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Festival TransAmériques
May 22 to June 5, 2025
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HEART AS ARENA

DANA GINGRAS

Highly charged hearts seek to embrace radio waves. An eminently physical parallel between the mechanics of human encounter and the mechanics of energy.

Details

A UFO-like constellation of some 30 vintage radios hovers above the stage in Heart As Arena. Receiving broadcasts from transmitters onstage, they form an electromagnetic epicentre where human relationships are expressed as static, silences and love songs. Engaged in a fiery embrace with radio waves as they decode the secret language of the heart, the dancers become homing devices tuning in to the right frequencies, revealing the invisible structure of terrestrial networks, metaphors for the mysteries of love. Electric energy courses through at warp speed, zapping a few victims in passing. Hearts race in breathless excitation, and hearts break. Interference jams reception of the signal. Few end up on the same wavelength.

After juxtaposing live movement with animated projection in Smash Up (FTA, 2008), the Vancouver dancer and choreographer Dana Gingras joined forces with sound designer Anna Friz to choreograph energy, tracing a surprising parallel between the mechanics of human encounter and the mechanics of energy. Physical physics.

Credits

PRODUCED BY ANIMALS OF DISTINCTION
CREATED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY DANA GINGRAS
CO-CREATED AND PERFORMED BY SARAH DOUCET + AMBER FUNK BARTON + DANA GINGRAS + MASAHARU IMAZU + SHAY KUEBLER + (APPRENTICE) KAREN FENNELL
TRANSMISSION CONCEPT, INSTALLATION AND COMPOSITIONANNA FRIZ
SET AND LIGHTING DESIGNMIKKO HYNNINEN
DRAMATURGY RUTH LITTLE
ADDITIONAL DRAMATURGYDANIEL CANTY
COSTUME DESIGN SARAH DOUCET
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR KARINE DENAULT

COPRODUCTION FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES + CANDANCE CANADIAN NETWORK OF DANCE PRESENTERS (TORONTO) + THE CULTCH (VANCOUVER) + BRIAN WEBB DANCE COMPANY (EDMONTON) + CANADA’S NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE (OTTAWA) + AGORA DE LA DANSE
WITH THE SUPPORT OF CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
CREATIVE RESIDENCIESCENTENNIAL THEATRE (LENNOXVILLE) + USINE C

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH AGORA DE LA DANSE

WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH

PREMIERED AT THE CULTCH, VANCOUVER, OCTOBER 4, 2011

 

DANA GINGRAS (VANCOUVER + MONTRÉAL)

Conquering New Territories

A choreographer and dancer for more than 20 years, Dana Gingras changed the landscape of Canadian dance with her company The Holy Body Tattoo, co-founded with Noam Gagnon in Vancouver in 1993. For almost 15 years they presented works characterized by intensity and demanding movement, and their 1996 piece our brief eternity received a Dora Mavor Moore award for best ensemble performance. Eager to pursue a dialogue with multimedia and to do more work with film, and also to be clear of rising expectations on the part of critics and audiences, in 2006 Dana Gingras founded a parallel company, Animals of Distinction, which soon became her main focus.

Full biography