Corps secret / Corps public
Architectural, sound and choreographic installations are combined to challenge our use of images and time. A destabilizing space at the heart of the mundane.
Step into the Looking Glass
Slow down. Come in close, encounter yourself, fall into another dimension. With the interactive installation Corps secret / Corps public, the trio of Isabelle Van Grimde, Thom Gossage and Anick La Bissonnière combine movement, sound and architecture to transform our everyday environment and to challenge how we use images and time.
Three intriguing structures inhabit the Espace culturel Georges Émile Lapalme at Place des Arts. Flexible and translucent, their walls are a mirror skin where our reflection merges with the reflections of other strangers in transit… and with the reflections of the dancers during performances in an enticing hybridization of bodies, a parallel narrative that adjusts to changing rhythms. An impromptu dance takes shape in the instant of our interrupted journey; looks are exchanged. The wondrous visual fusion of our identities varies depending on the light. Captured by sensors, each of our movements modulates the soundtrack, recomposing the rustling and murmurs of an almost supernatural urban jungle. A portal opens up into reality and we are propelled into the space-time of an elsewhere that is in the here and now.
Produced by Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Artistic director Isabelle Van Grimde
Architectural installation Dystopie designed by Anick La Bissonnière
Sound installation Per Tempus designed by Thom Gossage in association with Frédéric Filteau
Choreographic installation Isabelle Van Grimde
Created with and performed by Sophie Breton + Marie-Ève Lafontaine + Samaël Maurice + Maya Robitaille + Georges-Nicolas Tremblay
Lighting design Bruno Rafie
Sensor engineering Frédéric Filteau
Assistant choreographer Sophie Breton + Marie-Ève Lafontaine
Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques + Place des Arts + Anick La Bissonnière + École supérieure de ballet du Québec
Creative residencies Agora de la danse + Place des Arts grâce à sa / through its Fondation
This show is part of Printemps numérique 2016 de Montréal.
Premiered at FTA, Montreal, May 26, 2016
Isabelle Van Grimde (Montreal)
Van Grimde Corps Secrets
The choreographer and director of the Montreal dance company Van Grimde Corps Secrets, Isabelle Van Grimde has been focusing her research since 1987 on the perception of the body viewed as mysterious, infinite territory.
Thom Gossage (Montreal)
Van Grimde Corps Secrets
A close associate from the very beginnings of Van Grimde Corps Secrets, the composer, drummer and percussionist Thom Gossage is inspired by the principles of open work dear to the choreographer, creating an artistic renewal in his compositions.
Anick La Bissonnière (Montreal)
Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Recipient of the 2015 Siminovitch Prize, which recognizes excellence and innovation in Canadian theatre, the architect and set designer Anick La Bissonnière is renowned for her work with the director Brigitte Haentjens.
