Choreographer Georges-Nicolas Tremblay describes his show Faithless Fairies like a “musical dance” halfway between autobiography and fantasy, born from the desire to enrich the repertoire of queer French-speaking works. It begins on January 29 at the La Chapelle Scènes contemporains theater, as part of the Wildside festival.
The event, which also takes place at the Centaur Theater until February 8, aims to “celebrate innovation in the field of performance”, according to its curator Rose Plotek. Works of all genres are presented there, ranging from drama to comedy.
In interview at DutyGeorges-Nicolas Tremblay indicates that his piece Faithless Fairies constitutes a hybrid between the musical and the contemporary dance show. The one who is also a performer qualifies his work as queer, both by its form which departs from the norm and by its subject. The title also refers to the desire to question firm beliefs, such as the binary of genders, he says. “The goal is not to get locked into that. »
“The term “fé·e·s”, for me, is the idea of a fantastic tale and an imaginary character. It is therefore an option to be able to invent yourself as you want. The “fairy”, we don’t know their gender or sexuality, but that’s not important,” he continues. In Mr. Tremblay’s world, this word made up of midpoints means “to be queer” in French, he indicates.
His project was born in 2019, after he heard arts programmers express their difficulty in finding French speakers demonstrating “queer affirmation” on stage. English speakers perhaps recognize themselves more in this word taken from their language, says the Montrealer.
In collaboration with Simon Renaud, he presents a show punctuated with songs that he composed himself in the language of Michel Tremblay. English surtitles will still be displayed at the top of the stage. “The idea that [la pièce] or in French, it is perhaps a desire to add a work to the queer French-speaking repertoire. But it’s not that I want to make it inaccessible to English speakers,” he explains.
Finally arrive at yourself
Georges-Nicolas Tremblay confides that writing has always been part of his life. “I feel that this work allows me to come to terms with myself,” says the 45-year-old man. “It’s perhaps a little late,” he adds, specifying that he has danced a lot for other choreographers in his 25-year career.
For his show, he was interested in the “song of desire” — I want song — which is typical of the musicals he loves. “This is often where the character formulates his quest. »
Creating Faithless Fairies, Mr. Tremblay had the opportunity to question himself about his desires. “The idea of being “fairy” is one of them, clearly. It’s about just wanting to be without someone always having a comment to say about how I dress or express myself. »
The Wildside festival in two selected pieces
The piece is therefore both “autobiographical and fanciful”, maintains Georges-Nicolas Tremblay. It deals with self-acceptance, but with humor. “In this show, we all put ourselves in a pretty vulnerable position. Simon Renaud is not a singer and I am not either. We are basically dancers, but we have trained. »
End of the world cabaret
Still as part of the Wildside festival, the piece Act-pop! stopped in Montreal after more than 75 performances across Canada. Starting February 6, drag queen Pearle Harbour, played by Justin Miller, offers a cabaret at La Chapelle Scènes contemporains which will be in English with French surtitles.
In interview at Duty, Mr. Miller says everything that makes him anxious these days is in his show. Climate change, housing crisis, digital dependence: everything happens.
Equipped with “sparkling” costumes and makeup, Pearle Harbor addresses “what is bad, rotten and broken” in society. However, she tries to infuse it with a good dose of humor and hope, just to hold on.
Drawing on art can help us understand today’s issues, says Justin Miller. The thirty-year-old therefore revisits in his piece the pop mega-successes of David Bowie or Britney Spears by pairing them with current themes.
With Act-pop!, the Torontonian wants to remind us that humans have always been happy to say that the end of the world is imminent. ” But this is not the case. There is still time to change things and hope for a better future. »