The Principle of Pleasure

A ferociously sexy creature wearing a transparent black bodysuit and 6-inch high heels. He swivels his hips to the pop music of Janet Jackson, a clear invitation to leave your seat and come closer. In this place where anything is possible, only the law of desire applies. With no shame and no taboos, Gerard Reyes offers himself to the audience. Stripping, bondage, voguing.

He learned voguing from the masters Javier Ninja and Amazon Leiomy, hung out in transgender bars in Montreal and savoured wild, nights in the Berlin underground. For his first show this splendid performer, long associated with Marie Chouinard, breaks the rules of contemporary dance. Reyes plunges the spectator-voyeur into a sexually charged, glamorous atmosphere where the dancer’s body is on display for an adult audience, the spectator becoming an accomplice in a liberating eroticism. Conventions are erased and hierarchies collapse, giving way to a joyous, intoxicating — and oh so human — experience.

Produced by Gerard Reyes
Concept, choreography, performance and prelude remix Gerard Reyes
Music composed and remixed by Devon Bate Control Remix Ty Harper featuring the music of Janet Jackson
Lighting design Karine Gauthier
Costume design and tailoring Vincent Tiley in association Leigh Gallim
Make up design Jasmin Goldstein
Helmet design Persona non Grata
Artistic advisors Archie Burnett + Jordan Hall + Benoît Lachambre + Amazon Leiomy + Kristina Marlen + Matjash Mrozewski + Javier Ninja + Steven Serels + Ami Shulman  + Jose Xtravaganza

With the support of New York State Council On The Arts (NYSCA) + Hollins University Summer Program (Frankfurt) + Antenne du Québec à Berlin + Délégation générale du Québec à Bruxelles + Délégation générale du Québec à Paris+ Hollins University M.F.A. Dance Program (Virginia)

Artistic residences MAI – Montréal arts interculturels + The Door (New York) + The Spectrum (New York) + Tanzfabrik (Berlin) + Studio Mange mes pieds + Dancemakers (Toronto) + Danse à la carte

Presented by Fugues in association with Monument-National

Written by Diane Jean
Translated by Neil Kroetsch
Promotional video Philip Fortin + Pier-Louis Dagenais Savard

Premiered at Théâtre La Chapelle, Montreal, on September 15, 2015