«Improvisation is certainly a matter of instinct and instant but for me and for this first creation I wanted to recognize that both of these are never without the past, never unreflecting of anterior influences. The act of theatre itself isn’t unlike this past still within us: both speak through hints and propositions, through occurrences still very alive but never whole in themselves. Both answer to a different reality, calling us to find purpose in them… and find purpose. The tension of this quest is the theatrical object. I wanted for this project that everything brought forward by one player whether dancer, composer, visual artist or lighting designer find meaning only as a doorway for the other’s resonance. Nothing is finished in itself.
Between a beginning and an end that will never quite inscribe themselves in time, between the passing of the spectator, an influential witness, nothing is more tangible than the attention of the one passing. »
– Marc Boivin, Concept and artistic direction
« Sometimes, in order to break new ground and move forward as an artist and as a human being, one has to risk letting go of what is familiar and relinquish a degree of control. Paradoxically, stepping back allows for renewed forward movement and a fresh perspective, and perhaps also allows our past to illuminate our future. Marc Boivin and I had the good fortune of being brought together to teach and perform at the EDAM summer workshop in Vancouver some fifteen years ago. Although Marc and I come from different sides of the artistic street, we have developed a rich artistic alliance, which continues to thrive and grow and a love for the art-of-the-moment, which is based on mutual respect and trust.
I invited Marc to conceive of and direct a piece rooted in the particular work that has fascinated and fuelled my artistic development and my personal life for over thirty years, and which my company promotes and produces: instantaneous choreography. In delegating all the details of the creation to Marc, I am passing on the creative reins to him, while surveying the proceedings from the background, a bit like an elder might do within a community or a general manager within a team of players.»
– Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, AH HA Productions Artictic Director
Concept and artistic direction > Marc Boivin
Dance improvisation > Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, Marc Boivin, Lin Snelling, David Rancourt, Maureen Shea
Sound concept and improvisation > Diane Labrosse
Visual concept and video improvisation > Jonathan Inksetter
Lighting improvisation > Yan Lee Chan
Costumes > Danielle Lecourtois
External body > Guy Cools
Production director > Catherine Lalonde
photo credit: Jonathan Inksetter