Les limites infinies de la peau runs from May 10-13 at Agora de la danse in Montreal.
Choreographer Caroline Laurin-Beaucage returns to Montreal with her new work, Les limites infinies de la peau, presented at Agora de la danse from May 10 to 13. This 60-minute piece explores movement in a confined space using individual water tanks, described in the show program as human-size vivariums, to discuss themes of intimacy and relationships.
The opening scene, with music by Jean Gaudreau, has a meditative mood with performers Léonie Bélanger and Simon Renaud moving in sync in a circular pattern. As water begins to fill the tanks, the performers adapt their movements to reflect the increasing pressure against their bodies. The lighting design by Sonoyo Nishikawa underlines the water’s presence, playing with the performers’ shadows and highlighting the beauty of somewhat simple imagery.
As time passes, Bélanger and Renaud appear more comfortable alone in their vivariums; they gradually become one with the containers they inhabit by moulding their bodies into the walls and submerging their faces in the water. At the same time, the use of rhythm, eye contact and pacing help them build a powerful connection, fostering an intimacy that deepens as they both evolve within their own tanks.
Renaud and Bélanger offer strong performances grounded in the balance they maintain between their relationships with their individual environments and each other; this achievement is impressive as they never leave their own tanks or touch each other.
Laurin-Beaucage often works with physical and environmental constraints in her creations. Her piece Ground was performed by five dancers jumping on trampolines, and Habiter sa mémoire was a solo in-situ piece performed in an open cube placed in public spaces. Les limites infinies de la peau reveals a new realm of movement possibilities; the water became a constraint and acts as a third character.
This piece offers an opportunity for the audience to slow down and appreciate impactful moments and images that can be missed or taken for granted in everyday life, such as two people building an authentic connection through their body language or a single drop of water streaming down a window. These moments were staged with such authenticity that it was easy to become invested in the relationship evolving onstage.
There is no stillness in Les limites infinies de la peau; even when the dancers are not moving, the water does. Despite this, the pace flows; it is poetic and affecting, allowing space for the audience to reflect.
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