≈ 75 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: March 15, 2023
A Note From the Executive Producer, NAC Dance
The powerful presence of Rhodnie Désir is the driving force behind this exceptional work, BOW’T TRAIL Rétrospek. Rhodnie approaches each of her choreographic creations with intense research and purpose, and in this piece, she has immersed herself with African cultures and rhythms inherent to the peoples deported to the Americas over centuries. Her BOW’T TRAIL project first launched in 2013, making these NAC performances a celebration of 10 years of extensive touring, as well as an accompanying exhibition, youth project, film documents, and many awards and acknowledgements. Rhodnie’s incandescent passion sweeps you up into her layered journey. This is a work of beauty and bravery, and I am so pleased to welcome Rhodnie Désir for her NAC Dance debut!
Enjoy!
The Whole BOW'T TRAIL
"Resistance allows you to be born. Resistance is necessary in a society, and it’s also necessary if one is not to wither, if one is to live!"
—Rhodnie Désir
BOW’T (boat) is derived from the word “bow” as the forefront of a ship, to bend the head or body, while also signifying in Haitian creole “to give.”
With strength and a cry for freedom, Rhodnie Désir addresses the timelines and the psychological impact of migration and deportation. Drawing on history, she builds a bridge to today by embodying this movement that marks our modern world's foundation. Onstage, three wooden benches, hanging boats and a maestro drummer encapsulate the soloist as she weaves a candid narrative, an arousing and poetic work inspired by the intensity of thousands of people who continue to sail to the land of the unknown.
Rhodnie travels the Americas to learn the history of her ancestors through the art of dance and invites us to reflect on the political nature of Afro-descendant dances and rhythms. As the BOW'T TRAIL visits Martinique, Haiti, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, each destination gives rise to a new experience. Learn more about the different stopovers.
Haiti: Combining the local rhythms of the voodoo tradition with her repertoire, this remarkable collaboration gives the journey a human and spiritual dimension that amplifies the choreographer's creativity.
Brazil: The slave trade has left an indelible mark on the history of Brazil. Inequalities of colonization oppress the Black population. In this economic and socio-cultural context, dance becomes a political tool.
Halifax: Anger rumbles, but optimism floats on the horizon. A duality permeates the conversations that moved Rhodnie during her trip to Halifax. From the arrival of the first Black Loyalists from the United States to the importation of people taken from Africa, this Canadian city has a history that the history books have too long obscured.
Mexico: African culture is present, but much is missing. Afro-descendant communities established in Mexico are trying to re-establish the existence of their culture. Through art, their actions contribute to shedding light on colonial history and the heroic community members before them.
New Orleans: A coveted tourist destination, New Orleans presents a dichotomous face. More than 60 years after the civil rights movement, the socio-economic reality of the Black population still bears the scars of latent and systemic racism. Yet, despite this, the community remains determined not to be set up to fail.
Tio’tia:ke (Montreal): Rhodnie returns to her native Montreal after travelling across America to unveil a poignant territorial excavation. Using her body and reinterpreting it as an arresting dance of life, she passionately reclaims the outdoor spaces laced with colonial memory, reckoning with the city's slave trade past and transforming this ignominy into a cathartic gesture that affirms life.
Surrounded by majestic rhythms, Rhodnie Désir performs on stage with two maestro musicians, Engone Endong and Jahsun. The audience draws into her travel universe through video projections and memories surrounding her body.
This performance has achieved the highest honours: the Grand Prix and the Envol Award (Prix de la danse de Montréal 2020), "25 to Watch" from the Dance Magazine of New York and a career nomination "Award of Merit for achievement in the performing arts" from APAP NY (2021).
"A kind of spiritual historian, Rhodnie Désir reveals ancestral truths in her own Haitian foundations through the rhythms of drum and dance."
—Dance Magazine
In collaboration with Radio Canada and directed by Marie-Claude Fournier, discover the BOW'T TRAILweb documentary. Experience a powerful journey through the Afro-descendant dances and rhythms of the Americas and follow choreographer Rhodnie Désir as she travels on the trail of her ancestors' history.
For more information, please visit: https://ici.tou.tv/bowt-trail
Artists
Choreographer-documentalist and artistic director of RD Créations, Rhodnie Désir has created about fifteen pieces, like BOW'T TRAIL Retrospek and her pioneering memoir journey BOW'T TRAIL have earned her two awards from the Prix de la danse de Montréal (2020): The Prix Envol and the Grand Prix. In 2021, she was chosen as one of the "25 to watch" by Dance Magazine in New York and nominated for the prestigious career award “The APAP Award of Merit”. In 2022, she received the “Danseuse de l’année” award at the Gala Dynastie and she became the first Associate Artist of the famous Place des Arts institution in Montreal.
Her documentary and Afro-contemporary choreographic signature is rooted in rhythmic languages. A performer and orator of remarkable power, her words and her international civic actions unite beyond dance, and then shine as at UNESCO.
Producer, beatmaker, DJ, Japanese mangas, cultures and traditions lover, Engone Endong explore civilizations and offers an alternative approach of musics, arts and world traditions by cleverly mixing ancestral knowledge with today’s sounds (electroic, hip-hop, experimental).
Collaborating internationally as a DJ (Elom 20ce in Togo, Pamela Badjogo/Prix RFI Découverte nalist, Société des Arts Technologiques), he composes soundtracks of various realms, such as the virtual experience of the movie “Les Etats-Unis d’Afrique: au-delà du hip-hop”, by Yanick Létourneau (PERIPHERIA, prix de la Critique RIDM 2011). He is the face of Atsie Sun Orchestra, a virtual and imaginary band whose free album, released in December 2011, has been downloaded more than 6,000 times worldwide.
