Riding tandem

>>Theatre and dance work together
at Festival TransAmériques

PICKED UP AND PICKED OVER: mady-baby.edu

by NEIL BOYCE

“It’s all about new ways of telling people’s stories,” says Festival TransAmériques founder/ director Marie-Hélène Falcon.

2006 marked the change from the biennial Festival de Théâtre des Amériques (and its off-year partner fest, Théâtre du Monde) to the current FTA that retains the acronym, marries dance and theatre in its programming, and saves on getting the linen remonogrammed.

“We became annual, which made a big difference,” says Falcon. “It’s not the same dynamic exploring one discipline with 20 shows and two with at least the same number—it’s also interesting to see how theatre and dance people cross over and to hear audiences compare styles.”

While the line becomes more blurred each year, this edition is the first to have a majority of dance over theatre. Falcon brushes off the idea that theatre is becoming a diminishing part of the festival: “I’ve always thought the FTA must grow with the current modes of expression and not be limited to one discipline, because the approach of artists today—directors or choreographers—is to use all means at their disposal to express themselves, to allow all new technologies into their work.”

Apart from the premiere of Marie Chouinard’s two-act ballet Orphée et Eurydice, there aren’t many blockbusters this year. Instead, a range of productions both curious and bold fill the 15-day event. Running the gamut from meditative to frenzied, virtually all forms of theatre and dance—whether poetic, abstract or activist—are represented.

Gianina Carbunariu’s blunt story mady-baby.edu, about the prostitution and pursuit of the Western dream of a Romanian girl, has already received raves worldwide. And, when pressed for a single favourite in the festival, it’s the first play Falcon mentions. “mady-baby.edu was really a heart stopper...those young Romanian artists!” she swoons. “It’s a beautiful piece, done with nothing, the actors are fantastic and it is really, deeply moving.”

What is a theatre fest without Chekhov? Two works from the gloomy Russian master are featured: Iwanow, from the German company Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, is conducted entirely in a fog-blanketed stage where performers eerily emerge. From Brazil, Enrique Diaz offers a radically different take on a familiar work with Seagull-Play, where the usual props are discarded, characters are switched and actors critique the play as they perform it.

Import/Export, from Montreal company Porte Parole, uses interviews and found dialogue to construct texts focusing on vital social issues. Here, the effects of globalization hit home in the true story of a Canadian clothing manufacturer shutting down its Quebec plant and moving operations to China (more on this next week).

Other highlights: ’60s ideology meets post-millennial conformism in 7 Important Things from Ottawa’s STO Union; Louise Bombardier’s 21-tableaux piece on autistic children, Petits fantômes mélancholiques; a rap parody of the Ten Commandments in Oxygène and Marie Brassard’s look at ghostly ephemera in l’Invisible.

Shows on the cheap (or free); Noémie Lafrance’s Melt kicks things off May 22 with a free outdoor show at the Place des Arts Esplanade where wax will drip from performers’ bodies under the hot sun. La Marea transforms Emery Street into a huge performance venue, scheduled and impromptu meetings with authors and actors, art exhibits, readings and films.

Festival TransAmériques, May 22–June 5.
Tickets: (514) 844-3822, www.fta.qc.ca