EPISODE I
EPISODE II
EPISODE III
CREDITS
Choreographer: Belinda McGuire
Composers: Michal Jacaszek, Biosphere, Ryuichi Sakamoto & Taylor Deupree, Nina Simone, J.S. Bach and Isadora Zidore
Costume Design: Katharine Mallinson
Prop Design: Linda Zhang & Joelle Poitras (ghost furniture) & Belinda McGuire (piano)
Performers (film): Belinda McGuire, Doug Letheren, Jacqueline Calle-Hernandez, Laura Careless, Juliette Morel-Liocorno, Gabrielle Roulhac and Jordan McKinzie.
Filmmaker: Derrick Belcham
Premiere: TBD
Length: 60 minutes
About the Work: The Paris Duet is an exploration of emergence and disappearance of physical forms, relationships, identity, wealth, structure, socialization and sense of self.
It can be experienced in one of three forms:
site-specific/live
theatre adaptation/live
interactive dance film
Experienced chronologically/live, this is a full-length (60 minute) not-exactly duet piece which unfolds via three successive episodes. The audience is strategically repositioned between each to facilitate literal perspective change.
This project is anchored in and inspired by a monstrous and exquisite neoclassical mansion, the former residence of Mona von Bismarck in Paris. It serves as a compelling reference point for the content and style of The Paris Duet because of its aesthetic, its history, its inherent character and its paradoxical reality (the building performs wealth and luxury while its existence is made possible by hard work despite lack of wealth). Just as in architecture, an act of remembrance is always an act of re-membering. To member things together again, anew. The powerful and primordial act of remembrance through space, movement, and nostalgia is explored through this interdisciplinary collaboration.
This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant and by The National Ballet of Canada’s Residency Programme.