L'artiste en danse et chorégraphe montréalais James Viveiros a été invité à L'EDQ à la session d'automne 2024 afin de créer une pièce originale pour la cohorte de 2e année à la Formation supérieure en danse contemporaine dans le cadre du spectacle de mi-saison Repères 3. Nous avons profité de son passage à l'École pour en apprendre plus sur son inspiration pour et ses intentions derrière sa création ainsi que sur le processus de création avec les étudiant·es et ce qu'il souhaite transmettre à ces artistes en danse de demain. Découvrez ses pensées dans cette entrevue réalisée en anglais que James a généreusement accordée à l’École et ayez un avant-goût de ce qui vous attend dans Emma, création originale qui sera présentée au public les 5, 6 et 7 décembre prochains!

*Version française à venir!

• You are a Canadian dance artist of Cree, Métis and Portuguese descent. How does this rich and multi-ethnic heritage influence your dance and inspire your creations? 

  I would not say that I am an artist whose work is about Indigenous culture or Portuguese culture – I make work, but our history and experience make us who we are. Our blood memory - our speech, our obsessions and our points of interest in life - absolutely comes into this expression. This seeps in when I create.
  

  I was educated in Eurocentric ways of making theatre and dance. I went to conservatory programs, to acting and directing school, to a professional dance school, but questions of my ethnic identity only came up further in my career. My cultural identity is something that I have been connecting to for the last 6 years, especially on my mother's Indigenous side.

  My Grandfather went to residential school. For a long time, out of survival, my mother, my grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles had to hide their heritage. So, it became very important to me that these stories and my history are brought to light, to pay tribute to our Metis heritage. Shining a light on our heritage is my way of making peace with some of my thoughts and feelings about Truth and Reconciliation. Learning and researching teach me to be aware and sensitive to the atrocities Canada's creation has put upon our First Peoples.

• What do you wish to transmit to tomorrow's dance artists?

Well, I think the climate of dance culture and making dances is extremely different now [from when I started out]. So, I can only speak about what I know and my experience thus far. I was a dancer for 17 years in a company [Compagnie Marie Chouinard] then when I quit, I went to study in Israel with Batsheva Dance Company. The Compagnie Marie Chouinard was a very rigorous and inspiring place to work and my time there taught me many skills. One of them that I would like to transmit to a dancer or a performer is autonomy to think for themselves and responsibility [to trust] how to follow their impulse and find their instinct, and [how to] use that for their dancing, their creativity and their artistry.

I think that [...] because of society and culture, we conform to [certain] cultural norms. There is an etiquette that is created when we are in school, especially dance etiquette, and this can freeze us, make us reliant on others’ approval [...] but I think at some point, [...] you need to develop what you believe in and what your interests are, and that can come from you guts, from your instinct.

That is where my interest is right now: [in] empowerment. I think it is my responsibility as an older dance artist to try to inspire people to think for themselves and to also realize that we are part of something greater: a connection with other artists and people and life inside and outside the studio.

We can have many lofty and poetic ideas when we create, that can remain just ideas. Since we dance, this poetry, these thoughts need to be manifested into physical form. And it does not mean that we do not have rigor [or that] we do not work hard. It is realizing that when we come into a creative space, we need other people to help us, to nurture us. It is not just one person that makes the creation – it is an agreement with the other people in the room. Everybody that is in the room is part of the dramaturgy. The ideas come to life with the dancers‘ rigour, commitment and generosity to the research.

Choreographers are nothing without the dancers, nothing without the outside world of all the collaborators. I truly believe that. So, I think it is really important to acknowledge that we are not alone in this.

• What is the intention behind this creation?

This piece is based on all the [...] women in my life, whether they be in the spirit world or here. Metis Culture is matriarchal. I am surrounded by very strong, intelligent women that usually [...] support the men. With little to no recognition. So, since I am creating on 10 powerful young women [...], I wanted to highlight this [...] and create from the stories of my Female ancestors. The gesture in the choreography is based on the work and tasks that they did.

Putting myself in that position as male choreographer, I need to be respectful with this subject. So, it is not a narrative that we are telling, [...] we are not doing theatre, we do not have words that make sense like text, but [there are] images that are from the work that these strong women in my life did. For example, there is a section [in the piece] where the women lift and support each other, and out of this effort and strength they find their vulnerability, softness, delicacy and fire. The women in my family were/are like this – there is a straightforward harshness of the task, but it is layered with loving tenderness. To me, that is beautiful. So, what I would especially like to highlight in this piece is gesture that is based on action and impulse that is crystal clear in the movement vocabulary, but also [incarnates] a sense of vulnerability, delicacy and compassion towards each other on stage [...].

