La chute + In mixed company
La chute
Emily Gualtieri & David Albert-Toth / Parts+Labour_Danse
20 minutes
La chute, inspired by Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, deals with the search to define one’s identity and to validate one’s values, moral code, and beliefs. At times playful and absurd, this physically dynamic solo paints the portrait of a man who gradually begins to lose himself. The work reveals itself as an expression of the ephemeral nature identity. Dance and performance merge to explore what happens to a man when his identity slips between his fingers until he no longer knows exactly who or what he has become. When we begin to strip away the layers, who do we become? What is left?
Choreography and artistic direction: Emily Gualtieri and David Albert-Toth
Performer: David Albert-Toth
Lighting and set design: Paul Chambers
Music:David Drury and David Lafontaine
Created with support from GEN J and the Jewish Community Foundation and also Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique.
La chute was originally choreographed in 2010-11. Following a Quebec tour of a dozen cities, the solo was completely rebuilt in 2013. Staying true to the original character in La chute, we choreographed an entirely new work around that character, one that is more deeply developed and articulated than its predecessor. The goal is to touch on a reality shared by many by channeling it through the lens of the performer’s subjective experience – both on- and off-stage. His experience in questioning the roots of his sense of identity and cultural heritage is fed by recent family deaths as much as by the literary, choreographic, and state-based research involved in the creation process. The material is developed and allowed to grow within the intimate and shared artistic dialogue between the work’s two collaborating choreographers.
PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE
PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE is a Montreal-based contemporary dance company founded by co-artistic directors David Albert-Toth and Emily Gualtieri in 2011. The company’s mandate is to create engaging contemporary dance works that dive unapologetically into the rich moral complexities of the human condition with physical dynamism anchored in genuine presence. Working with a unique theatricality and a movement vocabulary that viscerally fuses classical, urban, and contemporary movement approaches, the choreographic duo sees dance as a tool with which to deeply explore the rich intricacies of the human condition and as a way to move its audience. Their central vision is focused on highly collaborative endeavours: working as a pair provides them with the unique opportunity to develop the choreographic direction from two very different artistic paradigms and skill sets, defying the confines of individual artistic ownership while embracing the singularity of their respective creative voices. Parts+Labour_Danse have been programed by Tangente for a full evening as part of their 2013-14 season, which will premier the new work, In Mixed Company, along with a reconstructed version of La chute, in October 2013 at the Monument National in Montreal.
David Albert-Toth
David Albert-Toth was an avid Hip Hop dancer, choreographer and teacher before earning a BFA with a major in contemporary dance from Concordia University in Montreal. He has since been invited to teach his urban contemporary dance approach at the Cirque du Soleil, in Mexico, and in Paris, France. A disposition towards eclectic artistic encounters has led David to perform throughout North America and Europe. Notable collaborations include work with: Lemieux.Pilon 4D-Art and Peter Trosztmer, Human Playground, Wants&Needs Danse, Floor Rider & Tonik Danse, and Compagnie Destins Croisés, as well as interdisciplinary work with Thibaut Duverneix (Le Department), Moment Factory, Julie Favreau, and Kondition Pluriel with Dominique Porte. In 2009, after a series of short independent choreographies, David presented High-Definition Memory in RubberbanDance Group’s Post Hip Hop Project at Place des Arts in Montreal. In 2010, he began a choreographic partnership with Emily Gualtieri, with whom he would go on to found PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE in 2011. The company has since presented its work throughout Quebec, Ontario, and in New York City.
Emily Gualtieri
Emily Gualtieri is choreographer and co-artistic director of Parts+Labour_Danse, which operates out of Montreal. She underwent a rigorous and extensive training at the National Ballet School of Canada before rebelling against the confined structures of the classical ballet world. An underlying interest in creation, choreography, and diverse movement practices led her to enroll in Concordia University’s Contemporary Dance Department. After having obtained her BFA, Emily self-produced two shows at Studio 303 in Montreal: Goodnight, Nina (2007), and Under/Overtaken (2008) with guest artist Susanna Hood. In 2009, she presented her third work, It’s About Time at Toronto’s Dance Matters series and at Studio 303’s Vernissage-danse #145 – Games, as well as Awaiting at the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival. In 2010, Emily began a choreographic partnership with David Albert-Toth, with whom she would go on to found Parts+Labour_Danse in 2011. The company has since presented its work throughout Quebec, Ontario, and in New York City. Emily recently presented À la prochaine, a solo commissioned by Toronto’s Older & Reckless and interpreted by Ginelle Chagnon.
