Review: Projet X

It’s a work with little theatricality that Chantal Lamirande presents with Projet X this week at Agora de la danse. Rather, she makes dance, lighting, and music her focus. Though the show is split in four tableaux, there is a sharp contrast between the first one and those that follow.

Lamirande herself opens this quatuor with a solo. Though she skillfully dances at great speeds, the violence of her movement makes it look as though she is dancing from a very intuitive place as she repeatedly throws herself on the floor. Magali Stoll joins her, but her movement is more concerned with straight lines, creating a stimulating layering. When they finally merge, they lose themselves in a softer space filled with curves.

Ami Shulman and Dominique Thomas come out and all the women walk up and down the stage, only ever on the same line in passing. Lamirande’s great use of depth is one of the best qualities of the show. This marks the end of the first tableau. Unfortunately, the following ones never quite live up to it.

From then on, the choreography seems to come from a much more calculated place, so much so that it lacks the life that was present in the first section. As the movement becomes more cliché, Projet X fails to submerge us in its world. Instead, we always remain on the outside looking in, giving us the impression that we are watching a rehearsal, and this despite Lee Anholt’s wonderful lighting. (The extensive light grid facing the audience above the stage is especially a nice touch.)

Sometimes, the movement looks even more like an exercise for dance class than something ripe for the stage, like when Stoll and Thomas move slowly as they pull on each other, trying to maintain their balance. As opposed to Lamirande’s opening solo, the one given to Shulman fails to command the attention of the audience. Sadly, the same can be said for all the following ones. When the dancers move in a more robotic way, the effect is slightly comical, though this may not be the desired effect.

It’s only during the third tableau that I finally noticed SAMARKANDE’s music, but it might not have been for the best. The music doesn’t quite fit, seeming more appropriate for a circus act than for contemporary dance. (No offense meant to circus people; it’s more a question of context than a comment on the quality of music in circus shows.)

In the end, Projet X simply doesn’t have enough guts. We are left to wish that we could go back to the first tableau to rekindle with Lamirande’s initial burst of energy.

Projet X continues until Saturday, October 10, at 8pm. Tickets are 20$, 14$ for students and those under 31 years of age. For more information, visit www.agoradanse.com or call 514.525.1500.