I think it is important to show this now to the world, [which is] a very precarious place. To me, being able to have that compassion, that listening [...] is an act of radical presence. I am having the dancers really listen to each other and deal with systems of movement where they have to communicate without words to discover what the choreography is.

• Does this mean that the choreography is not all written in advance?

There is a road map with sections where we have written parts of the choreography like a musical score, but we also have freedom within that score. Within those systems of movement, the dancers can make choices: use their breath or change the musicality of their interpretation.

• How did you approach working with these dancers from a pedagogical point of view?

For me, pedagogy is super important, we have got to be conscious of our teaching because they are dancers in training, so this is a part of it. But I also want us to create good art. I want the students to swim and soar in the ideas of the framework [...], I want to highlight their excellency. They will never be this age again! I want them to celebrate this!

Dancing should be transformative and hopefully joyful. Especially at this age.

• That's amazing. How is the creative process going so far? 

Some days it is like, “yes, I know the direction that we are going in”. And some other days it is like, “what the heck was that?” [...] – but I think that is normal. We are on a good path [...].

I like to say to the dancers that sometimes I feel like a dog with a bone. Like you have got to hold on to your idea. That is what I have been taught: stay true to your choreographic obsessions, shine a light on them [and] see what is there, dig even more. And sometimes you have to cut your best stuff because it does not fit into how the work is taking shape. I feel like [the students] and my collaborators like Céline [Céline Khandjian, rehearsal assistant] are [all] on board and that is wonderful. 

Once I am back in Montreal, they are going to marinate in the ingredients [that we have found]. Because at some point, the work is theirs, they have got to take responsibility as they will. So, I have got to cut the umbilical cord.

• You have 30 years of experience in dance as well as in the performing arts, like theatre, musical theatre, et cetera. With this new work for L’EDQ, can we expect to see a piece that sort of blends elements from your different artistic experiences?

I have never strictly done dance. I like doing dance performances where I create situations that people can exist and play in, and through the finesse and skills of a trained dancer, the expression comes out in a corporal way. But I also want my dancers to make sounds, speak and use text, [because] for me, the voice is definitely an extension of the body.

• What can you tell us about the music and the mise en scène of this creation?

I am using Vivaldi's Summer. It is the first time I work with classical music, and the reason why I wanted to use it is because it is very well known and I like the energy of Suites II and III especially. [...] And for me, summertime is a time of celebration, of clear light. A lot of Indigenous cultures would also say that it is kind of their new year because they are in migration, they are going to pow-wow, they are travelling, Metis people would meet relatives and mix with others. So, [to circle back], this goes with the theme of my Metis grandmother, Emma L’hirondelle.

Since there is something very celebratory about summertime, so [in terms of] the mise en scène, I would like bright, crisp, clean lights, and beams of light that define the space in different ways.

• Sounds promising. How would you describe the cohort that you are working with? 

[...] They are caring, intelligent, sensitive, skilled, creative, capable and grounded. I am feeling a lot of generosity [towards me] and I have felt their complete openness [throughout the creative process], which is really wonderful! [...]

• And finally, what advice would you give to these future dance artists?

It feels so cliché to say, but I'd say “do not let anybody put out your fire, your light and remember to stay open and generous and take care of yourself so that you can take care of others”. And that “creation and working in the arts is super valuable. So, however you can make that happen, stick with it. Arts training can lead you to a career in theater and dance, but it can also teach you many skills that you can transfer to something else. So do not let anyone dim your light. Be nice [to people]. Know your value, know your worth and enjoy.”

L’École de danse de Québec tient à remercier chaleureusement David Albert-Toth et Emily Gualtieri pour le partage de leurs pensées avec le public!

L’EDQ reçoit chaque année plusieurs artistes, chorégraphes et professeur·es invité·es afin d’initier les étudiant·es à divers processus créatifs.

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VOYEZ EMMA PRENDRE VIE SUR SCÈNE

Emma, créée par James Viveiros pour la cohorte de 2e année à la Formation supérieure en danse contemporaine, sera présentée sur la scène dans le Studio Desjardins de la Maison pour la danse de Québec dans le cadre du spectacle de mi-saison Repères 3 2024 de L’École de danse de Québec les 5 et 6 décembre prochains à 19h30 et le 7 décembre prochain à 16 h. Par la suite, le spectacle sera également disponible en ligne sous forme de webdiffusion en différé du 13 au 20 décembre 2024.

Billets en vente sur le site de billetterie de l’École!