Modern movement

Strong competitors, long-awaited
returns and the Transatlantique
festival get you into the rhythm

BALLET BOUND:
Winners of Les Grands Ballets’s choreography competition

by MARITES CARINO

Saying goodbye to summer means saying hello to the new dance season and the overwhelming options for weekly dance outings. Here’s a list of fall must-sees in a dance-by-month collection:

SEPTEMBER GROUPINGS

Kicking it all off is the annual fall contemporary dance event Transatlantique Montreal (Sept. 20–Oct. 4). In its sixth edition this year, the fest is held at various venues across the city, and includes street performances, film screenings, artist talks and conferences. Some of the names to look out for include Chanti Wadge, Andrew Turner, Meena Murugesan, Hélène Blackburn and Edgar Zendejas.

Short works by emerging artists—that’s the theme at Tangente the last weekend of this month (Sept. 26–28). On the main floor, the annual Danses buissonnières showcases first professional works mostly by dance program grads. This year’s crop includes a sextet of pieces.

At l’Agora (Sept. 25–28), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal launches their fall season with a fresh program that features the winners of its first national choreographic competition that was held last year.

The participants had five weeks to create a piece that clocked in under 25 minutes for company dancers. Check out the final results by movement makers Jean-Sébastien Couture, Shay Kuebler, Lacey Smith and Tiffany Tregarthen.

FESTIVAL MAVEN:
Meena Murugesan in Aval at Transatlantique

OCTOBER ORIGINALS

The last time we saw a work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui was way back in the fall of 2003 with his epic Foi. Only in his 30s, the Flemish choreographer has an eclectic style of movement creation and thrives on elaborate sets and soundtracks. Cherkaoui, his 14 actor-dancer-acrobats and seven musicians are finally returning to the city with Myth (Oct. 10–11, Théâtre Maisonneuve), which was created in 2007 about the dark sides of being.

On a smaller stage, the exceptional José Navas returns to solo work after having spent seven years choreographing for others. A captivating performer and mover, Navas breaks it down in miniatures (Oct. 23–Nov.1, Agora de la danse). The full-length work assembles and weaves seven brief solos choreographed and performed by Navas himself to music by Bach, Debussy, Chopin and Gershwin.

The quartet Quarantaine 4X4 by Charmaine LeBlanc was an unexpected gem of a performance this past spring. So much that Danse-Cité decided to bring it back (Oct. 21–23, Société des arts technologiques).

LeBlanc originally created the piece for four women dancers, but transposed the concept to the XY set this year. The seasoned dancers, all in their 40s, Marc Béland, Marc Daigle, Benoît Lachambre and Ken Roy open up and reveal their vulnerabilities, thoughts and strengths through movement, song, text and video.

PERFECT ALLUSION:
Ken Roy in Quarantine 4X4

NOVEMBER’s LADIES

Dancer Naomi Stikeman is the brains behind Çaturn (Nov. 5–15), which was created in residency at Usine C. The multimedia work includes video, theatre and dance by choreographers Crystal Pite and Peter Chu. Apart from directing the production, Stikeman, a former dancer with La La La Human steps, performs with Chu and closes the 2008 dance year at Usine C.

Local dancer-choreographer Marie-Claude Rodrigue shows her new work Territoire féminins at the MAI (Nov. 20–30). Rodrigue, a former figure skater turned dancer with Ginette Laurin’s O Vertigo, was inspired by contemporary poetry, aboriginal and Taoist rituals.

Last but not least, it’s been ages since we’ve seen choreographer-dancer-actress Dulcinea Langfelder on stage. Rewind to 2000 and you may remember her memorable performance in Victoria in which she played a wheelchair-bound, fast-talking, feisty 90-year-old woman slowly losing her memory. Since then, Langfelder has moved on to create a piece that addresses the origin of her name. Dulcinea’s Lament (Nov. 12–19, D.B. Clarke Theatre) looks at Don Quixote’s muse and Langfelder’s vision of the world and its history.