Dance en masse

>> Christine De Smedt's 9X9 taps into collective consciousness

by MARITES CARINO

I've often walked by the mysterious military building with the cannons on des Pins, corner of Hôtel-de-Ville, and wondered what exactly goes on in there. This was my chance: after years of curiosity, I'm finally going in, but not to observe any military drills. In fact, this is the first time that the Fusiliers de Mont-Royal armory has ever been used as a dance rehearsal space. After the security guard points me in the right direction, I walk into a space resembling a high school gym. In the centre, a pulsating blob of bodies pushes itself around in a big clump before an upbeat Aaliyah tune kicks in and the group scatters.

Belgian choreographer Christine De Smedt is hovering at the perimeter, scrutinizing the action. She's rehearsing her piece 9X9, for which more than 40 people between the ages of 16 and 25 have been recruited.

Since its creation in 2000, this is the 10th time 9X9 has been performed. Over a period of five rehearsals in as many days, nine dancers from Belgian artists' collective Les Ballets D. de la B. each work with nine non-dancers from the touring city. De Smedt uses this basic formula, changing the players in every city she visits. In Montreal, however, because of recruiting difficulties, there will only be 40 participants.

In the Netherlands, De Smedt worked with 72 babies accompanied by one parent each and in Portugal, she used people ranging in age from 55 to 81. Next stop is Glasgow, where De Smedt plans to work with a cast between the ages of one and 80.

"There is no audition for the piece," explains this choreographer who originally wanted to go to into sports or criminology before discovering dance. "We never say, 'No you're not good enough.' We try to work with people's physical differences." In the Montreal production, De Smedt uses the theme of pop culture to convey the energy and force of youth. "Whether it be screaming at a concert, in a field, or in a protest, screaming is something young people do in a group," she says. Scouring the papers, she found English and French advertising mottoes for the group to cry out in unison.

De Smedt traces her interest in working with large groups back to her youth in Belgium, growing up in a pilgrimage destination town renowned for an apparent miracle that had occured there. "There was a lumberjack who was sawing a tree, and the tree fell on his leg. So he went to pray and the next day, his leg was healed," De Smedt explains. She says that seeing droves of foreign pilgrims coming to her town fascinated her. "This movement of big groups, and the power of it, interested me--how people act in those groups, how people with individual interests form a temporary group, and how it then falls apart again."

In 9X9, she uses mathematical principles, such as permutations, to create organized chaos. "We use games as a choreographic structure. It's a game we make up ourselves with rules, but we will never be able to define when the game ends," she explains. "It's a game without winners, but it's a game that makes people live."

9X9 at L'Usine C, Oct. 4-6, $15-25, 524-0666