Fortier Danse-Création

“Fortier’s elegantly reiterated movements were utterly mesmerising. (...) The two artists surprised the audience with a subtle yet effective coup de théâtre, ending on a vibrantly spirited note that prompted a more than well-deserved ovation.”
Giannandrea Poesio - The Spectator - Londres - 14 Octobre 2009

A disturbing universe removed from reality, a place beyond reason. A work that is part in situ performance and part installation art that journey in unusual places such as an indoor parking lot and a ballroom.

The trio of dancer and choreographer Paul-André Fortier, visual artist/writer/performer/musician Rober Racine and filmmaker Robert Morin came together for Cabane. The shack in question is a real, portable and readily convertible hut. It is a world unto itself - a shelter, a workshop, a screen or perhaps a mausoleum - enmeshed in spaces strongly evocative of luxury, poverty and artifice. A man dances a musical score of words and takes the measure of his territory while a musician (Racine) plays mesh-sprung box springs and, thanks to images created by Morin, a vulture takes flight. Ordinary objects lose their conventional designation as a door, walls and windows open up to a surrealist world. The stage technicians are visible under the simplified lighting of John Munro. A gibe at technological overkill?

Paul-André Fortier has been travelling the world for the past five years with Solo 30x30 (2006), exposed to the vagaries of the weather and the gaze of passersby - their indifference or their curiosity, their admiration, mockery or desire. (...) A dancing itinerant of no fixed address.

“The shelter of Cabane is a continuation of the site for Solo 30x30, but this time constructed and enclosed. It contains the whole world, and also evokes somewhat the island in La Tentation de la transparence (1991).” It is a self-contained universe that can be transported like a puppet theatre. Alive with the treasures of the imagination, it is a workshop, a nest, a womb, a home, a shelter built by long-time friend Daniel Vallée with no attempt at technical sophistication. “Rather than a lush, sumptuous approach, I wanted to play with ordinary everyday things.” (...)

Without really being aware of or delving into the direction the piece was heading into, during the genesis of Cabane the choreographer established a sort of chain of huts or shacks, each one linking up to the next, randomly intersecting according to the diverse experiences that occurred during the quasi-initiatory journey of Solo 30x30. These included installations viewed at the Yokohama Biennale of Contemporary Art, a flat-roofed shelter used for his solo in Nancy, France, the scale model of a scale-model used in Solo 1x60 - Un jardin d'objets (2006), and so forth. Added to these more or less accidental junctions and links was Rober Racine's account of his fascination for a cage of vultures he saw in Barcelona, as well as Robert Morin's interest in Racine's drawings of those birds of prey (Fantasmes fragiles, La galerie UQAM, 2005), with one thing leading to another. “The themes intertwined, and a desire to work together took shape.” notes Fortier. “When I was dancing 30x30 in Montreal, Rober came by almost every day. He would stay on the periphery, on the outskirts of the platform and the work site. He would walk along the fence, all alone with his umbrella. It was a performance in itself, and I was fascinated by this almost Beckett-like character, a character I wanted to hold on to.”

Text of Michèle Febvre, Associate Professor of the dance department at UQAM, for the programm of Festival TransAmériques 2008.

Cabane1

Cabane

Concept, choreography and direction Paul-André Fortier. Performers Rober Racine and Paul-André Fortier. Music Rober Racine. Visual Images Robert Morin. Lighting Design John Munro. Set Design and Accessories Daniel Vallée, based on a Paul-André Fortier's idea. Costumes Denis Lavoie. Instrument Maker (strings on "bedspring") Martin Ouellet. Rehearsal Direction Ginelle Chagnon. Choreographer's Assistant and Show Manager Ginelle Chagnon. Production and Technical Direction Guy Levesque. Stage manager Simon Pineau.

Co-producers Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, Canada; National Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada; Canada Dance Festival, Ottawa, Canada.

This work is dedicated to Françoise Sullivan. Premiered on May 2008 during Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, QC, Canada.