The Annex
Artists: Stéphanie Brochard, dance; Margaret Little, viola da gamba
A woman, with all her strengths and vulnerabilities.
Timeless, not belonging to the present or the past, with no choice but to face herself. She digs through the layers of her past, present and future to reconcile herself. Fragmenting herself to better consolidate all her identities.
Atempor/elle is a duet where music and dance form a single voice: the voice of a soul in an interior reconciliation quest.
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Atempor/elle is an intimate show at the heart of which contemporary and baroque music and dance coexist and merge to make way for a timeless work. Playing with baroque aesthetic, choreographer and dancer Stéphanie Brochard depicts the portrait of a woman. The baroque costume, a mask, and the belle-danse are constraints that need to be removed. Through an unusual use of the costume, taking the choreography away from the pure baroque gestures, emerges a movement vocabulary full of invention and finesse that remains colored by a baroque touch.
The viola da gamba expresses the inner voice of our female protagonist, always in search of inner coherence. The music is essential, sometimes provoking, sometimes deterring, accomplice or observer; the musician is the perfect dance partner. The musical pieces range from the Baroque to contemporary repertoire, including works by Abel, Hume, Sainte-Colombe, Marais, Forqueray and finally Ana Sokolovic, Montreal-based composer.
This concert is generously sponsored by EMV’s Board of Directors
PROGRAMME
Ana Sokolovic (b. 1968)
Vez
Karl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Prelude in D minor
Tobias Hume (1569-1645)
Harke, Harke
Jean de Sainte-Colombe (1640-1700)
Prelude in D minor no. 2
Tobias Hume
A Pavin
Antoine Forqueray (1672-1744)
La Girouette
Marin Marais (1656-1728)
La Badinage
PROGRAMME NOTES
The baroque dance, more often studied than practiced, is of interest to musicians and historians but little known to the dance world. Remarkable for its highly codified structure, its geometric spatiality, its technical virtuosity, as well as for its very close relationship with music, baroque dance has very a refined vocabulary. Contemporary dance, on the other hand, does not possess a pre-established code. Each choreographer is free to develop their own framework and the relationship with music is just as specific to what the creator seeks to share. In recent years, I have developed choreographic projects born from the desire to explore a new choreographic vocabulary by merging the world of contemporary and baroque dance, two styles of dance at opposite poles.
Being a baroque and contemporary dancer for more than twelve years in Montreal and beyond, I had the pleasure of participating in different types of productions. One of the aspects of Baroque productions that nourishes me is the presence of musicians and singers on stage. I believe that dancing to live music is in an experience that gives a meaning to both music and dance. Therefore, it seems to me increasingly essential that music exists at the same time as dance so that the dialogue is real.
I am interested in the presence of both sound and corporeal of music. I am looking to give substance to music through dance, but also through the presence of musicians in the stage space. Music often serves as a support for dance, I wish to shake up this conventional relationship, so that the two artistic disciplines coexist and exchange.
The viola de gamba awakens a lot of emotions in me. The music chosen for this performance all stems from Abel’s Prelude in D minor, a piece I have always dreamed of choreographing. This dream came true when Margaret Little accepted to be part of this unusual project, with all the complexity it involves for her. The rest of the repertoire was chosen based on its expressiveness and potential for movement. I purposely didn’t choose dance pieces such as bourrées or sarabands, so I had all the freedom for the choreography, an intricate mingling of contemporary and baroque aesthetics. I find that some of the pieces chosen have a very contemporary feel and I love approaching them both from the baroque and the contemporary perspective.
This performance you are about to see is a tour de force for Margaret Little, who is not only playing all the program by heart, but also being an essential protagonist. This puts us both in a position of vulnerability and strength, making this show unique and sensitive.
- Stéphanie Brochard
Stéphanie Brochard, dancer
Stéphanie Brochard’s many talents have been displayed in various platforms including dance theatre, contemporary dance, the art of clown and baroque dance. As a baroque dance specialist, she can be seen on the national and international stage, and has worked with festivals and ensembles, such as the Montréal Baroque Festival, the Early Music Festival Alberta, the Toronto Masque Theatre, Les Boréades de Montréal, Clavecin en Concert and the Boston Early Music Festival. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Les Jardins Chorégraphiques, a dance company specialising in early dance. In 2015 Stephanie started choreographing her first contemporary work, Me Squared. In 2017 she created her first solo work, Compromis Improbable, which stemmed from a desire to explore a new choreographic vocabulary by fusing baroque and contemporary dance, marking a turning point in Stéphanie's choreographic journey and developing this vocabulary in each of her creations.
Margaret Little, viola da gamba
Margaret Little discovered the viola da gamba at the age of eleven at the CAMMAC Music Centre and instantly fell in love with the instrument and early music repertoire. Margaret has been performing since 1975 as a soloist, and a chamber musician on the viola da gamba and baroque viola with various groups, including the Studio de Musique ancienne de Montréal, Les Idées Heureuses, Arion, Musica Divina. In 1985 she founded the viola da gamba duo Les Voix humaine with Susie Napper. Margaret has performed with many early music groups (as a gambist and baroque violist) including Cappricio Stravagante, Fuocco e Cenere, Rebel, Four Nations, Trinity Consort, The Publick Musick, Les Boréades, Les Violons du Roy. Her career has included extensive tours in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Margaret has recorded more than 90 CDs, and her first solo CD Senza Continuo was nominated for an Opus Award. Since 1992, she has taught the viola da gamba and baroque ensembles at the Université de Montréal.