Standing out as a performer, he performed alongside the legendary American DJ Rich Medina and was the headline of the Piknic Electronik festival in 2013. The same year, the Pop Montreal festival emphasized his participation by programming him three days in a row. Creator of the “African Sessions” nights (with DJs Sugarface Nene and Je Suis TBA) at the legendary Club Balattou, he signs in 2014 the new record label UNLOG that focuses on instrumental music. His politically engaged album #OKENG was critically acclaimed in the American medias OKAYAFRICA and AFROPUNK. On May 1st 2017, he released his very rst mini- lm “Demain, un jour nouveau” (Tomorrow, a new day), inspired by his new composition in collaboration with the SLAM Action collective from Gabon and the contemporary choreographer Gael Ikonda. In the summer 2017, he collaborates with choreographer Rhodnie Désir on her new creation Dusk Society for the Dusk Dances festival in Toronto.
A self-taught drummer/band leader, Jahsun has over 30 years of professional experience. He is one of the most requested drummers in Montreal. Specializing in reggae, jazz-hop, funk, R&B & soul, hip-hop music, he has toured across Canada, India, China, the Caribbean & the United States. Jahsun has solid experience performing in large, international festivals and concert venues and studio recording in a variety of genres, focused on both improvisational and rehearsed content. Since 2003, he has been founder and artistic director of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, a premiere platform for artistic expression, artist development & networking based on improvised music. Comprising a group of over 100 artists, Kalmunity has produced 2 weekly events: Kalmunity’s Tuesday nights, a live organic improvisational event (18 years running); and Kalmunity Jazz Project, a more intimate jazz-fusion improvised repertoire (15 years running). In addition, Jahsun is co-founder of the Kalmunity Music Week since 2018, Canada’s first Black arts week. Jahsun has been at the forefront of Montreal’s live music scene for over 20 years, has woven his sound into Montreal’s sonic fabric and is always committed to providing a space/stage for storytelling & creative black music.
Jahsun has composed, recorded and performed with widely-known local and international artists, such as: Yellowman, Lynn Taitt, Richie Spice, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Didier Awadi, Gage, Iba Mahr, Micah Shamaiah, Smif n Wessun, Omar(UK), Maestro Fresh Wes, Muzion, Dramatik, Malika Tirolien, Jowee Omicile, Jai Nitai Lotus, Monk E, Jah Cutta & Determination, Lady Alma, Nomadic Massive, Dead Obies,
Inword, Mikey Dangerous, Groundfood, Wesley & the Wesley band, Preach, d’bi young, Fredy V, Kim Zombik, Rhodnie Désir, Tanya Evanson, Fabrice Koffy, Sarah MK, Kaie Kellough, Jason Sharp, Shi Wisdom, Naila Keleta Mae, and INUSASO. He has also shared the stage with artists, such as Sa-Roc, Brother Ali, Fred Wesley & the New JB’s, Public Enemy, Tarrus Riley, Sizzla, Wyclef Jean, The Wailers, The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Snarky Puppy.
His many musical projects are simply a way to create a positive, communicative and harmonious community. Jahsun’s tireless search for new sounds, innovative projects, genuine voices and authentic cultural exchanges continues.
Visual new media artist, composer and production director based in Montreal— Manuel Chantre creates sculptures, installations, performances by including light, video projection, music, interactivity and digital fabrication. Since 2004, his works have been created for renowned international institutions in media art, art galleries, events, public art, commercial projects, and private collections.
He showed his works at over 70 events and exhibitions presented by internationally renowned institutions such as the Society for arts and technologies SAT (CA), the City of Montreal, the International Digital Art Biennal in Montreal (CA), Mutek (CA), the Mapping Festival (CH), Filux Festival (MX), File Electronic Language International Festival (BR) and Toronto Scotiabank Nuit Blanche (CA) amongst other.
Chantre explores the memory, the identity and spaces that are inhabited, imagined, immaterial or virtual made by human being. His works are at the crossroads of contemporary optical art, fiction and commentary. He seeks to further explore the three-dimensional narrative properties permitted by translucent multi-screen projections, immersive environments, light beams, translucent structures as well as dome and panoramic screens.
Credits
BOW’T TRAIL Rétrospek
Co-production
RD Créations, National Arts Centre, Ottawa
Creation partners
Canada Council for the Arts
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Espace Libre
Centre de création O'Vertigo
Choreography, dancer, artistic direction and vocal compositions
Rhodnie Désir
Musicians
Engone Endong & Jahsun
Video designer
Manuel Chantre
Lighting designer
Juliette Dumaine
Lighting designer (accessories)
Jonathan Barro
Costume designer
Mélanie Fererro
Beatmaker and music composer
Engone Endong
Artistic Senior Consultant
Philip Szporer
Creative support
Isabelle Poirier
James Viveiros
Dressmaker
Natalie Talbot
Technical director
Romane Bocquet
NAC Dance Team
Executive Producer
Cathy Levy
Senior Producer
Tina Legari
Special Projects Coordinator and Assistant to the Executive Producer
Mireille Nicholas
Company Manager
Sophie Anka
Education Associate and Teaching Artist
Siôned Watkins
Technical Director
Brian Britton
Communications Strategist
Julie Gunville
Marketing Strategist
Marie-Chantale Labbé-Jacques
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees