The choreographer and dancer Lucie Grégoire shines in Dérives, a bewitching solo rich in presence, grace and poetry.
Adrift in an outer world in peril, and an inner one of confusion. Alone onstage, a woman inhabits the space, in intimate resonance with the vibrant music of the Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir. Like two currents emanating from the same source, the dance and music split apart only to merge together once again. Drifting into and away from dark to light, the choreographer portrays an echo of humanity in disarray. Lucie Grégoire skilfully embodies this multi-faceted woman as she navigates the pitfalls and dangers of troubled times.
Lucie Grégoire | © Angelo Barsetti
A leading figure in Quebec contemporary dance, the choreographer and dancer Lucie Grégoire has been pursuing her unique artistic research since 1981. Her repertoire includes over 40 dance works: solos, in situ performances and ensemble pieces for several dancers that have been presented in Canada and abroad. Her work explores the feminine realm and is inspired by the wilderness of the Arctic, the Sahara, the Amazon and Iceland, and also by literature, art and cinema. She worked over a 10-year period with the Japanese choreographer and dancer Yoshito Ohno, which led to a trilogy co-produced by Agora de la danse. In 2016 she celebrated the 30th anniversary of her company with a reprise of her solo, inspired by a Paul Auster novel, Les Choses dernières (1994). In 2017 the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault recognized the piece as a seminal work and included it in the Quebec dance heritage video archive site Boîte chorégraphique. She has been a professor of dance at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal since 1989.
Company Lucie Grégoire Danse
Choreography and performance Lucie Grégoire
Music Hildur Gudnadottir
Dramaturge consultant and sound editing Paulo Castro-Lopes
Rehearsal director Dodik Gédouin
Lighting Alain Lortie
Sound Nicolas Borycki
Technical director, Production manager and Soundscape Judith Allen
Costumes Marilène Bastien
Communications Laurie Perron
Co-production Agora de la danse
Creative residency Agora de la danse
