Major repair work is still underway in the premises of the UQAM Dance Department, six weeks after major water damage. Pavilion K remains “inaccessible until further notice,” according to the Department’s website. All summer courses have been relocated: six of the seven rooms specially adapted for dance are damaged, and one of them – the swimming pool theater – will now be used as a theater.
« All summer term courses [qui a débuté le 29 avril] are relocated. The research-creation activities of graduate dance students have also been relocated,” indicates the Department.
All practical dance classes have been moved to spaces with resilient floors and other adequate equipment, assured Jenny Desrochers of UQAM communications. It is the Judith-Jasmin pavilion and the sports centers which provide the reception areas.
Water damage caused significant damage [au pavillon de la rue Cherrier.] Major repair work is underway and will continue over the coming weeks,” said Mr.me Rocks.
Among the affected spaces, three studios on the first, second and third floors of the pavilion “are already being renovated, in particular the wooden floors ensuring resilience to preserve the health” of the dancers who use the studios.
Remember that in dance, resilient floors are essential: the surface must be smooth and regular, and the floor flexible enough to distribute a high impact force. The goal: to absorb shocks as much as possible – such as landing from jumps – and thus spare the joints of the dancers as much as possible, who must repeat these gestures a lot.
What happened to the theater swimming pool in all this water? The former “training pool transformed into a performance space, located on the ground floor of the dance pavilion, will regain its functions as a practical classroom for students in the programs of the Higher School of Theater of the ‘UQAM’.
“This place is currently undergoing renovation, which is on a smaller scale than that of the studios mentioned previously,” continues the publicist. One less place for dancing, therefore.
The pavilion’s large performance hall, located on the second floor, which was occupied for 25 years by the Agora de la danse before becoming in 2017 a performing arts and interdisciplinarity laboratory for the exclusive use of UQAM, has also suffered significant damage.
“The technical equipment has already been dismantled to allow the reconstruction of the floor of the room, which is in progress,” continues Mme Rocks.
UQAM is aiming for the fall to reintegrate the Department’s spaces.