Sun Launière | Torn between two identities

Twice a month, The Press presents news from the world of theatre, circus and dance, in Montreal and Quebec.

Stephanie Morin
The Press

As a child, the multidisciplinary artist Soleil Launière was not very talkative. To the point of worrying his teachers and encouraging his parents to consult a specialist. The verdict quickly fell: the little girl chose what deserved her attention and only responded to what tempted her. Nothing more, nothing less.

The anecdote is not trivial. At 36, born in Mashteuiatsh to an Innu father and a Quebec mother, the artist felt the need to speak out for the first time in her life. “It’s a big step for me,” she says.

Because if Soleil Launière has often used gestures or music in his artistic practice, this time, it is the words that are put forward for his show. Akuteu, presented from Thursday at the Jean-Claude-Germain hall of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui (CTD’A). “Aketeu is the moose that is hung upside down and offers itself as food. It is the animal that offers its soul. And like him, I will offer myself to the public. »

What she has to say is both very intimate and very universal. It’s the tugging of a woman caught between two cultures, whose roots are looking for a land to sink into. “I go unnoticed when I walk down the street: it doesn’t look like I’m indigenous, but I have this identity inside of me. My mixed race is part of me. I live with a shame of being between two worlds, but also a pride. These two poles which each pull on their side have shaped the being that I am. Akuteu is a form of artistic birth for me. »

Her show alternates between confessions and poetry, between words and body performance, she says. “I wanted to deal with the plural reality of Aboriginal people, but it was also important for me that the text speak to a multitude of people and communities. Whether it is a question of gender identity, cultural identity or our relationship to the big city and nature, many of us live in this in-between. »

She adds: “Myself, I do not fall into a single gender unit. I am two-spirited and do not represent myself only as a woman. I am in the non-binary of things. It’s part of me to be between two worlds. »

Sharing with the public

However, she would like to point out that with Akuteu, it expresses itself on its own reality, not on that of an entire community. “How do I speak for everyone when it’s so hard to do it just for myself? she wonders. Here, I talk about my relationship with my sister, with my father… I share with the public my territory, both personal and geographical… Hoping that it affects other people. »

For this first solo theatrical show, the artist, who is beginning a two-year residency at the CTD’A, was helped in particular by Dany Boudreault, who served as her dramaturgical advisor. “Dany comes from Roberval, on the other side of Lac Saint-Jean from Mashteuiatsh, where I grew up. He experienced racism against Aboriginal people from the outside, I experienced it from the inside. We grew up in two different realities…”

But beware, Akuteu is neither a claiming spectacle nor a pamphlet. “I’m very much in love with this show. I need light in what I choose to do these days. Even if the subjects are difficult, I want to see hope. »

Until May 7 at the Jean-Claude-Germain room of the CTD’A

Also on display

The dark side of the moon

For those who haven’t seen it yet, Le Diamant à Québec is resuming this magnificent solo show with Yves Jacques. Remember that the actor has played this play by Robert Lepage, produced by Ex Machina, around 500 times around the world. He also defended it in duet with Lepage in an adaptation for television. Created in February 2000 at Trident, in Quebec, this autobiographical work by Lepage pays homage to his mother, who died shortly before. The hidden face of the artist is revealed there in layers, over the course of the performance, through the mourning of the protagonist.

Luc Baker, The Press

At Le Diamant, until April 30

Radiant Vermin

The Théâtre de la Marée Haute, in conjunction with La Manufacture, presents radiant vermin, by Philip Ridley, directed by David Strasbourg. This production flirts with black humour, fantasy and “Stanley Kubrick-like strangeness”. Radiant Vermin addresses the issue of gentrification and its social impacts. The piece also criticizes the overconsumption society “which tends to trivialize cruelty towards the most deprived”, the press release adds. Sylvie Moreau is part of the cast with Anne-Marie Binette and Michel-Maxime Legault.

Luc Baker, The Press

At La Petite Licorne, until May 13

100 seconds to midnight (the capture)

April 22 will be Earth Day. The Théâtre Aux Écuries will take the opportunity to launch the webcast of the show 100 seconds to midnighta creation of Michelle Parent, of Pirata Théâtre, which was to be presented in theaters last January; and which could not be postponed. “A choral work where the tragic and the playful come together, 100 seconds to midnight is based on a high-risk game: performers fight against the clock to address the audience, at the same time as they have to generate the energy needed to light part of the performance themselves. , we explain in the press release. The piece is part of a trilogy around “the collapse of life”, a cycle initiated with the show How to marry a billionairecreated in 2020 at the same location.

Luc Baker, The Press

Webcast, from April 22 to May 15, on the Théâtre Aux Écuries website

Attacks on his life

Newly appointed head of Prospero, Philippe Cyr has also been very present at Usine C for several years. From Tuesday, the director presents in this place Attacks on his life, an enigmatic kaleidoscope of 17 scenarios for theatre. This sulphurous musical play by Martin Crimp, one of the leading playwrights of contemporary theatre, has been staged for the first time in Quebec. The British author draws the portrait of “an absent woman with multiple identities”: Anne, Anny, Annie, Annushka. “In turn terrorist, visual artist, porn star or European car brand, she becomes the target of all violence. An essential and topical reflection on collective sadism, ”says the press release from Usine C. With Ève Pressault, Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Iannicko N’Doua and Maxime Genois.

Luc Baker, The Press

At Factory C, until April 30

Luna

Les Grands Ballets are back with a mixed program inspired by the Moon, and its effect on our planet and its peoples. Luna brings together four rooms with a contemporary aesthetic, including From Sun to Moon, created by Vanesa GR Montoya, principal dancer for the company. Also on the program, Beguile, by Vancouver artist Lesley Telford, a former dancer with the Montreal troupe who made a career with the renowned Nederland Dans Theater. The Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau offers for his part Fukuoka, presented as a collision between flamenco and contemporary dance. Finally, the Montreal choreographer of Mexican origin Edgar Zendejas proposes the pas de deux Luna’s Sonatainspired by the voice and music of Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso.

Iris Gagnon-Paradise, The Press

At the Théâtre Maisonneuve, from April 28 to 1^er may