Dancing Without Safety Nets in Treize Lunes

Treize Lunes, the second improvised dance event in as many weeks, took place at Monument-National last week. Two dancers from the previous week’s show R.A.F.T. 70, Marc Boivin and Andrew de Lotbiniere Harwood, were part of this new crew. Therefore, it is very tempting to compare the two events, though certain reservations would only be normal given that both took shape differently. For R.A.F.T. 70, while the body movement of the dancers had been improvised, the show still benefited from a clear, consistent structure pre-established by the artists. With Treize Lunes, the atmosphere was a lot more casual. It felt like the audience was entering a privileged space where friends decided to congregate and jam. Indeed, jamming is a good way to approach the event. After all, the 10 dancers present were mirrored by 10 musicians who were also improvising.

While each night does have a pre-determined structure, it is of a very different kind. The audience was offered a list of 33 different types of movement improvisation. Each night, about 10 different ones had been selected to create the show. But, unlike in R.A.F.T. 70, there was no over-riding attempt to create a singular experience for the audience.

The first improvisation set the tone for the night. It was a cadavre exquis. Similarly, the rest of the improvisations would unfold without any apparent connection from one to the other. Consequently, the audience could never settle into boredom since everything could change from one improvisation to the next.

As I had noticed in R.A.F.T. 70, dance improvisation is often most gripping when two or more dancers make contact. Though this happens in Treize Lunes, too often do the dancers end up performing on their own, as if they were not even surrounded by their peers. Similarly, there is too little interaction between the musicians who often seem like they are playing independently of one another.

One of the most successful improvisations of the evening was the “wrap-up”. Functioning on the principle of Russian dolls, the women artists first improvised and then saw their improvisation recuperated by the men before taking it back again.

However, the women were greatly outnumbered: 14 male musicians and dancers for only six women. This disparity allowed the men to simultaneously occupy the space that the women had to previously work across, thereby creating a humorous parody of their actions. When the women took the stage again, their attempt to recreate the work of 14 with only six became a different kind of parody that was equally amusing.

Though Wednesday’s presentation unfortunately ended with one of the least enticing improvisations, what remains of the evening is a refreshingly casual atmosphere where artists could experiment and where the audience was treated to a privileged moment by witnessing their camaraderie.

Six of the artists present last week will be making their way to different Maisons de la culture around Montreal from Feb. 21 to 23.

For more information on how to see their improvised work, visit http://www.danse-cite.org/fr/0607-pleinelune.html

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