Two years ago, dancer-choreographer Marie-Claude Poulin and media artist Martin Kusch teamed up to pool their skills. They’ve turned plenty of heads since with their collective creations. This month, the duo were invited for a residency at Tangente to create and develop a piece as part of Tangente’s Le corps éléctronique series. The resulting collaboration, //.présence./.techno./.labo.//., is, in Poulin’s words, “A spontaneous recipe where we bring all these people together to create something in two weeks.”

The duo set up 10 young dancer-performers with sensors attached to different body parts; their movements trigger various sounds and images on stage. Joined by three musicians, the group plays with the relationship between movement, sound and image. The fruits of their exploration will be open to all from Feb. 20–23.

Poulin says the goal isn’t to show how the technology works, but to propose different ways of creating poetry. “I have a broad definition of dance,” he explains. “It’s not a show, and we don’t want to present it as a show. We’re presenting fragments of experimentations.” Tickets are on sale at Tangente (840 Cherrier), 525-1500. : » Marites Carino

I am seduced. Belgian Dirk Braeckman’s black and white photographs make you feel like you just opened your eyes in the middle of the night in a darkened room. A bit blurred, limited tonal range, deep blacks, minimal light. Beds, doors, floors, walls, curtains, sheets. Light, not illuminating, but obliterating solid objects with its glare. The surfaces of the photographs are not glossy, but a beautiful interplay of texture and darkness.

The work is part of Dirk Braeckman: z.Z(T), now at L’Espace VOX (350 St-Paul E.). The exhibition also includes a projected video of someone sleeping and a series of smaller photographs of obscured shots of a variety of subjects ranging from skin to snow. “Dirk Braeckman’s art associates the senses of sight and touch,” writes Gregory Salzman in the text accompanying the exhibition. It’s a perfect show for this season of long nights. Runs until April 6. Info: 390-0382. : » Christine Redfern

Six performance artists from the world over come together tonight, Feb. 20, for a multicultural mishmash at Galerie Clark (5455 Gaspé, #114). Themes of displacement and exile propel Diaspora, a four-part show with a cast that reads like a UN round table. Kinga Araya (Poland), Constanza Camelo (Colombia), Flutura and Besnik Haxhillari (Albania) and Myriam Laplante (Bangladesh) have all left their respective countries of origin and currently - save for Laplante who lives in Italy - settled here in la belle province. Diaspora is a one-night-only event, though a small tour may be in the works. 8 p.m., 288-4972. : » Matthew Woodley

Actor, playwright and key Montreal Fringe Festival organizer Patrick Goddard is currently performing in the first local production of Quasi-Murder, the solo play he took to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer. It’s an adaptation of Attentat, the 1997 novel by controversial Belgian author Amélie Nothomb. “It’s a Beauty and the Beast story as told by the Beast,” says Goddard. “Except he doesn’t turn into a handsome prince at the end.”

Using a method he learned from One Yellow Rabbit’s Denise Clark, Goddard translated the entire novel and then read it aloud to his director, Jeremy Hechtman, over and over again. Goddard explains: “Gradually we just whittled the novel away. I did 18 performances of this show in Edinburgh, but it’s still always evolving.”

Quasi-Murder runs Wednesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., until March 1, at Centre des arts contemporains du Québec à Montréal (4247 St-Dominique). : » Vincent Tinguely

Here kitty kitty: A new gizmo may herald the end of illegible phone numbers etched into metal tags, futile “lost cat” posters, frantic calls to the SPCA and lonely, worried nights. The Catfinder Plus is a UHF radio-powered beeper that functions like many a modern cordless phone. It consists of a remote and a featherweight beeper that hangs around your feline’s neck. Simply press the button, perk your ears and follow the sound to the climactic site of reunion - just when you thought he was a goner. Catfinder also comes in handy for keys, kids, glasses and anything else you’re apt to misplace, www.housecat.com to order. : » Matthew Woodley

Again, is it art? In shooting video and still shots of her family garden in Japan, Shinobu Akimoto looks for the line between the “recognized professional authority” of her “art” and the potentially similar work of an amateur. Backyard shows at Skol (460 Ste-Catherine W., #511) from Feb. 22–March 29. • Make like a sculpture, kid: The Canadian Centre for Architecture is holding a workshop wherein children from 5-12 years old will create a costume then parade around the grounds of the CCA like living sculptures. The event, inspired by the current Herzog and de Meuron exhibition, runs from March 4-7, $2/$4, advance reservations required, 939-7026.:

Artistat: As it celebrates its 30th anniversary with several shows in China, the number of cities in which Longeuil-born rep-theatre company Les Deux Mondes has performed across the world: 200 :

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