Compagnie Catherine Gaudet

Les jolies choses

2024-11-06 19:30 2024-11-07 23:00 60 Canada/Eastern 🎟 NAC: Compagnie Catherine Gaudet

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/36102

In-person event


For choreographer Catherine Gaudet, a next-generation icon who was awarded the 2022 Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, the body is a resonator of complex sensations that animate human activity. In her 2022 work Les jolies choses (The Pretty Things)—an audience favourite when it premiered at the Festival TransAmériques—a rigid mathematical structure creates a framework within which the five dancers ultimately liberate themselves. Bodies move to the rhythm of a...

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Babs Asper Theatre,1 Elgin Street,Ottawa,Canada
November 6 - 7, 2024
November 6 - 7, 2024
This event has passed
A dancer with gold-painted eyebrows grimaces with their eyes shut, lips pulled back, with a braid of hair around their neck.
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © Julie Artacho
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Dance Contemporary
A dancer with gold-painted eyebrows grimaces with their eyes shut, lips pulled back, with a braid of hair around their neck.
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © Julie Artacho
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
Compagnie Catherine Gaudet, Les jolies choses © D. Alisauskas
“Les jolies choses is a pivotal work, captivating from beginning to end.”
  • In-person event
  • ≈ 55 minutes · No intermission
NAC Co-production


For choreographer Catherine Gaudet, a next-generation icon who was awarded the 2022 Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, the body is a resonator of complex sensations that animate human activity. In her 2022 work Les jolies choses (The Pretty Things)—an audience favourite when it premiered at the Festival TransAmériques—a rigid mathematical structure creates a framework within which the five dancers ultimately liberate themselves. Bodies move to the rhythm of a metronome. Their mechanical gestures are repeated; the machine runs wild, requiring absolute synchronicity and precision. The rhythm, contained at first, accelerates imperceptibly throughout the minimalist, profound music of sound designer Antoine Berthiaume, a well-known partner in the world of dance. Les jolies choses is a marathon, a war of attrition that takes place before our eyes, where physical resistance is subjected to an infernal tempo that approaches implosion. Under pressure, can individuality emerge? Can desires be reborn? Is there room for emancipation? A unique dramatic intensity sweeps the stage, slowly electrifying the dancers and the audience until the final, cathartic explosion. Les jolies choses is a pivotal work, captivating from beginning to end.  

Artists

  • logo-catherine-gaudet-2
    Contributing Artist Compagnie Catherine Gaudet
  • Artistic Director and Choreographer Catherine Gaudet
  • Created by Catherine Gaudet
  • Performers and creative contributors Stacey Désilier, Dany Desjardins, Caroline Gravel, James Phillips, Lauren Semeschuk,
  • Music Antoine Berthiaume
  • Assistant dramaturg and rehearsal director Sophie Michaud
  • Lighting Hugo Dalphond
  • Costumes Marilène Bastien
  • Producer Compagnie Catherine Gaudet
  • Co-producers Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen, DLD –Daniel Léveillé Danse + CanDance Network: Festival TransAmériques, Agora de la danse, National Arts Centre, Harbourfront Centre
  • Creative residency DLD-Daniel Léveillé Danse + Agora de la danse
  • Development DLD-Daniel Léveillé Danse