Place des Arts will host dancer, choreographer and documentary filmmaker Rhodnie Désir until 2024. A great first for the organization, which already offers numerous residences for artists, but which wanted to “go further” by offering its rehearsal rooms yes, but also support and the possibility for the artist to intervene. in the various projects of the institution. This new long-term collaboration aims not only to allow the birth of a large-scale project, but also to promote dialogue between the various organizations of the Quartier des spectacles and the public.
In December 2020, Rhodnie Désir was invited to a panel at Place des Arts. She then met Clothilde Cardinal, director of programming, but also Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor of the Orchester Métropolitain de Montréal. “This day was really a turning point for me, a moment to remember, to celebrate”, recalls the artist. Same feeling on the side of Mme Cardinal. “It clicked! she says. It was precisely at that time that we launched a first call for projects for residences. »
My main frame is the human. There, I will try to find out who are the humans behind the institutions of Place des Arts.
Indeed, for nearly twenty years, Place des Arts has welcomed artists from all arts in residence. She has received Paul-André Fortier for several years, RUBBERBANDance and even more recently Kid Koala, as well as Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon with Les 7 Fingers. “We have six rehearsal rooms and we also manage public spaces and an exhibition hall. We are less known for this park than for our performance halls,” says Clothilde Cardinal, director of programming. During the pandemic, Place des Arts wanted to offer more of these spaces and launched a call for projects. In 2021, 244 residency days were offered to more than 124 artists.
That same year, Rhodnie Désir then benefited from these residences. However, near the end of it, Mme She and Cardinal talked about continuing the adventure in a whole new way.
Become more anchored
“What I appreciated in the artistic practice of Rhodnie, it was in particular the documentary side. We have public places, we talk to different clienteles… I thought that if we invited her, she would be able to take root in our home, be a bridge in the Place des Arts ecosystem,” explains Clothilde Cardinal.
Indeed, the work of Mme Désir examines socio-political movements and social issues. Her documentary choreographic series Bow’t Trail is dedicated to documentary research on the heritage of African cultures and rhythms in the Americas. To do this, the artist traveled six countries to document himself (Martinique, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, United States, Canada). Of his first work bow’t in 2013, a film, a documentary series and a web documentary were born. In 2020, Rhodnie Désir was twice awarded the Prix de la danse for her career and for the work of stage ambassador Bow’t Trail Retrospek.
Becoming an associate artist at Place des Arts inspired her to put on her researcher costume. “My main frame is people. There, I will try to find out who are the humans behind the institutions of Place des Arts and how we can build bridges that become lasting, develops the one who has worked for a long time in cultural action. I will explore each place with fresh eyes, like a game, go back to basics and bond. »
For Place des Arts, being associated with an artist represents the fact of offering her creative spaces, but not only. This association goes further than that. “I really see Rhodnie as a public body writer. She will obviously be able to participate in our various activities, but also intervene when she sees fit. We want to support her in her projects, but she will teach us as much as we will learn from her,” says the former Danse Danse programmer. With this long-term collaboration, Place des Arts hopes to “strengthen the role we want to play in the community in the coming years, to be more rooted,” she says.
A large-scale project
Place des Arts and Rhodnie Désir have agreed on a large-scale project. symphony of hearts, one of the highlights of their collaboration, which will end in three years, is a choreographic piece with some twenty dancers, in collaboration with, among others, the Orchester Métropolitain and Danse Danse, as well as a documentary exploration with the NFB . “I start from faults, heart instabilities, such as heart failure, heart murmur, arrhythmia… After interviewing people who live with these abnormalities, I will try to make a connection with the social context. Has someone with heart failure lacked love, for example? she asks herself.
Thus, for the next three years, the choreographer Rhodnie Désir will focus on this research which will gradually become a “large-scale show”, in particular by bringing together different actors from Place des Arts. “How can we unite our universes, nourish our ambitions and not undo our art? How to create this 3e art between us? she asks herself.
Place des Arts, for its part, undertakes to support Rhodnie Désir, both in the loan of rooms and in the exchange of advice and expertise. “It’s a magnificent project that responds to the values we want to promulgate. We want to create works that are part of a lasting reflection on the power of the arts and how they can change the world,” concludes Ms.me Cardinal.