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TAKING THE CHAIR: Lecavalier in “I” Is Memory
by MARITES CARINO
It’s hard to imagine that the petite, soft-spoken woman with wispy blonde hair sitting in front of me is the same athletic powerhouse I used to watch darting across stages in the 1990s, her bleached dreads flying in one of her signature horizontal barrel turns. Since leaving Édouard Lock’s La La La Human Steps in ’99, Louise Lecavalier, long an icon of Canadian contemporary dance, has been exploring other ways of moving.
Five years ago, after the birth of her twin daughters, Lecavalier came up with a rough idea to create a project for herself involving three choreographers. Because of multiple commitments, it took years to assemble all the elements, but she gradually collected a trio of works by Canadian movement makers. The project makes its highly anticipated début tonight, Feb. 8.
“When working with a choreographer, you want to discover the world of another person,” says Lecavalier of her lengthy creation process. “But in fact, you find in yourself other parts of you. There are many ‘me’s in me.”
In 2004, Lecavalier unearthed a meditative self through the creation of Lula and the Sailor with Ottawa choreographer Tedd Robinson. She felt an immediate affinity with the former monk and knew she wanted to continue their movement exploration. The eccentric work, which finds beauty in simplicity, marked Lecavalier’s first collaboration with Robinson and became the project’s anchor.
Once she had slotted in Robinson’s duet, Lecavalier continued her quest to build up her program. She thought of Benoît Lachambre, whose manner of moving stuck with her when she first crossed improv paths with him back in 2001 during a dance project in Venice. She called him up and invited him to create. Lecavalier describes their initial studio encounters in 2005 as “very fast,” but the end product ended up being something totally unexpected.
When rehearsing movement sequences, Lachambre pushed Lecavalier to perform the movements in maxed-out slow-mo. This was contrary to how she worked with Lock, who focused on speed. “I’m deeply attracted to extremes!” she says with a laugh. “Finally, we found something in this slowness.” Lachambre baptized the piece “I” Is Memory. In this intense 45-minute solo, Lecavalier sports a baggy, hooded tracksuit and executes butoh-like movements coupled with breakdance contortions with only a ballet barre and chair as her set.
Finally came the hunt for the third part and finishing touch. “I needed something that moves fast... loose,” she says, searching for adjectives. “Something completely different from the Tedd [work] that was nervous, compact and minimal,” and a contrast to “Benoît’s strange mood.” She turned to Vancouver- based choreographer Crystal Pite. Although Lecavalier had never worked with Pite or even seen her dance, she was smitten by her upbeat creativity and the particular feel of her choreography. “Crystal came in with an idea that was completely constructed with a theatrical approach,” says Lecavalier, who playfully withholds details about her solo Lone Epic. She hints something about playing a quirky character surrounded by music stands, but the rest we’ll have to wait for.
LOUISE LECAVALIER PERFORMS NIGHTLY
UNTIL FEB. 10, 8 P.M. AT THE CENTRE
PIERRE-PÉLADEAU (300 DE MAISONNEUVE E.),
$33–$43, (514) 987-6919
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