Internationally-renowned dancer/choreographer Bill Colemaninhabits the experimental music installation of celebrated avant-garde composer Gordon Monahan in their new collaborative creation DOLLHOUSE, a Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie production presented by Canadian Stage. Dollhouse runs for five performances only from November 16-20 at the Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley St).
"After an unforgettable spin and tumble in 14.15's Older & Reckless, we couldn't pass up the chance to bring Toronto's
Bill Coleman back to Canadian Stage," said
Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic and General Director, Canadian Stage. "In transforming the theatre into a living playground of objects and sounds, Coleman and his collaborator Gordon Monahan - two artists at the top of their game - will take us on a polyphonic adventure into the complexity of being."
In his newest solo performance, Coleman confronts a series of almost biblical challenges on his way to a symphonic chaos of sight and sound. Inhabiting a small, object-laden room that collapses and breaks at his every touch, Coleman - playing the role of modern fakir - tap-dances through a 60-minute theatrical disintegration where movement and performance art intermingle with mechanical and electronic manipulated objects, handmade and found. Disruptive and surprising, Dollhouse walks a unique line of Artaudian theatre and slapstick with the performer acting simultaneously as instrument and conductor.
Created in collaboration with sound artist Gordon Monahan, the result is not only an eye-opening spectacle, but also a one-of-a-kind musical experience.
"Considering the situation we find ourselves in today, the visual metaphor of a man drowning in his surroundings is timely," said Coleman, Co-Artistic Director, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie (CLC), whose many collaborative performances often involve original music and masters of non-dance forms. Coleman's artistic relationship with Gordon Monahan dates back to his pieces Grasslands and The Gros Morne Project. "We work well together. I asked him to unleash sonic hell," he continues.
Recipient of the 2013 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, Gordon Monahan's works for piano, loudspeakers, video and computer-controlled sound environments span various genres from avant-garde concert music to multi-media installation and sound art. The renowned American composer
John Cage praised his work: "Gordon Monahan produces sounds we haven't heard before."
A true pioneer in the field of contemporary dance, Coleman's bold collection of large-scale, site-specific performances transcends traditional settings. Using dance as a means to unite communities with their natural environment, Coleman has collaborated with diverse groups including WWII veterans, Aboriginal communities in locations including Banff and Grassland National Parks, the steppes of western Mongolia, Long Plain First Nation Pow Wow and the Great Bear Rainforest. In 2002, the Canada Council for the Arts award
Ed Coleman the prestigious Jacqueline Lemieux Award, honoring his work in revitalizing the art of choreography. "No other choreographer creates one-of-a-kind events as mystical, unpretentious, and full of wonder," says critic Renate Klett of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Dollhouse will be on stage at the Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre (26 Berkeley St.) from November 16-20. Performances run Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 pm, Friday at 7 pm, with a matinee on Sunday, November 20th at 1pm. Tickets from $39 to $69 are available online, by phone at 416.368.3110, or in person at the Berkeley Street box office. For details visit
www.canadianstage.com/online/dollhouse
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