANUEL SCHWARTZ ABÉ CARRÉ CÉ CARRÉ MONTREAL
May 26, 27, 28 CONSERVATOIRE D’ART DRAMATIQUE - THÉÂTRE ROUGE THEATRE
Burned beyond human recognition, Nathan Bénédict, a handicapped genius from a family of depraved intellectuals, can at last stage the grotesque American saga of his pitiful ancestors.
THE DEBACLE
ANN-MARIE KERR + SUSAN LEBLANC CRAWFORD ZUPPA THEATRE CO. HALIFAX
May 29, 30, 31 THÉÂTRE PROSPERO THEATRE
A vibrant soliloquy that takes place in a room full of mementos symbolizing a life under glass that suddenly shatters, The Debacle draws up an inventory of fleeting moments and intense emotions.
LIFE AND TIMES - EPISODE 1
KELLY COPPER + PAVOL LIŠKA NATURE THEATER OF OKLAHOMA NEW YORK
May 30, 31, June 1 PLACE DES ARTS - CINQUIÈME SALLE THEATRE + MUSIC
The childhood (zero to age seven) of a middle-class American girl is presented as a modernist musical. An ode to the mundane that is utterly winsome!
TOO LATE! (ANTIGONE) CONTEST #2
ENRICO CASAGRANDE + DANIELA NICOLÒ MOTUS RIMINI
May 30, 31, June 1 ESPACE LIBRE THEATRE
This magnificent lesson in insurrection is full of striking imagery and performed by an incandescent duo carrying the torch handed down by Antigone.
ON THE CONCEPT OF THE FACE, REGARDING THE SON OF GOD
ROMEO CASTELLUCCI SOCÌETAS RAFFAELLO SANZIO CESENA
May 31, June 1, 2, 3 PLACE DES ARTS - THÉÂTRE JEAN-DUCEPPE THEATRE
The indignities of everyday life, the pain and suffering of the body, heedless violence, and then a transubstantiation – one man’s gaze captured in a painting.
DAMNED BE THE TRAITOR OF HIS HOMELAND!
OLIVER FRLJIĆ LJUBLJANA + ZAGREB
May 31, June 1, 2 CONSERVATOIRE D’ART DRAMATIQUE - THÉÂTRE ROUGE THEATRE
Shocking, accusatory and disturbing, Damned Be the Traitor of His Homeland! (the last verse of the Yugoslav national anthem) is a bracing cry for civil and artistic liberty.
ALEXIS. UNA TRAGEDIA GRECA
(ALEXIS. A GREEK TRAGEDY)
ENRICO CASAGRANDE + DANIELA NICOLÒ MOTUS RIMINI
June 3, 4, 5 PLACE DES ARTS - CINQUIÈME SALLE THEATRE
Alexis. Una tragedia greca manifestly possesses the combustive power required to ignite rebellion. Its arsenal to spark the blaze consists of indignation, fury, hope and Antigone.
&&&&& & &&&
ANTOINE DEFOORT + HALORY GOERGER L’AMICALE DE PRODUCTION LILLE + BRUSSELS
June 6, 7, 8 ESPACE LIBRE THEATRE + INSTALLATION
Two iconoclastic inventors invite the audience to think about our fantasies of modernity as they turn portrayal and presentation upside down, transporting us into a quirky, futuristic and interactive cabaret.
LA PÉRÉGRIN CHÉRUBINIQUE
JOVETTE MARCHESSAULT + POL PELLETIER L’ÉCOLE SAUVAGE MONTREAL
June 6, 7, 8, 9 ÉGLISE SAINTE-BRIGIDE THEATRE
The magnificently stubborn and persistent Pol Pelletier is back in force, motivated by the poetic radiance of the words of Jovette Marchessault and enveloped by the timeless music of Jean-Jacques Lemêtre.
SEEDS
ANNABEL SOUTAR + CHRIS ABRAHAM PORTE PAROLE + CROW’S THEATRE MONTREAL + TORONTOJune 7, 8, 9 THÉÂTRE D’AUJOURD’HUI THEATRE
What’s on your dinner plate? What if the answer is one of the half-truths revealed during an incredible court case where a multinational agribusiness corporation sued a West Canadian farmer?
-------------------
DANCE
(M)IMOSA
TWENTY LOOKS OR PARIS IS BURNING AT THE JUDSON CHURCH (M)
CECILIA BENGOLEA + FRANÇOIS CHAIGNAUD + TRAJAL HARRELL + MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS PARIS + LISBON + NEW YORK
May 25, 26 PLACE DES ARTS - CINQUIÈME SALLE DANCE + PERFORMANCE
Four frenzied creatures plunge into extreme combat in a crescendo of extravagant numbers that freely mix sexual and artistic genres. An exuberant piece inspired by voguing.
EN ATENDANT
ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER ROSAS BRUSSELS
May 29, 30 USINE C DANCE
A living legend in the Western dance world, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker goes back in time to create a magnificent blend of dance and music. Incredibly beautiful.
HEART AS ARENA
DANA GINGRAS ANIMALS OF DISTINCTION VANCOUVER + MONTREAL
May 29, 30, 31 AGORA DE LA DANSE DANCE
Highly charged hearts seek to embrace radio waves. An eminently physical parallel between the mechanics of human encounter and the mechanics of energy.
CHALEUR HUMAINE
STÉPHANE GLADYSZEWSKI MONTREAL
May 31, June 2, 4, 5 QUARTIER GÉNÉRAL DU FESTIVAL DANCE + PERFORMANCE
Eight minutes of sensual enchantment where bodies are mingled with video images of intimate embrace and lovers’ fantasies. Torrid and poetic.
CESENA
ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER + BJÖRN SCHMELZER ROSAS + GRAINDELAVOIX BRUSSELS + ANTWERP
June 1, 2 PLACE DES ARTS - THÉÂTRE MAISONNEUVE DANCE + MUSIC
An icon of the art of choreography, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker combines dancers and musicians into an impressive cast in a piece where voice and movement together create a true marvel. Transcendent.
AALÉEF
TAOUFIQ IZEDDIOU ANANIA MARRAKECH
June 4, 5, 6 THÉÂTRE PROSPERO DANCE
A dance of rage and hope that questions what is possible in the aftermath of the Arab spring. The unique signature of a pioneer of contemporary dance in Morocco.
------------------
OTHER FTA ACTIVITIES FREE ADMISSION
QG - QUARTIER GÉNÉRAL
AGORA HYDRO-QUÉBEC DU COEUR DES SCIENCES DE L’UQAM
175, ave. Président-Kennedy métro Place-des-Arts
MEET THE ARTISTS
For almost all the works presented, the artists step onstage (often following the second performance) after the show to chat with the audience.
Several meetings with artists will be held at Quartier general: Angie Hiesl and Roland Kaiser (x-fois gens chaise), Isabelle Van Grimde and contributors to Le corps en question(s), Romeo Castellucci (On the Concept of the Face, Regarding the Son of God), Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Cesena + En Atendant), Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò (Too Late (antigone) contest #2 + Alexis. Una tragedia greca) and Stéphane Gladyszewski (Chaleur humaine). Festivalgoers are also invited to a number of discussions on contemporary issues such as “The Arts in French and English in Quebec”, “Do science and technology serve or distort theatre?” (organized by the theatre journal Jeu), “Programming Issues” and a critical overview of the 6th edition of the FTA.
AFTER-SHOW PARTIES AT QG
After the performance, artists and audience converge at the Quartier général to chat, exchange ideas and enjoy a festive atmosphere. Once again the Festival will be burning the midnight oil with seven big nighttime events: the opening celebration, a special Chante avec moi party after the last performance of that piece, the traditional Short & Sweet event, a best-of screening of short films from the 2011 Idill competition, the OFFTA Vinyl Volcano night with DJs from the PME-ART group, the Court Danser! dance video evening organized by the Regroupement québécois de la danse, and the closing party on June 9.
FILMS AT THE CINÉMATHÈQUE QUÉBÉCOISE
In association with the Cinémathèque québécoise, the FTA will be presenting four films that focus on major works by the iconic Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas, and by the celebrated Italian director Romeo Castellucci, a founder of the Sociètas Raffaello Sanzio.
|
