o deer !

Cie Chanti Wadge /

Montréal

#FTA_odeer

Initiatory Journey
In a dark night pulsating with distant memories of the dawn of time, two individuals cast off the rags of civilization and rediscover their animal essence. In the middle of the woods, they are reborn, at one with the earth. Breaking apart and coming together, they eventually become attuned to nature. Courageous prospectors searching for equilibrium, they peel back the veils of the ordinary as the forest shares its age-old memory with them, revealing its mysteries.

In o deer!, Montreal choreographer Chanti Wadge pays tribute to the power of nature and what it holds most precious. Moving from concrete reality to dreamlike imagery imbued with shamanist ritual, she stresses the importance for every living being of staying connected to the self, to others and to the environment, an idea that is conveyed quite naturally in this dance piece tinged with humour, poetic sounds and images, and acknowledgment of spirituality and ecology.

Chanti Wadge

Chanti Wadge / A Wealth of Talent
Born in Seoul and raised in Vancouver, Chanti Wadge has been living in Montreal since 2002. Her initial movement background in soccer, rock climbing and classical dance expanded to include contact improvisation and butoh. Choreographers such as Judith Marcuse, Wen Wei Wang, Susan Elliott, Isabelle Van Grimde, Andrew Harwood, Martin Bélanger, Emmanuel Jouthe, José Navas and Ginette Laurin have employed the talents of this exceptional performer. An intense and remarkable artist, she has combined choreography, text, drawings, photos and video in some fifteen works to date. o deer! is inspired by the meeting place of the world and the wilderness where she now lives.

Connected to Life
Since her professional début in 1999, Chanti Wadge has placed the body in a poetic relationship with sound, lighting and set design in an approach that is both spiritual and conceptual. Props and costumes also enhance perspectives of the body: feathers, antlers and fur in o deer!; peacock feathers, masks and matches in just beings; and luminous dust in One Hundred Returnings. Seeking to express the essence of being, she lets form, pure dance and instinctive movement take shape in response to her questioning. In a perpetual quest for a dialogue with the forces surrounding us, she transforms the performance into a ritual connecting the individual to the larger whole.

Press Quote(s)

« Chanti Wadge est une interprète et performeuse éblouissante de présence et de perfection technique. Aussi, parce qu'elle fait partie de ces créateurs qui creusent leur sillon sans faire de concessions aux esthétiques en vogue et aux désirs supposés du public. Artiste pluridisciplinaire, elle use volontiers de la vidéo, du texte, de la photo ou du dessin pour élargir les perspectives sur son propos. Ses oeuvres sont intenses et singulières, vibrant d'une sensibilité pénétrante malgré leur caractère conceptuel. »

Fabienne Cabado, Voir, 03/04/2008 (spectacle Just beings)

“Most essential dancer of 2004: Chanti Wadge is a terrific performer. (…) She is in control of her dancing body, with a focus that's that much sharper and an intention that's that much clearer."

Philip Szporer, Hour, 16/12/2004

Credits

PRODUCED BY CHANTI WADGE

CHOREOGRAPHY, ARTISTIC DIRECTION CHANTI WADGE PERFORMED BY DAVID RANCOURT + CHANTI WADGE REHEARSAL DIRECTION, ARTISTIC CONSULTANT KARINE DENAULT MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN ALEXANDER MACSWEEN SET AND COSTUME DESIGN LINDA BRUNELLE LIGHTING DESIGN LEE ANHOLT

COPRODUCTION FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH AGORA DE LA DANSE

WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH

Agora de la danse

Length : 1 h