Solitudes Solo

Press

“[…] [S]ome elements might appear anywhere: pirouettes, crouching positions, dancers balanced on one leg, jumps from a standing position […]. This dance is not at all narrative and hardly even emotional in the strict sense of the word. [The occasional gesture of] hands and eyes turning upwards, as if there might be something to hope for or expect from up there, is an absolute exception. Abstraction, then, yet far more than merely the administering of movement. The soundtrack takes this one step further: Either there is silence or violin music by Bach; highly spiritual sounds that could make the action on stage appear even colder. But the choreographies are too strong, too concentrated, too elemental for that. […]”
Neue Presse, 8 September 2018

Preview text

The work of French-Canadian choreographer Daniel Léveillé defies compartmentalisation. The very idea of a solo for five dancers reveals his offbeat way of thinking, and his choreographies are so physically demanding, they are considered almost impossible to realise. Yet his performers pull off the feat with ease; concentrating on the essential, they direct all their attention on the body and its potential, its achievements and failures. And in this way, Léveillé lets the vulnerability and individuality of the person shine through the mastery and the challenges. Léveillé has been making uncompromising dance-art for forty years and founded his company in Montréal almost three decades ago. The award-winning work “Solitudes Solo” is among his signature pieces: Set to a Bach violin sonata, it weaves elements of solitude into a fabric of great intensity.

(approx. 60 mins.)

Watch a video on Vimeo

cast & credits

Choreography: Daniel Léveillé
Dance: Mathieu Campeau, Esther Gaudette, Justin Gionet, 
Emmanuel Proulx, Simon Renaud
Dancers at creation: Mathieu Campeau/ Manuel Roque, Esther Gaudette/ Lucie Vigneault, Justin Gionet, Emmanuel Proulx, Gaëtan Viau
Apprentice: Marie-Ève Lafontaine
Light design: Marc Parent
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costumes: Geneviève Lizotte
Rehearsal director: Sophie Corriveau

Production: DLD - Daniel Léveillé Danse
Co-production: Festival TransAmériques, Montréal/ Centre chorégraphique national de Rillieux-la-Pape, direction Yuval Pick/ Theater im Pumpenhaus, Münster/ Agora de la danse, Montréal/ fabrik Potsdam/ Atelier de Paris – CDCN/ Département de danse de l’Université du Québec à Montréal

With the support of: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec/ Canada Council for the Arts