Mountains are Mountains
pushes boundaries
Choreographer Dana Gingras’ latest work is a game-changer
By Jacqueline van de Geer
April 6, 2023
Dana Gingras is a choreographer, filmmaker, performer and teacher. Her 25-year career has moved across mediums and artistic practices and has established her as a game-changing, boundary-pushing artist.
In Mountains are Mountains, we witness four performers in an endless condition of metaphysical mountain climbing, waiting for the future to arrive, while it never does.
A drummer, four dancers and two duets
Two men are sitting, clouds projected on the background of the stage. There is a drum kit without a drummer. The sound of a buzzing fly. Nothingness.
Movement, small and subtle, starts between the men, the background clouds fade and make place for melting ice, water overflowing the screen. The drummer arrives and starts to accompany the duet.
Robert Abubo and Josh Martin challenge each other, then give up and start again while the live music performed by legendary Australian drummer Jim White fills the room.
In the second duet, Justin De Luna and Louise Michel Jackson, along with video by Erin Weisgerber, mesmerize us with their precise movements, with mountains projected in the background. Often they appear as silhouettes, sharp shadows dancing on the icy sounds. They seem lost in an obsessive and enigmatic climb.
A remarkable work at Agora de la Danse!
Mountains are Mountains ran from March 22 to 25.
Images: courtesy of Agora de la Danse
Other articles by Jacqueline van de Geer
Originally from the Netherlands, Jacqueline van de Geer crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 to live and work in Montréal. She has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts and performance arts.
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