Runaway girl
An empty house opens its doors. An invitation to step into a place steeped in memories, home to a young girl who grew up there. The return of an exceptional Montreal dancer and choreographer.
An empty house, withered by time, opens its doors. Bedrooms, wallpaper, furniture — an inventory retracing the memory of a private space is explored by a handful of privileged spectators. They step into intimate territory, making their way through a place steeped in the recollections of the exceptional dancer and choreographer who grew up there.
In the mid-1970s Jocelyne Montpetit left her childhood home in the McGill ghetto neighbourhood of Montreal. Witness to its marginal denizens and history of protest, it had welcomed members of the city’s counterculture, both dissidents and artists, from Armand Vaillancourt and Leonard Cohen to American blues musicians and hippies. Its walls sheltered the lonesome little girl, the rebellious adolescent, the well-behaved young lady who dreamed of travel and poetry. Now she’s back home for a choreographic visit, answering an inner summons. The return of the prodigal child, now a formidable artist.
Produced by Jocelyne Montpetit Danse
Concept, choreography and performance Jocelyne Montpetit
Set design Shin Koseki
Sound design Nancy Tobin
Music Max Richter + Masaru Soga + Louis Dufort
Artistic Collaboration Francesco Capitano
Assistant Geneviève Lechasseur
Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques
Written by Diane Jean
Translated by Neil Kroetsch
Promotional video David Clermont-Beique
Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, on May 27, 2017
Jocelyne Montpetit (Montreal)
Jocelyne Montpetit Danse
The dancer and choreographer Jocelyne Montpetit captivates audiences with her rigorous, poetic, minimalist and deeply personal works.
