Review: Grande théorie unifiée

Early on in Martin Bélanger’s Grande théorie unifiée, one of the dancers exclaims “We need to talk about everything,” the others replying “And we will!” Of course, it might be a bit too much ground to cover for a show that’s less than two hours, but Bélanger and his collaborators certainly try their best.

The show is already underway when audience members enter the room. As they decide on which side of the room to sit, Julie Andrée T., surrounded by the sound and lighting designers, is performing a song dedicated “à toutes les victimes de prise d’otage.” The dancers come out wearing red jackets with their names embroidered on the back, as if they were part of a sports team. Or maybe a cheerleading squad, as they delve into a series of cheers.

Since the show is trying to cover everything, it might not be surprising that it shows signs of post-modern self-awareness, which is something that the performers would bring up themselves. And, in fact, they do. They observe each other and qualify their comrades’ dancing as “1950s vegan” and “Youtubey,” in a hilarious series of overintellectualized concepts.

If there is one place Grande théorie unifiée truly succeeds, it is in communicating its playfulness to the audience. Clearly the creation process must have been a lot of fun and it’s the kind of show one watches with the secret desire to be part of it. For example, this playfulness is acted out by the performers’ interaction with a rope hanging from the ceiling. There, each performs their signature move, like the “Barbarella”, which consists of a vaginal contraction, or Bélanger’s attempt to remain expressionless as he dangles from the rope.

But the rope is also a symbol, an extension of all that unifies us as indicated by the title. They all end up hanging from it, and when one of their own goes to sit on a chair in the audience, the rest of them create a human chain from the chair to the rope, a way of concretely connecting the audience with the performers. There is also a great moment before the intermission when the dancers use their body to quickly measure the distance between points throughout (and outside of) the room.

Follows a 20-minute intermission where the performers join the public at the café of l’Agora de la danse for a drink, a way of further abolishing the wall between artist and audience, of reminding us that we are all in this together. When we walk back into the room, there are some great moments to be had, like Anne Lebeau’s “beautiful” and “dramatic” dances, or Peter Trosztmer’s “Flashdance” sequence, but these moments begin to feel a bit lost in the chaos of the whole.

Grande théorie unifiée is a good show, which is a little bit disappointing since, with so many great moments, it has the potential to be… well, great. There’s almost half an hour that could easily be cut out (plus the intermission) to offer a tighter, absolutely uproarious show. And while this might mean that Bélanger and his group of friends would end up covering a bit less of Everything, it would end up feeling like a whole lot more.

Grande théorie unifiée goes on until Thursday, June 5, at 8:30pm at Agora de la danse. Tickets are 32$ (22$ for those 25 years old and under) and can be purchased by calling 514.844.3822. For more information on this and other FTA shows, visit www.fta.qc.ca