Breadcrumb
One hundred more
A physical and public declaration of what it means to resist.
As women of colours and mothers, Justine A. Chambers (Vancouver) and Laurie Young (Berlin) take to the stage to explore a wide range of small gestures linked to resistance. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movements, they shift away from discourse so as to create a reversal of values within the territory of the body. Living a continent apart, the two artists share a fascination for the political, social and physical ramifications of gestures.
From a simple shift of focus to the iconic “Hands up, don’t shoot” movement, the two women take over the stage to portray infinite gestures as powerful refusals to submit. They construct in real time their own physical archive of resistance.
Theatre also represents a system, which they reduce here to its simplest expression – a bare bones set design, its pulsating rhythms and lighting supporting the dancers. They are the mainstay, the focus. They assume a central role, a position long overdue.
One hundred more was inspired by the Erin Manning essay The Minor Gesture. It is an inquiry into the politics of movement and how “minor gestures” challenge received wisdom and common sense (the “major”) by offering experiential variations that transform human relations and suggest alternative forms of being, knowing and doing.
Laurie Young + Justine A. Chambers © Marianne Duval
One works in Berlin, the other in Vancouver. From Laurie Young’s relational choreography to the social choreography of Justine A. Chambers is only a small step, but one they gladly made for their first co-creation in Montreal. Each has a distinct approach, but their research hones in on how a (their) body (ies) is/are choreographed by culture, family, social events and power structures.
Laurie Young. A Canadian based in Berlin, Laurie Young anchors her multidisciplinary practice in incarnations and representations of unauthorized stories. To her mind, all relations between humans and objects or spaces are choreographies. She is one of the founders of the renowned German company Sasha Waltz and Guests.
Justine A. Chambers lives and works in the unceded territory of the Coast Salish nations, and views choreography as a cumulative embodied archive. Her work is anchored in a collaborative approach to developing social choreographies drawn from daily life (unintentional dances “that are already there”), as seen in Family Dinner and The Lexicon, presented at Agora de la danse in 2016.
Choreographers and performers Justine A. Chambers, Laurie Young
Original lighting design Emese Csornai
Sound design and composition by Neda Sanai performed Victoria Cheong
Costume design and Rehearsal Direction Sarah Doucet
Artistic support Kemi Craig, Josh Hite, Lee Su Feh
Tour Production Kaia Shukin
Co-production Agora de la danse, Centre national des arts, Sophiensaele
Creative residencies Agora de la danse, Centre national des arts – Visiting Dance Artist Program, Dance Victoria, Left of Main (Vancouver) The Scotia Bank Dance Centre (Vancouver)
Supported by the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ International Guest Performance Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.