Sadness Quartet

On a bare stage dancers rise up, proud, fragile and as luminous as marble. One after another, nude bodies merge together, rushing toward each other. Their solitude persists beyond their embraces, their dreams tinged with sadness.

In counterpoint to the invisible lines delineated in the space, Daniel Léveillé evokes those hollow moments where time seems to be suspended, where melancholy threatens. He draws from that ambience a gentleness previously absent from his rigorous, minimalist and demanding aesthetics. A variable-geometry quartet, this new piece is a perfect echo of his previous works, clearly reflecting a choreographer in full mastery of his technique and dancers at the very peak of their artistry. Guiding this spirit of melancholy, the muted sound of music from another century accompanies the dancers in a performance where sadness loses its solemnity.

Produced by Daniel Léveillé Danse
Choreographed by Daniel Léveillé
Performed by Mathieu Campeau + Dany Desjardins + Ellen Furey + Esther Gaudette + Justin Gionet + Simon Renaud
Music John Dowland + Marin Marais + Luca Marenzio + Claudio Monteverdi + Josquin des Prés + Giovanni Salvatore + Giovanni Maria Trabaci
Lighting Design Marc Parent
Choreography Assistant Sophie Corriveau

Rehearsal Directors Sophie Corriveau + Frédéric Boivin
Participation in development of choreographic language Emmanuel Proulx

Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques
With the support of Theater im Pumpenhaus (Münster) + Atelier de Paris – Carolyn Carlson Creative Residency Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Written by Mylène Joly
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, on May 30, 2018

In memory of Martine Époque