In the darkness of a theater basement, a strange shape weaves its way between transport crates. She disappears when four young people, armed with their flashlights, descend a staircase that leads them to this intriguing lair. Then begins an exploration of the place which will be quickly led by a fifth character, Glitch, a laser with which they undertake a hypnotic crossing.
With glitchpremiered last Sunday at the Maison culturelle et communautaire de Montréal-Nord, Hélène Langevin, artistic director, director, choreographer of Bouge de là, and Audrey Bergeron, choreographer, propel spectators into a parallel universe where colorful costumes , surreal characters, wacky tableaux follow one another to the sound of a beat removing, most often an electro music in phase with the exploded proposal.
On stage, the four actor-dancers move to the rhythm of the music, but above all dance with the laser which dictates their movements, which delimits the space in which they can move. The mastery of choreographic movements is very successful for this purpose. Sneaking between the thin beams of light, and spinning around while giving the impression of being motionless, in symbiosis with the square of light under his feet, are some examples of the skill and physical strength deployed by the four artists throughout these 55 minutes.
We follow the characters in what ultimately looks like a huge surreal painting, an artistically ordered mess, a dream populated by curious characters in which anything can happen and everything is sublimated. Each painting thus takes on this impression of strangeness intensified by the laser, but also by the music of Bernard Falaise, omnipresent, and by the inventiveness of the costumes, created by Marilène Bastien.
Create the illusion
Among the highlights, we first remember this organic dance between two theriantropic creatures (Marianne Gignac-Girard and Gabrielle Surprenant-Lacasse) decked out respectively in a stag’s head and a rabbit’s head. And as if to add to this surreal effect, each mask is adorned with an additional face located behind the head, which gives the impression that four figures are indulging in this enigmatic dance. José Flores is particularly moving when he dances solo with the laser, an impalpable object that he manages to grasp with his hands, and creates a form that resembles a butterfly. The effect is total.
Finally, in this crazy and psychedelic proposal, humor crisscrosses the tables and creates friendly moments, ensuring a bond between these amazing characters and the room. At the head, José Flores who plays with a neon green and faceless puppet – played admirably by Marianne Gignac-Girard -, moving it as he pleases and once again creating the illusion that he is in total control. Hélène Langevin and Audrey Bergeron ultimately offer an artistically precise, calculated and rigorous show to which children, young and old, quickly adhered. The laughter, the reactions and the standing ovation — a rarity in youth theater — testified to this success.