Feldman/Renaud Project at the Festival Quartiers Danses

photo credit: Claudia Chan Tak

On September 11 and 12, Louise Bédard will dance alongside Marc Boivin at the Festival Quartiers Danses in Feldman/Renaud Project, Jeanne Renaud's new creation.

Jeanne Renaud’s latest creation echoes her fateful encounter with composer Morton Feldman in post-war New York City, when she was only 17 years old. Feldman’s music, which allows ample room for sound, silence, time and space, has struck a chord with her ever since. One of the composer’s last works, For Bunita Marcus, a 77-minute piece for piano, is the catalyst for this creation with two of Renaud’s favourite dancers, Louise Bédard and Marc Boivin.

A man, a woman seen from behind. They are far apart. They walk slowly in the space; they don’t see each other. Yet their movements beckon. Without ever touching, they converse with the infinite nuances of the music, performed live by Claudia Chan, in a delicate alchemy. In the magical Bourgie Hall, bathed in natural light, time is erased… An intimate, minimalist experience made up of silence, mysterious resonances and gentle upsurges that invite deep introspection.

Presentation September 11 and 12, 2021 at 2:30 PM

Performers: Louise Bédard and Marc Boivin (dance), Claudia Chan (piano)

Jeanne Renaud

Jeanne Renaud is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and administrator born at Montreal August 27, 1928. A major figure in Québec contemporary dance, Renaud was closely associated with the Automatistes. Co-founding, in 1962, L’École de danse moderne de Montréal with Françoise Riopelle, she later founded Le Groupe de la Place Royale, which she directed until 1971. As an arts administrator, she has influenced cultural policy at the Canada Council for the Arts and Québec’s Ministère des affaires culturelles. She also served a term as co-artistic director, with Linda Stearns, of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

photo credit Jeanne Renaud : Liliana Reyes, courtesy of Dance Collection Danse