World premieres by Virginie Brunelle and The Blue Bride by Barak Marshall
Premiere by Eric Gauthier, Podcast Vol. 1 & 2
as well as Alejandro Cerrudo, Lickety-Split and Nacho Duato, Jardi Tancat
One year after the sensationally successful debut with RENAISSANCE, Gauthier Dance JUNIORS are back with a second program of their own, consisting of two world premieres, two proven classics of contemporary dance, and a completely new podcast format hosted by Eric Gauthier. The original title of the concept evening was: Something old something new something borrowed something blue, as the Anglo-Saxon tradition for the wedding dress requires. And indeed, each of the four pieces relates to one of the four elements of luck. Together, they are also meant to bring Gauthier Dance JUNIORS much luck for their future in dance!
Something old: An exceptionally fitting choice for the JUNIORS is Jardi Tancat (Catalan for an enclosed garden). Nacho Duato created his choreographic debut in 1983 for a youth company, NDT 2. The atmospheric piece is named after the album of the same name by Catalan folk singer Maria del Mar Bonet, an icon of resistance against the Franco regime. The lyrics and the dance of the three pairs dressed in earth tones evoke the hard peasant life, in an unceasing struggle against the dryness and barrenness of the Catalan soil.
Something new: Virginie Brunelle is considered one of the great hopes of Canadian dance. Those who know the two previous collaborations with Gauthier Dance will confirm this. The intimate, poetic group piece Beating for the concept evening Grandes Dames aimed to synchronize the heartbeats of the performers. In the passionate solo Off White for The Dying Swans Project, which she created during the pandemic via Zoom from Canada, she let a dancer rage against loneliness. Her next world premiere for the JUNIORS is already in the pipeline. The excitement is building!
Something borrowed: Lickety-Split – translated as "immediately, lightning-fast" – comes across rather relaxed, despite its fast-paced title, and is particularly very human and humorous. To the hypnotic music of Californian indie-folk singer Devendra Banhart, Alejandro Cerrudo, then the Resident Choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Company Chicago, sketched the encounter of three couples: sensual, mysterious, and with a touch of eccentricity. In one of its first seasons, Gauthier Dance included the piece in the program as part of the dance evening Lucky Seven in 2011. Now it's time to pass this dance jewel on to the next young theater company...
Something blue: Barak Marshall's The Blue Bride is a winking lesson about a doomed love and the dangers of naivety, blind obedience, and jealousy. In the style of a Moritat, it begins with the bride at the altar, waiting in vain for her groom, and ends with a grisly-comedic wedding massacre. The color blue in the title refers to the psychological instability of the abused bride, who transforms into a vengeful murderer throughout the piece. Sarcastic, witty, and underscored with love songs from around the world, The Blue Bride promises to be a highly entertaining, fast-paced tragicomedy.
Alongside the four lucky-charm choreographies, Eric Gauthier explores in a very special new format what brings the claim "Dream Team" to life. As host of a podcast format, he will – like in a radio show – talk about the theme of artistic collaboration in two segments. In Podcast Vol. 1 he interviews the participating choreographers: How does the artistic approach differ in a group piece compared to solos or pas de deux? In Podcast Vol. 2, conversations follow with the performers – the JUNIORS. How does dance collaboration succeed best? And when and how does the "Dream Team Spirit" emerge?