Gustavia

When the French choreographer Mathilde Monnier got together with the Spanish dancer La Ribot, the result was Gustavia, a universe where the spirit of Tati, Keaton, Chaplin and other great figures of burlesque hovers close by. Gustavia is its own particular world, crazy and desolate, where two false twins suffer from a bad case of split personality. With its repetitive slapstick movement, accidents, reversals, rapid changes of direction and the landing and avoiding of blows, this absurd, zany duet manages to turn all the techniques and premises of any situation to comic effect. Underlying apparently gratuitous movement and excessive or total lack of speech is the desire to discuss timeless, classic subjects like women, death, theatre, representation and the artist. This is a rare opportunity to see two seasoned and highly creative artists together on the same stage. Gustavia is an amusing and incisive piece, a breath of fresh air.

+

Interview with Mathilde Monnier and La Ribot: October 27 at 7 P.M. – Free at Agora’s Cafe-Bar

The exceptional visit by these two grandes dames of dance and their dance performance is an opportunity that the Agora de la danse had to seize, offering this extraordinary event to its audience. Mathilde Monnier is a choreographer and the director of the Centre national de la danse de Pantin. La Ribot, who grew up in Spain and now makes her home in Geneva, combines contemporary dance with the performing arts and video in her work. As moderator, the dancer, researcher and UQAM Dance Department professor Manon Levac will have the women discuss their impressive careers, asking what stimulated them to constantly extend the frontiers of dance, and what led them later to join forces. The discussion will provide a front row peek at the thriving and dynamic contemporary dance scene in Europe.

In collaboration with the UQAM Dance Department.