Paul Chambers
Paul graduated from John Abbott College in the Professional Theatre Program, specializing in Design. Thereafter, Paul becomes an artist in residence at FACE school for 2 seasons. Soon after he begins designing lighting for theatre and dance productions. From 2008 until 2013 Paul is Technical Director at Tangente. He also collaborates with Studio 303 teaching lighting design workshops for artists. Paul works mostly with emerging choreographers. Working on innovative productions is a priority for him. In addition, he is currently enrolled part time at Concordia University in their Visual Arts program (specialization in Sculpture). In his free time Paul enjoys touring new Quebec dance productions to the far corners of the globe.
In mixed company
Emily Gualtieri & David Albert-Toth / Parts+Labour_Danse
45 minutes
In Mixed Company investigates the tension felt by individuals as they oscillate between the search for meaningful relationships and the pressure exerted by society to conform to its norms. Though radically modern and unprecedentedly connected, our world can still baffle our attempts to be heard, understood and loved, leaving us stranded, alone. In spite of this, we try tirelessly to overcome our isolation and to find the deeply intimate connections that bind us together. Inspired by the works of Theatre of the Absurd playwright Eugene Ionesco and novelist Milan Kundera, this work explores the dissonance that arises within us when social codes hinder our search.
Choreography and artistic direction: Emily Gualtieri and David Albert-Toth
Dancers and creative collaborators: Jody Hegel, Lael Stellick, Caroline Gravel, Milan Panet-Gigon
Lighting and set design: Paul Chambers
Music: David Drury and David Lafontaine
Dramaturge : Hannah Dorozio
Choreographic communicator: Ginelle Chagnon
Residency offred by Tangente in partenrship with José Navas/Compagnie Flak. Created with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique.
Ionesco and Kundera’s concerns with the absurdity of the modern human condition have influenced us to focus on developing wavering dynamics between people caught in complex relationships. The two authors’ writing styles, meanwhile, have inspired us to embrace a non-linear approach to creation and to the narrative development of a choreographic work. A prevalent theme in their works is fear of alienation in conjunction with desire for intimacy; one that we feel is strongly relevant today. As we interweave these profound fears and desires, our explorations unveil questions of presence, trust and communication that, especially in dance, bring us out of the everyday. The absurd allows us to step out of reality, to not be whom or where we are and to alter our presence. What does that feel like, and how do we find each other in that?
PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE
PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE is a Montreal-based contemporary dance company founded by co-artistic directors David Albert-Toth and Emily Gualtieri in 2011. The company’s mandate is to create engaging contemporary dance works that dive unapologetically into the rich moral complexities of the human condition with physical dynamism anchored in genuine presence. Working with a unique theatricality and a movement vocabulary that viscerally fuses classical, urban, and contemporary movement approaches, the choreographic duo sees dance as a tool with which to deeply explore the rich intricacies of the human condition and as a way to move its audience. Their central vision is focused on highly collaborative endeavours: working as a pair provides them with the unique opportunity to develop the choreographic direction from two very different artistic paradigms and skill sets, defying the confines of individual artistic ownership while embracing the singularity of their respective creative voices. Parts+Labour_Danse have been programed by Tangente for a full evening as part of their 2013-14 season, which will premier the new work, In Mixed Company, along with a reconstructed version of La chute, in October 2013 at the Monument National in Montreal.
David Albert-Toth
David Albert-Toth was an avid Hip Hop dancer, choreographer and teacher before earning a BFA with a major in contemporary dance from Concordia University in Montreal. He has since been invited to teach his urban contemporary dance approach at the Cirque du Soleil, in Mexico, and in Paris, France. A disposition towards eclectic artistic encounters has led David to perform throughout North America and Europe. Notable collaborations include work with: Lemieux.Pilon 4D-Art and Peter Trosztmer, Human Playground, Wants&Needs Danse, Floor Rider & Tonik Danse, and Compagnie Destins Croisés, as well as interdisciplinary work with Thibaut Duverneix (Le Department), Moment Factory, Julie Favreau, and Kondition Pluriel with Dominique Porte. In 2009, after a series of short independent choreographies, David presented High-Definition Memory in RubberbanDance Group’s Post Hip Hop Project at Place des Arts in Montreal. In 2010, he began a choreographic partnership with Emily Gualtieri, with whom he would go on to found PARTS+LABOUR_DANSE in 2011. The company has since presented its work throughout Quebec, Ontario, and in New York City.
