Breaking down the Walls between Dances at the Biennale de gigue contemporaine

When I first heard of the jig/contemporary dance fusion, I have to admit that I was sceptical. But dare I say that something quasi-magical happens when these two worlds meet. To put it bluntly, the contemporary dance seems to subdue any potential tackiness that might creep up in the jig, but more importantly, the jig seems to suck any potential pretentiousness right out of contemporary dance.

So after a pleasant visit of this hybrid last year, I was very much looking forward to seeing this year’s 2nd Biennale de gigue contemporaine at Tangente. Far from being disappointing, the four works from the first week proved to be highly entertaining.

The opening work, Marie-Soleil Pilette’s Zone Gigue en solo, is danced only to the sound of her footwork. However, since one of the purposes of contemporary jig is to rethink the connection between the upper and lower body, Pilette is not afraid to throw herself on the ground as she keeps tapping her feet.

For the second piece, choreographer Jean-Philippe Lortie rethought the musical chair game with Passé Recomposé. Lortie beautifully establishes a balance between the jig of the lower body and the contemporary dance of the upper body for eight dancers, and even finds time to sneak in a critique of individualism.

The evening then takes a wide turn with Luca Palladino’s Struments. This work is absolutely ridiculous and I mean this in the best possible way. Before the lights even come on, Palladino gets laughs by having five dancers trying to inconspicuously bring out their heavy set on stage… while wearing tap dancing shoes.

The mood is set for an uproarious work that involves dancers with rubber gloves, beachwear, and a plunger. But Palladino’s work is also an interesting study of sound as the performers create musique concrète by dancing on wood and metal with shoes, or even on dead leaves with bare feet.

Similarly, Nancy Gloutnez also investigates sound in the joyfully eclectic ZoNdes. Having studied music at McGill University, the multi-talented Gloutnez has no trouble moving from the piano to the dance floor, creating fluidity between music and dance that she encourages her six extra dancers and two musicians to follow. Split into eleven short pieces, ZoNdes runs in every direction, to great amusement.

These four artists destroy pretension at every turn to create works that are fresh, genuinely funny, and invigorating. Five more choreographers will enliven Tangente with their own contemporary take on jig this week, from Thursday, March 1 to Sunday, March 4. Tickets are 18$ (13$ for students) and can be purchased by calling 514-525-1500.

Also, don’t forget that this upcoming weekend is the annual Montreal All-Nighter. Once again this year, dance will be represented in and around Place des Arts and this is the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the medium since all dance activities are free.

Visit www.montrealenlumiere.com for more information.