Danse Mutante, the choreographic relay imagined by Mélanie Demers and created over three continents by Ann Liv Young (New York), Kettly Noël (Bamako) and Ann Van den Broeck (Rotterdam), had its world premiere September at Agora de la danse in Montréal. Riley Sims and Francis Ducharme’s powerful performances met with audience and critical acclaim. Keep your eye out for information on where this out-of-the-box project will go next. The show had reviews in Le Devoir, JEU and la Presse.
“This demanding project is shaped by the dancers and interpreters of the work, Riley Sims and Francis Ducharme. Showing ironclad commitment and unswerving generosity, they are quite simply extraordinary and sketch out the contours of a radical sense of hospitality.”
Nayla Naoufal | Le Devoir, 1September 19, 2019
“Staying true to herself, in the performance Demers gives speech a large role. The language is at various points intelligible, circular, functional, deconstructed. It becomes an extension and mirror of the gestures. The words come undone, undergo repetition, while the roughly drawn gestures burst into life and miscarry in the same fashion. […] By the end of this trance you’re exhausted, hypnotised, confused. If Mélanie Demers was hoping that no one would get out of this piece unscathed, it is clear that her bet has paid off spectacularly.”
Philippe Mangerel | JEU, Revue de théâtre, September 19, 2019
“Demers has had the courage — or the folly! – to take a real jump into the abyss with Danse Mutante. […] Those present don’t get out of it unscathed, especially the performers. They pass through the full range of emotions and moods, jump from one register to another, making an offering of their whole body and completely surrendering before the wishes and demands of the choreographers. Chapeau, monsieurs, chapeau!
Iris Gagnon-Paradis | La Presse, September 20, 2019
Photo: Francis Ducharme, Riley Sims © Mathieu Doyon
