Your fall guide to Montréal dance

The year 2016 is going to be a major turning point for contemporary dance in Montréal with the much-anticipated opening of Espace danse in the Wilder Building which will become home, in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, to four of Montréal’s leading dance companies: Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Tangente, École de danse contemporaine de Montréal and Agora de la danse. This promising performance centre boasts an infrastructure and equipment that will seal Montréal’s and Québec’s position as a world-class hub for creation and innovation in dance and the performing arts. Until then, dance’s key players, companies and organizations have been keeping the creative juices flowing to offer you a breathtaking program. Here’s a review of what’s on this autumn.

Charismatic and daring performances at Danse Danse

Danse Danse kicked off its season on October 1 with a fabulous triple program by the Ballet national du Canada, back after a five-year hiatus.

Next, five companies take over until December, with major productions and more intimate works. In October, the enclosed enclave of Bagne offers a new version of acrobatic dance-theatre that tells the story of the tender and fierce relationship between two convicts in search of love and liberty, performed by dancers from PPS Danse.

In November, Hofesh Shechter sets the Montréal stage ablaze with Sun, with a furious choreography set to explosive music where Wagner flirts with electro-rock, bagpipes and mantras, all interpreted by a singular tribe of 14 dancers. José Navas, for his part, offers us Rites, a series of solos marking the passage of time set to the music of Schubert, Dvořák, Nina Simone and Stravinski. Magestic, fragile, minimalist and moving.

Finally in December, BJM – Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal share three never-before-seen works with the public: Mono Lisa by Itzik Galili, an update on the classic pas de deux; Rouge by Rodrigo Pederneira, an homage to Aboriginal people; and Kosmos by Andonis Foniadakis, a showcase for the creative power of urban chaos.

See complete 2015-2016 program.

An introductory journey with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal

 A bridge between tradition and modern life, the new program by the Grands Ballets is buoyed by a “glimmer of hope”.

The company hooks up with a number of choreographers this year including Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián who comes back this October with Kaguyahime, the legend of the moon princess, who travels to the land of mankind and whose beauty creates chaos on earth. Moving to the beat of Kodo drums, the choreography is imbued with Japanese poetry and dazzling esthetic. December will make way for Fernand Nault’s timeless Nutcracker ballet, a story that never ceases to enchant young and old.

See complete 2016 program.

Alternative works and new trends by Tangente

For its 2015-2016 season, Tangente, a major player and trend-setter on the contemporary dance scene for the past 35 years, offers 31 choreographed works, including 21 world premieres.

In mid-October, Peter Trosztmer, performer and choreographer, will take your breath away with #BOXTAPE, a giant structure made of packing tape where the public is invited to be a part of the performance’s social environment. Presented at Griffintown – the paper factory. At October’s end, Lara Kramer, an artist whose works are intimately linked to her Aboriginal cultural roots, will hand over the stage to marginalized and taboo characters in the surreal and accessorized world of TAME.

In November, digital takes over with the triple program of Experience #1167, see-through and Relais Papillon, by Teoma Naccarato, Allison Nichol Longtin and Caroline St-Laurent, respectively: short performances where cameras, monitors, projectors, speakers and sensors merge with the dancers. With The Paradise, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines and Maria Kefirova team up for a dance duet that challenges us to reconsider the notion of paradise.

See complete 2015-2016 season.

A peek into the creative universe of Agora de la danse

In October, Karine Denault invites us to escape into her intimate and radiant world with her solo work, L’échappée.

With two whimsical characters who find themselves tied to each other with an elastic band, Tendre by Estelle Clareton will delight children (5 years old and up) in November. And lastly, choreographer, musician, dancer and jack-of-all-trades Frédérick Gravel delivers, alongside the talented Brianna Lombardo, a duo that looks like a realist painting in his brand-new creation, This duet that we’ve already done (so many times). After each Thursday show, don’t miss Meet the Choreographer, which gives you a chance to chat with artists and audience members and get a better understanding of the complex and magical world of contemporary dance.

See complete fall 2015 program.

Danse-Cité: a 34rd season about CONNEXITÉ

Four works about the connections between artists, collaborators and the arts themselves make up Dance-Cité’s 2015-2016 season. Don’t miss Triptyque, three encounters between circus and dance created by guest choreographers Marie Chouinard, Victor Quijada and Marcos Morau, under the artistic direction of Samuel Tétreault (award-winning circus acrobat and co-founding artistic director of Les 7 doigts de la main). To see in October at TOHU.

See complete 2015-2016 season.

Enjoy a dazzling autumn of dance!