Dancing on the ruins of a shipyard

Choreographer Danielle Desnoyers has never set foot on Elle Dorlean. A visit last summer led her to create a dance show that will come to life on the ruins of the shipyard.

mixed forest, which includes seven dancers from his company Le Carré des Lombes, will be performing from 10 to 14 August at the Parc maritime de Saint-Laurent. About 100 spectators will be able to attend each show at 7:30 p.m.

“I stumbled upon the island by chance in Maritime Park, and we found, in part of the site, a forest that grew over the ruins of an old shipyard. I was struck by the beauty and metaphor of this place where nature reclaims its rights over human activity. This impression is even stronger in times of epidemic,” she said. in an interview.

Great poetic gesture

Back home, Danielle Desnoir wanted to create a show there. A place with great scenery, trees growing through concrete rods that were used to hold boats and ships in place while they were being built.

Describe the choreographer mixed forest Such a great poetic gesture.

“It is not a piece of fiction. It is a show that invites metaphors and poetry and reminds of the workers and ship passengers who occupied this space.

mixed forest It is a unique choreography that cannot be performed anywhere other than the Parc maritime de Saint-Laurent. Featuring dancers Myriam Arsenault and Catherine Dagnays-
Savard, Jean-Benoit Labric, Abby Simone Menheer, Milan Bennett-Gigon, Nicholas-Battery, Bronte Borre Burst.

The sound environment was created by Ben Shemie, of the Suuns group in Montreal.

“Ben worked on my creation Unfold / 7 Views Presented in 2019 and 2021 at the TransAmériques Festival. created for mixed forest“Nice music,” she said.

river in the background

The choreographer has always performed in traditional rooms and sometimes in museums. This is the first time you have invested in an outdoor and natural site with creativity.

« mixed forestIt’s landscape scenography. It’s huge. Land occupies, our field of view, there is the river that becomes our background and the sound of the environment. It’s a natural scenography that I’m invested in and impossible to reproduce elsewhere. It is really unique. I don’t know how we’ll get back to the stage after that.”