Okinum

I have always been fascinated by dreams. 

When waking up, I’ve even got into the habit of staying in that state between sleeping and waking, where it's easier to hold on to dreams – before they slip away and disappear inside my psyche.

Most of the time, what I remember are fragments. Words whispered in my ear while sleeping and whose meaning I try to decipher later, or images – like strange little films – that open new portals in the tributaries of my imagination.

I feel like these dreams help me broaden my vision.

I like to write my dreams down in a notebook, so as not to forget them and to be able to recall them to myself in due time.

I always find inspiration for my creations there.

It was in my recurrent dream of Micha Amik, the giant beaver, that the image of the dam as a poetic metaphor appeared to me. I wanted to go up the river of my DNA to better understand where I come from and the beaver became a guide in this journey.

I first encountered Émilie’s play through PWM, as part of the Interdisciplinary Writers Lab. It was at the beginning stage of creation, monologues exploring a personal story of discovery, and they were striking. Over time it has grown into a stunning play of a woman’s journey through fear to finding strength and inner courage by connecting to her ancestors, and speaking her truth. As a co-director, my focus was supporting Émilie in her quest to finding meaningful images she could explore on stage as an actor, and to rediscover how she built her play so that the depth of the journey could be communicated to an audience. This production has shown me just how much richer a rehearsal process can become when we build on each other’s ideas, and constantly seek for greater specificity in movement and storytelling. It has been a journey like no other.