Emily Gualtieri
Emily Gualtieri is choreographer and co-artistic director of Parts+Labour_Danse, which operates out of Montreal. She underwent a rigorous and extensive training at the National Ballet School of Canada before rebelling against the confined structures of the classical ballet world. An underlying interest in creation, choreography, and diverse movement practices led her to enroll in Concordia University’s Contemporary Dance Department. After having obtained her BFA, Emily self-produced two shows at Studio 303 in Montreal: Goodnight, Nina (2007), and Under/Overtaken (2008) with guest artist Susanna Hood. In 2009, she presented her third work, It’s About Time at Toronto’s Dance Matters series and at Studio 303’s Vernissage-danse #145 – Games, as well as Awaiting at the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival. In 2010, Emily began a choreographic partnership with David Albert-Toth, with whom she would go on to found Parts+Labour_Danse in 2011. The company has since presented its work throughout Quebec, Ontario, and in New York City. Emily recently presented À la prochaine, a solo commissioned by Toronto’s Older & Reckless and interpreted by Ginelle Chagnon.
Paul Chambers
Paul graduated from John Abbott College in the Professional Theatre Program, specializing in Design. Thereafter, Paul becomes an artist in residence at FACE school for 2 seasons. Soon after he begins designing lighting for theatre and dance productions. From 2008 until 2013 Paul is Technical Director at Tangente. He also collaborates with Studio 303 teaching lighting design workshops for artists. Paul works mostly with emerging choreographers. Working on innovative productions is a priority for him. In addition, he is currently enrolled part time at Concordia University in their Visual Arts program (specialization in Sculpture). In his free time Paul enjoys touring new Quebec dance productions to the far corners of the globe.
Jody Hegel
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jody Hegel completed a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS (2001) before obtaining a BFA from the Department of Contemporary Dance at Concordia University, Montreal (2006). Currently, Jody lives, works and plays in Montreal, notably as co-creator with Hannah Dorozio in the dance duo Ladybox; their theatre-inspired dance duets are influenced by pop-culture in all its confounding forms. As a dancer/performer, Jody works with various dance artists, in particular with Emily Gualtieri and David Albert-Toth of Parts+Labour_Danse, Caroline Dubois, Zoja Smutny, Silvy Panet-Raymond, Sasha Kleinplatz and Isabel Mohn. In 2010, Jody collaborated with sound artist David Drury in IN LIMBO (Espace Tangente, Montreal), a creation residency event proposition by Lynda Gaudreau/Compagnie de Brune. Jody has been an artist in residence at: the Gesù-centre de creativité; the Banff Centre through Springboard Performance’s interdisciplinary residency INterrarium; Centro Rural del Arte’s residency Nativo y Foraneo in Patagonia, Argentina, and most recently; in Stockholm, Sweden at Intercult’s Basecamp Residency.
Lael Stellick
Lael graduated from John Abbott’s Theatre program in 2001 and worked in theatre and film before attending Concordia’s Contemporary Dance program. An interpreter/dancer with a strong theatrical presence and a passion for contact improvisation, Lael is currently working with choreographers Sasha Kleinplatz, Parts+Labour_Danse, Lara Kramer, Catherine Lavoie-Marcus and Michael Montanaro for 2013-2014 performances as well as continuing to dance with the improvisation dance league, Les Imprudanses, since 2006. As a choreographer, Lael has worked with Dix Tempsdix (2008) as well as two collaboration projects Division (April 2011) and Breakaway (April 2012). Lael is currently developing a new piece Waiting for the near future.
Milan Panet-Gigon
Milan Panet-Gigon discovered urban dance as a teenager before becoming increasingly interested in the fusion of styles, including contemporary dance. He was quickly invited to lend his talents as an interpreter to the work Lancer du nain by GGagné, and again later to apprentice and perform in Solid State’s Take It Back, presented in Toronto and Lausanne, Switzerland. He presented his Solo sans titre as part of a programming at l’Agora de la danse hosted by Pierre-Paul Savoie / PPS Danse and continues to pursue his choreographic development in parallel to his interpretive work. Milan collaborates as a dancer with several artists, notably with Dave St-Pierre, Geneviève Gagné and Emily Honegger of Floor Rider & Tonik Danse, and with David Albert-Toth and Emily Gualtieri of Parts+Labour_Danse.
Caroline Gravel
Caroline Gravel is a dance artist based in Montreal who has been interested in performance art since 1997. Her time spent working with visual artist Luc Boisclair would lay the groundwork for further explorations of the meeting of dance and performance. For over ten years, she has toured with and contributes to the works of choreographers Catherine Gaudet, Frédérick Gravel, Daniel Léveillé, Jean-Sebastien Lourdais, Andrew Turner, and Parts+Labour_Danse. Her personal projects and collaborations have been presented in Russia, Canada, the United States, Brazil, France, Italy, Denmark and Spain. Mentored by choreographer Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and directed by Manon Levac, she presented her master’s thesis at UQAM in 2012, which dealt with body states and issues surrounding the concepts of oeuvre and authorship in contemporary choreography. Her recent artistic work explores the relationship between sensation and the physical body, and their emotional and perceptive resonances.
