After two years of postponements, Sylvain Émard will present on stage his ambitious Rhapsody from February 22 with Danse Danse. The 20 performers will propel the Wilder Building Studio-Theater into a liberating 360-degree dance, which comes at just the right time. The show feeds on the ritual aspect of dance. It brings together on the same stage, and in the same momentum, humans whose exaltation is likely to resonate very strongly with an audience which, like them, has long been deprived of flesh and presence.
“We’re in high spirits! We are very excited to finally be able to go on stage! exclaims Sylvain Émard, nearly three years after beginning the process of creating his piece, which had to deal with several cancellations and postponements. Each time, the artist, whose career spans more than three decades, has risen to create new preludes to his piece, thus inventing a new way of working.
“Dancers needed to move, so I decided to pursue research in another way, to discover new paths. I wondered how, despite everything, we could give ourselves a semblance of gathering. What remains [de la pièce en création] ? remembers Sylvain Émard. From there were born Prelude #1 – The Circle and Prelude #2 – The square unveiled in October 2021, again a year later than expected.
“The ritual around the dance, the gathering, these are subjects that I care about for many years. Besides, each time I work on a creation, there’s always a bit of that aspect,” Sylvain Émard is surprised. In 2018, as he began to think about the contours of Rhapsody, he had had the pleasure of obtaining support from the National Creation Fund of the National Arts Center of Canada specifically intended for large-scale performances. “It was perfect! I always dreamed of working with a large distribution. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to create with twenty dancers. »
And then, crack. The pandemic has frozen everything. Sylvain Émard and his dancers finally returned to the studio for the first time in the spring of 2021, in the hope of “finally” being able to go on stage. The creator, however, had to face a reality that he had not anticipated. Several dancers had left the ship, some having completely abandoned the life of an artist. “About 50% of my distribution has changed in the last few months,” he calculates.
These changes nourished creation, infusing it with other energies. “Having 20 dancers allows you to create the mass, the crowd, but at the same time, it also allows you to move towards the individual and the intimate”, explains the creator. However, this last portion is intrinsically linked to the profile of the performers. For several months, Sylvain Émard developed his choreographic vocabulary in close collaboration with the performers.
A more organic way of creating that he has favored for the past ten years. “Before, I was more directive, more precise. I generated the whole vocabulary, I demonstrated it, and the dancers reproduced it,” he recalls. For Rhapsody, the choreographer wanted to give himself as much leeway as possible: he arrived with a few movement phrases, he listed the qualities he was looking for in this segment and then opened the conversation with the performers. “This type of exchange allows more freedom, especially since I take advantage [du fait] they are all excellent dancers. We’ve been working hard together for a long time now. They have transcended technique, it’s beautiful to see,” he says.
A great moment of joy
Constrained by sanitary measures, Sylvain Émard had to create most of his piece avoiding contact between dancers. Recently, these are allowed again, to the great relief of the creator. “I went around the two meters with the two Preludes. I would have been disappointed if we couldn’t go further,” he admits. Even today, dancers must nevertheless keep their mask on during all rehearsals. They will be able to remove it only for the shows. “Yesterday we danced without masks for the first time, there was a wave of happiness throughout the studio. It was crazy,” he adds, happy.
For an hour, the 20 performers will alternate a “hypnotic” joint dance with “calmer and more introspective” passages. “It’s a great moment of joy. The simple fact of seeing 20 dancers on stage is rare! We are not at all in the narrative, but really in the experience of a shared energy, which carries us throughout the duration of the show”, he explains.
To complete the experience, Sylvain Émard was able to count on two renowned composers: Poirier and Martin Tétreault, the former being a regular at dance floors, the second, an artist at the forefront of contemporary music. “It’s great and really enriching to see them working together! rejoices the creator.
Finally, spectators will be able to discover the artists “from all angles, since Rhapsody was designed in 360 degrees. A desire on the part of the creator since the premises of this project. “It’s not an easy choice: you need a suitable room and the dancers also have to adjust. But it allows the public to feel part of what is happening, concludes Mr. Émard. The dancers are then seen from all sides. It makes them vulnerable, but also very vibrant! »