SYMPHONIE OF HEARTS Will Be Performed By Danse Danse in April

Rhodnie Désir, winner of the 2020 Dance Grand Prix and Associate Artist of Place des Arts, will take on the challenge of a large-scale show involving 11 performers and the 60 musicians of the Orchestre Métropolitain. Presented by Danse Danse from April 4th to 6th, 2024, at Place des Arts’ Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

For Rhodnie Désir, human connection and oral tradition are fundamental to any project. After the extraordinary trajectory of BOW’T TRAIL, which took her to seven different regions in the Americas, she tackles another major challenge, the result of a large-scale collaboration with composer Jorane; sound designer Engone Endong; RD Créations’ musicians; and the Orchestre Métropolitain.

This new ambitious work was conceived in partnership with three philharmonic orchestras: the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal (which will be conducted for the occasion by Naomi Woo, a rising star of the Canadian classical music scene), the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland.

Symphony of hearts is one of those rare and audacious performances that dares to combine arts and sciences. With the aim of addressing issues related to the heart and the cardiovascular system, Rhodnie Désir embarked on a choreographic-documentary approach with the Montreal Heart Institute and the Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino de Lugano, Switzerland. The research, supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, was also enriched by testimonies from staff members and students from Collège Jean Eudes (Montreal), as well as from patient-partners living with heart diseases. The heart, its imbalances, its upheavals, fascinate the choreographer who has undertaken to draw inspiration from the collected testimonies to transpose them into her movements. The pulsations of the heart, its tumults and its flaws, echoing societal flaws, are danced here between the heart, the body, the object, the video, the light, the music, and Afro-contemporary rhythms.

Tour dates:

MAY 30, 2024 / 8:00 PM: National Arts Centre in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra