Mainstage Program One
Soudain l’Hiver Dernier
King’s Theatre, Annapolis Royal
Thursday July 18 / 7:30pm
Saturday, July 20 / 2pm
Compagnie de la Citadelle
Choreographer: James Kudelka
Dancers: Sully Malaeb Proulx and Connor Mitton
Soudain l’Hiver Dernier (1987) was commissioned for the inaugural season of Montréal Danse. It is a remarkable duet exploring variations on the theme of not failing someone. Lifting or supporting a body always implies some kind of trust, and this choreography distills this bedrock faith. The work has been performed by the company at venues across Canada and abroad, winning the Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007.
“This remarkable dance for two men explores some very sincere variations on the theme of not failing someone. Lifting or supporting a body always implies some kind of trust, and this choreography by James Kudelka distills this bedrock faith. Filled with symbols of male strength, and also male reliance, the movement embodies the notion that these are two solitudes that both border and protect each other.” - Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail
Solo (not solo) Water Study
King’s Theatre, Annapolis Royal
Thursday July 18 / 7:30pm
Saturday, July 20 / 2pm
Jasad Dance Projects
Choreographer: Meryem Alaoui Created in collaboration with original cast, Sahara Morimoto (dance) and Germaine Liu (music). Music Composition: Germaine Liu. Lighting Design: Andrew McCormack
Dancer: Sonja Boretski
Percussionist: Raphael Roter
Solo (not solo) Water Study is an intimate work, a joyful, quiet, sometimes loud, sensorial celebration of creative expression for two performers, one dancer and one percussionist, who play at attempting sound and movement synchronicity, negotiating following and leading and everything else in between, failing with joy and full agency at their respective tasks. Moving with their fluid instruments, they use attention, redirection, pausing, silence, breath, the sound of water and its absence, to see, match or interrupt the flow.
“Meryem Alaoui’s ability to make sensitivity the loudest quality in her work touches me deeply and the conversation between musician and dancer in Solo (not solo) Water Study offers a mode of communication that feels both new and eternal.” - Rob Binet, Curator of the Binet Series at d:mic/fac 2023
Big Time Miss
King’s Theatre, Annapolis Royal
Thursday July 18 / 7:30pm
Saturday, July 20 / 2pm
Rock Bottom Movement
Choreographer: Alyssa Martin
Dancers: Drew Berry, Brayden Jamil Cairns, Sam Grist, Spencer Hack, Natasha Poon Woo
Big Time Miss is an ode to sacrifice, to growing pains, and to the dancers who star in it. It’s a five part symbolic biography dedicated to a company of artists, based on interviews conducted by choreographer, Alyssa Martin. The latest in their ever evolving repertoire, this work pulls Rock Bottom Movement away from elaborate narrative and deeper into feeling, rediscovering each performer's earliest dancing self while projecting into possible futures with abandon. The work features an original score collaboratively composed by indie superstars, Semiah and Jacob Vanderham. It stars the dancers of Rock Bottom Movement, united by their near-decade-long collaborative bond.
“Martin’s rich dissection of the female experience is vulnerable and resonant. Together with her collaborators, she is able to reclaim dreams.” – Jillian Groening, The Dance Current