ODE

Eleven performers, hand in hand like a chain of paper dolls, form a pop-pagan procession. Their bliss is divine: you want to sink into their idyllic world, bask in the same sunshine. But just as you want them to keep going forever, the devious mind of choreographer Catherine Gaudet reveals something disturbing within this simple landscape, a place where everything is ruled by the imperative to be happy.

ODE surfaces from the dank basement of Les jolies choses, Gaudet’s last piece that took the dance world by storm. What should have stayed hidden in the perfect shadows re-emerges. What is the price we pay to maintain the image of collective harmony? Without flinching, Gaudet and her team take aim at false pretenses. Slowly and steadily, the performers’ hands start to twitch, the choir grows hoarse, the tipping point is activated and pursued. An example of collective possession in its most arresting form.

Produced by Centre de Création O Vertigo – CCOV
Choreographed by Catherine Gaudet
Performed by Rodrigo Alvarenga-Bonilla + Stacey Désilier + Dany Desjardins + Francis Ducharme + Aurélie Ann Figaro + Caroline Gravel + Chi Long + Scott McCabe + James Phillips + Geneviève Robitaille
Trainee Performer during creation Ariane Levasseur
Voice Myriam Leblanc
Original Music Composer Antoine Berthiaume
Rehearsal Director and Dramaturgical Advisor Sophie Michaud
Costume Design Marilène Bastien
Lighting Design Alexandre Pilon-Guay
Voice Coaching Frannie Holder
Sound Spatialization Larsen Lupin
Technical Director François Marceau
Production Director Geneviève Lessard
Sound Manager Guy Fortin

Co-produced by Compagnie Catherine Gaudet + Festival TransAmériques
Developed with the support of National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund (Ottawa)
Presented in association with Place des Arts

Special thanks to La mission de la Cuisine collective Hochelaga-Maisonneuve

Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, on June 1, 2024

Written by Myriam Stéphanie Perraton-Lambert
Translated by David Dalgleish