O Vertigo chalks up strong successes in Montreal and Marseilles

After the much-noted premiere of Onde de choc at Festival TransAmériques in Montreal in May, the company moved to Marseilles at the beginning of the summer to present this and another work of Ginette Laurin’s repertoire: La Vie qui bat (1999) and Onde de choc (2010).

Marseilles audiences were clearly delighted to renew their acquaintance with the company, who had also appeared at last year’s edition of Festival de Danse et des Arts multiples de Marseille (F/D/Am/M). In the performances of La Vie qui bat, the dancers were accompanied by l’Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, under the direction of Georges Van Gucht, a founding member of Les Percussions de Strasbourg. The revival of this dance work, presented in its European premiere, received ovations and excellent reviews. From the Marseilles daily La Provence: “The piece imagined by the Canadian choreographer for Drumming by Reich […] is all power and restraint. A fascinating balance in the total mastery of movement, down to its most intensive repetitions […] The whole is very strong.” (Olga Bibiloni, June 18, 2010).

The dance program of the F/D/Am/M ended on July 5 by a performance of Onde de choc in its European premiere. As was the case with La Vie qui bat, the performance took place in the Salle Vallier, a mythical hall where great choreographers Maurice Béjart, Régine Chopinot, and Roland Petit presented their works. Both public and press were just as enthusiastic; Patrick Merle, journalist for La Provence, qualified the work as “a sparkling new jewel signed Ginette Laurin.” (July 6, 2010).

Onde de choc on tour in Germany

Later this autumn, the O Vertigo company will fly to Germany to present Onde de choc. The first stop is in Dresden, at the HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts, one of the major contemporary art centres in eastern Germany and one that hosts The Forsythe Company in residency. The piece will be performed on October 14 in the framework of the TonLagen contemporary music festival; music lovers will have the opportunity to appreciate the works by Michael Nyman and the electroacoustic sound treatment by Martin Messier, both in Onde de choc. Two days later, the Bavarian city of Nuremberg will welcome the company at Tafelhalle, a structure promoting multidisciplinary programming, and host to a number of festivals.

Finally, on November 12 and 13, following the premiere of the re-creation of La Chambre Blanche in 2008, the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfort will offer audiences Ginette Laurin’s latest creation.

For the full schedule of O Vertigo performances.

Survey of activities in 2010-2011

The 2010-2011 season will be another full one for the company. Beside the tours, there will also be Montreal performances: La Vie qui bat will open the Montréal/Nouvelles musiques festival in February, and Onde de choc will be presented at Usine C in April. Other activities on the program include the O Vertigo intensive workshop which will take place during three weeks in August, 2011. The exact dates will be announced later this autumn.

As they do every year, O Vertigo and the Creation Centre will offer creation residencies to several choreographers. The coming call for residencies for the period between January 1 and June 30, 2011 has been set for November 1, 2010; therefore, you may already want to begin preparing your application (more information will be given here).

To follow all of our activities, please note that O Vertigo now has a Facebook page! (in French).