2006: Show
Today, Monday July 13th 2020, it is the fifth journey back to my past as an amateur dancer with Art et Mouvement that I am presenting to you with a bunch of souvenir photos!
Behind the stage
The 2006 show took place at the Espace Rive Gauche in Mériel, and showcased different cultures of our world, inside and outside our planet, as well as jazz and contemporary ballets.
Although I only keep vague memories of it, this show has been in my head for a long time, as it was the first I was able to view many times on DVD. I believe in fate, except for when I write. So many times that I knew the choreographies by heart! The theme is interesting because it is exhaustive to want to represent different cultures. Concerning the mise-en-scène, the numbers RUSSIE, ITALIE (VENISE), and SPAIN are my favorite. I also like a lot the entertaining choreography and costumes of the EXTRATERRESTRES, just as much as the burlesque hairstyle. “Honeslty, have you ever seen aliens with a polished hairstyle?”, Delphine told us.
It is only when I viewed it again several years later that I noticed something interesting. In the world we now live in, I believe many people would blame Delphine for appropriating First Nations’ culture if they watched today the number LES INDIENS, in which the mise-en-scène and costumes would appear to them not only wrong, but above all humiliating, especially since the choreography ends up with a gun shot after which the dancers stop moving! More ironically, this choreography is immediately followed by that of the COWBOYS! I had mentioned this to Delphine when she was visiting Montreal recently, but she didn’t pay attention to that too much since her choreographies, she says, were representing America. Where does the research go sometimes? That anecdote was also mentioned in one of my written exams for the course Cinéma des différences taught by Michèle Garneau at Université de Montréal, in which the concept of the « Indien inventé » was studied.
Catch you next week for another story!