“The diffusion of dance is going well in Quebec,” reveals Annie-Claude Coutu Geoffroy, new director of La danse sur les routes du Québec. With its short history, so fresh, contemporary dance has taken great strides. Because in 1997, there were only 8 presenters sometimes presenting dance outside Montreal and Quebec. In 2017, there were 16 of them offering some 200 shows. Last year, 32 presenters invited 359 different shows, presented by 87 companies. A major difference for the creators and the life of their works.
Nearly 80% of the shows presented on tour in the province are Quebec creations. “For things to continue to go well, we really need more funds,” underlines Annie-Claude Coutu Geoffroy, in reaction to the latest Quebec budget for the arts. A budget that does not allow La danse sur les routes du Québec (DSR) to continue its evolution, she believes.
Indeed, everything is not rosy. The pandemic has left its mark: “We are showing in more places,” notes DSR, places which are each showing more performances, “but each performance is more difficult to fill than in 2018.”
Expenses have increased, revenues have not kept up. “We note that the market share of each artist is decreasing. In other words, there are more dance shows being broadcast, but more artists are performing less frequently and are becoming poorer. »
The number of spectators per performance fluctuates from one year to the next. By representation, there were 232 in 2018-2019, 120 in 2021-2022, 205 in 2022-2023.
“I don’t know how to read this drop in spectators,” confides Annie-Claude Coutu Geoffroy, “because I also have a broadcaster member who told me “this year, it was the best season of my life!”. I think this quality is very important. »
What does the public want?
“There are new projects emerging, such as Rhapsody, by Sylvain Émard. A show-event: eight cities will host it in the spring. » Twenty performers dance there, surrounded by the audience. A study of the mass movement, that is.
Twilight gamesby Ariane Boulet, on aging, inspired by the work in CHSLDs where the team dances with the residents, is another type of show which is also being filmed.
Again ? Midnight somewhere, presented in February at Danse Danse, will appear in 31 cities. This showcase show is made up of eight scenes by recognized choreographers, including Anne Plamondon, Ismaël Mouaraki and Marie Chouinard, and danced by ten performers.
This show is an example, underlines Mme Coutu Geoffroy, of the way in which the work of presenters specializing in dance can be done hand in hand with the plurality of the regions. “It is the specialists who still hold dance creation at arm’s length; they are the prescribers. »
To think about the diffusion of dance, “you have to ask yourself what the public wants to see,” says M.me Coutu Geoffroy. An almost taboo question, because the answer can emerge from marketing or populist expectations, from constraints seen as an obstacle to the freedom of the choreographer… or as a way of building the relationship with the public, the audiences.
“I think the public’s desires are different from what they were before the pandemic,” confides the director of the DSR. “I think we need hope. We need joy. »
The great school of dance
Are there regions that welcome dance more warmly? “Lanaudière is really the locomotive,” said M, smiling.me Coutu Geoffroy, who worked there for 15 years to create a network, with museums, art centers, municipalities. Baie-Comeau, Rimouski, Sept-Îles and Gaspé, which work jointly, are also welcoming.
Ultimately, isn’t it dance education that is causing this art to slowly gain ground in the region? “It’s not for nothing that it’s called the Dance Development Program (PDD), our business,” replies M.me Coutu Geoffroy.
“We directly develop the interest and knowledge of multidisciplinary presenters”, who compose their seasons, income required, while also juggling humor, music, youth shows, theater… With this PDD, “we don’t do just give money to broadcasters: they have to get involved.”
They undertake to participate in three programming meetings per year, to follow mandatory training courses, to come at Parcours Danse [la rencontre professionnelle annuelle sur la danse] and at the TransAmériques Festival. “Those who participate are really motivated and curious. »
Recently, these broadcasters have shown themselves curious about the disciplines. “The jig has done quite well in recent years, so at the last Parcours Danse we did an evening of traditional dance, with the group Bon Débarras. It was packed. »
“There, they are interested in urban dances: we are setting up a two-day training course on street dance, developed by Alexandra “Spicey” Landé. »
All of this takes time — even completing this kind of training takes time. Dance tours in Quebec become possible through the solidification of networks and relationships. “It takes time, people, meetings between… everyone…”
The possibility of maintaining this program and its growth, fueled essentially by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, worries the director of the DSR. “Ensuring the continuity of the PDD which currently supports 32 broadcasters is the crux of the matter for us. »
“During the pandemic, we received special help. If it is not renewed, it will not be able to include these 32, which will not allow them to consolidate their ability to program the dance. »
“It would be disastrous. The diffusion of dance in the territories is currently carried out largely by these members, who each include five to six different dance shows in their season.
More money would make it possible to move more quickly towards the next stages: organizing more creative residencies in the regions, consolidating those that exist, to allow artists to settle down, with their work and their vision, in a community.
Perhaps also having “a presenter who adopts a choreographer for a few years, so that he has more time to create, so that spectators can witness and share the evolution of a creation”, or the long-term approach of a choreographer, launches Annie-Claude Coutu Geoffroy among the ideas that the DSR is brewing.