Dance and deliver

>> This season brings one fantastic festival and much multidisciplinary movement

by MARITES CARINO

It's that time of the year again, where dance options are overwhelming and my calendar is screaming with shows to see. Since 2001 marks the biennial Festival International de Nouvelle Danse (FIND), there's a choice of over 100 shows over the next four weeks.

But first, for some pre-Festival dance, the annual Danse Buissonnière (Sept. 13-16) opens Tangente's fall season . It's a showcase mainly for dance students and graduates, and for anyone else who has something to say through dance. A little on the hit-and-miss side, there are always gems to be found. Also this month, if you missed it the first time around, you've still got another two days to see David Pressault's Violet, which continues at L'Agora de la danse until Saturday, Sept. 15.

The countdown has begun for Sept. 19, the beginning of the three-week FIND. If you're a Mikhail Baryshnikov fan, by now you've heard that the artistic director-dancer is bringing his company, the White Oak Dance Project to the festival. The work PASTForward rewinds to dance in the '70s by such revolutionary choreographers as Lucinda Childs, Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton and then reworks some of the classics with a splash of the present.

While the fest is going on, don't forget about the OFF-FIND, dance off the main stage, at Studio 303, weekends at

11 p.m. This year, look out for a work inspired by cockfights and animal husbandry from Vancouver's Battery Opera, a glimpse of Suzanne Miller and Allan Paivio's MAPS, where dancers are costumed in LEDs (light-emitting diodes, or, colloquially, flashing lights), and Erin Flynn's Prysm, about the adventures of a bubble girl.

This year, the festival is teaming up with the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) to bring together dance, music and technology. Thursday through Saturday during the festival, DJs, VJs and musicians will animate dancers and the public through nocturnal performances. Keep an eye out for something called the I-Dance, the brainchild of Axel Morgenthaler and Marc Lavallée, which takes the movements of people on the dance floor and translates them into a sonorous and visual surrounding for your pleasure. More festival details in the weeks to come.

They like to move it

Post-fest, The Queen of Spades is playing at Place des Arts, Oct. 18-27. This ballet, which was inspired by a short story by Russian author Alexander Pushkin, opens the season for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

October starts off the Émergence series at Tangente, which features young choreographers on the rise such as Joe Hiscott, who presents In, a work that includes video and Toronto-based choreographer Sara Porter with Indestructible Dances, a work with a super-hero twist

(Oct. 25-28).

Same building different stage, over at L'Agora de la danse Sylvain Émard Danse has a two-week run with Scènes d'intérieur (Oct. 24-Nov.3), a sextet that examines everyday life through movement and video.

November starts with a multidisciplinary work by a newly formed local collective, whose members are Héloïse Rémy, Katie Ward, and Kha, called Plus que ça c'est trop at the Cinquième Salle de la Place des Arts (Nov.7-17). Also, Et après on verra bien opens the Danse Danse season at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau

(Nov. 8-10). The show swirls together dance, theatre, and circus arts, and is brought to you by French companies Anomalie and HDVZ (Hendrick Van Der Zee).

It's been a while since we've seen anything by local choreographer Irèni Stamou, but she's back that same weekend at Tangente in the Majors Series. Excerpts from Stamou's latest solo creation share the run with Tunisian choreographer Imed Jemâa (Nov. 8-11). Finally, Laurence Lemieux's work Novembre, Sarah Williams' collaboration with musician-composer Jackie Gallant, and Stephane Boko's Out of the darkness round out the Majors Series (Nov. 22-30).

It's a busy month over at L'Agora de la danse too. First up, artist Anne-Marie Giroux, who works in video, sound and sculpture, presents a world premiere of Aube et crépuscule

(Nov. 14-17) and French company Schmid Pernette gives a North American premiere of Le Sacre du printemps et suites (Nov. 21-24).

If you're more into ballet, there's a performance of Sleeping Beauty by the Cullberg Ballet (Nov. 22-24), choreographed by Mats Ek of Sweden, at Place des Arts.

The Ballet Atlantique crosses waters to Montreal for the first time in December to present La Danse du temps (Dec. 1), by choreographer Régine Chopinot. Don't miss their one-night performance at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau where 16 dancers of three generations take the stage. Land artist Andy Goldsworthy, whose work graces the Montreal Cirque du Soleil headquarters, contributes film and décor, and Vietnamese composer Tôn-Thât-Tiêt, creates the soundscape for this multi-generational composition.

Since December means the end of the school semester, students in dance programs at Concordia, UQÀM and LADMI will be putting their homework on stage, so watch for them.

And of course, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens rounds off the month with The Nutcracker at Place des Arts (Dec. 15-30).