“It’s a circus dance, an aerial choreography, a poetry of the circus body. For acrobats. Because only they can do that. ” Therefore Johanne Madore, choreographer, former high-flying dancer for Carbone 14, talks about Nyx, his circus show for seven young people, all women — which is still rare. On stage, they will dance, move, meander through the acrobatic sculptures of Pierre Przysiezniak, and through female archetypes.
“We remain the artists that we are,” explains visual artist Pierre Przysiezniak. We take a certain language from the circus, and we integrate it into our already lengthy procedures. »
A couple for 37 years, the creators meet regularly along their individual artistic paths to compose together. They worked jointly on Kriegof Carbon 14, on AntennaëAnd The storytelling bodyamong others.
For NyxPierre Przysiezniak has created acrobatic sculptures, unique pieces of apparatus that replace wires, trapezes, hoops and ribbons.
And Johanne Madore seeks to “imbue these circus performers with choreographic thinking”. To find a way that Nyx is also danced, and “to see how an acrobatic gesture can nourish the narrative rather than being inseparable”.
Mazes and trapezoids
Traditional circus devices are very simple in their forms, recalls Mme Madore, “a line, three lines, a hoop… it’s the body that is complex in its movements”.
“Pierre’s acrobatic devices,” continues the choreographer, “his flying sculptures are a labyrinth. Just to find the holds without bumping, it’s sport. »
“By inventing apparatus which does not allow the snip-snap, this kind of rapid direct movement, I force them to live in a maze, continues Mr. Przysiezniak. It’s much more complicated for the body,” says the man who, for the scenography, worked with “real” materials: “aluminum, steel, hair, fabrics.”
“I may be reducing the spectacularity of the gesture,” continues Mr. Przysiezniak, “but I am taking the circus artists towards a more poetic movement, while drawing on their technical skills. A dancer couldn’t do what they do. »
“The devices call for another type of movement evolution, more serpentine. And through this, the performers already come to think of the spectacular differently. »
Circus brain
The circus performer’s brain is configured to manage X risk, explains Johanne Madore when asked about the difference she sees between working for dance or the circus. “All the training is based on that. The dancers have a whole different background. »
“This team of young women was curious, basically, to approach the body differently… That it was more porous, less rigid. We talk a lot about viscerability, about entering the body other than just through muscle, about bringing depth — that’s my somatic side, body mind centeringwhich I try to instill…”
And Mme Madore also works on all the dramaturgy. “The management of classic circus peaks is done differently: there are numbers which are linked, others which are cut off just before the peak… It is not a show where people will applaud after each stunt. »
In the narrative detours we can sense and feel a tribute to M’s grandmother.me Madore, significant figure, mentor and good fairy of freedom. “ Nyx, it’s like weaving, like the sewing that my grandmother also did. »
“I honor the handover, the wisdom, Nyx, it’s the alter ego, “the night brings advice”, this way of recognizing that, through her way of being, my grandmother held my hand until her death, at 106 years old. »
This Nyx, in Greek mythology, is goddess of the night, the mother of death, dreams and weavers of destiny. She is also the mother of Ether, primordial god of air, of Hemera the light and of the twin brothers Thanatos, but also of Hypnos, god of sleep.
“And it is the energy and the power of the feminine,” continues Mr. Przysiezniak. Mme Madore adds: “Like an initiation rite. I took a lot of inspiration from [l’autrice] Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Grandmothers’ dance (Pocket book)… By Laure Adler, too. »
Nyx is one of those projects that happened in stop-motion, with dates canceled due to pandemic, then postponed. Three performances took place in 2022, at the Diamant in Quebec, and received rave reviews. “An initiatory journey, dreamlike and of great beauty, which crosses the night to head towards the light,” said the critic of Quebec Journal.
“The fabrics that dress the artists and the stage are an integral part of the paintings that the choreographer Johanne Madore weaves, drawing inspiration from her childhood and the feminine archetypes that populate our collective imagination,” wrote The sun.
Now it’s Montreal’s turn, a year later.