Ottawa, 17 November 2014 – Spotlight on Belgium! From November 20 to 30 the NAC’s Théâtre français will be presenting performances and activities featuring talented and original artists from the lowlands by the North Sea. The activities will be based on the kaleidoscopic piece Kiss & Cry by Jaco Van Dormael and Michèle Anne De Mey, making its appearance at the NAC after enjoying great success on four continents! Children are invited to join in the festivities by attending the playful musical piece Listen to the Silence – un voyage avec John Cage, by Wouter Van Looy and Letizia Renzini, which will be presented at the NAC Studio. Complementing these works are two Jaco Van Dormael films presented by the Théâtre français in association with the Alliance française in Ottawa, Toto le héros and Le huitième jour.

Light up your fall season with the unbridled imagination of Belgian artists!

 

Kiss & Cry

November 26 - 29 at the NAC Théâtre français
The piece will be presented with English surtitles on Friday, November 28.

“Where do they go, the people who have disappeared from our lives, from our memories?” That question was the impetus for Kiss & Cry, a nano dance show by Michèle Anne De Mey and Jaco Van Dormael. This poetic, astonishing and sensual piece, which combines cinema, dance and theatre, received the Prix de la critique in France as Best Dance Performance in 2011.

A woman sitting in a train station – Gisèle – thinks about her past loves. Her story, told by an off-screen narrator, is performed by hands that dance, that become the characters in the tale. Taking place in a set that consists of sand, water and model trains, the choreography is filmed in close-ups and projected simultaneously on a screen where scale and perspective become blurred and where big and small merge together, creating a world of mysterious, dreamlike beauty. Caught up in the swirl of film images and by the ballet of artists moving from one station to another on a stage that has turned into a film set, the spectators see both the story and its creation taking place before their eyes.

Press Reviews

“Kiss & Cry reminded me of just how little one needs to move the human heart – you need a pair of hands – and of how simple means can be used to extraordinary ends. ”

Kate Morris, The Dance Current 

“This show is pure magic.”

Jane Baldwin, Capital Critics' Circle

“Pure magic, pure joy (...) this amazing piece is unlike anything else, a blend of poetry and magic, of cinema and of dancing fingers. A brilliant success in the eyes of all those who still harbour some of their childhood dreams.”

Guy Duplat, La Libre Belgique

Original concept by Michèle Anne De Mey and Jaco Van Dormael, created collectively with Gregory Grosjean, Thomas Gunzig, Julien Lambert, Sylvie Olivé, Nicolas Olivier // NanoDance Choreography: Michèle Anne De Mey, Gregory Grosjean // Directed by Jaco Van Dormael //  Script: Thomas Gunzig, Jaco Van Dormael // produced by Charleroi Danses – Centre chorégraphique de la fédération Wallonie Bruxelles / le manège.mons - Centre Dramatique // co-produced by Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg// with the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International

The Théâtre français wishes to thank Ici Radio-Canada, the newspaper Le Droit and the Ottawa Citizen for their assistance in presenting this performance.

Duration: 90 minutes

Tickets for Kiss & Cry: adults $25 + / students $20 +

 

Listen to the Silence – un voyage avec John Cage

November 29 - 30 at the NAC Studio

Ages 5 and up

“Everything we do is music.” John Cage

There’s a box in the Studio! A box full of surprises that produce sound and colours! In a two-sided room is a wall onto which images are projected, images straight out of the imagination of John Cage. On one side is a pianist, on the other an actor. And in that playful space unfolds Listen to the Silence – un voyage avec John Cage, by Wouter Van Looy and Letizia Renzini, an invitation to a joyous and sometimes zany exploration of music, pursuing the traces of the great, eccentric American composer. This music-based show contains few words and is suitable for children of any culture.

Is noise music?

Can music occur by chance?

Can silence be music?

A veritable interactive concert enlivened by video imagery, idiosyncratic sounds and sweet murmurings, the show is a treasure chest of inventiveness, fantasy and intelligence made to measure for small and big ears alike!

Listen to the Silence – un voyage avec John Cage was named best show of the year in 2012 (Young Audience Music Awards, Brussels).

Set design: Wouter Van Looy // video: Letizia Renzini // performed by: Tjyying Liu // piano: Jeroen Malaise // music: John Cage //  Produced by: Zonzo Compagnie, co-produced by De Werf, Rataplan, Muziektheater Transparant, Big Bang Festival and Acht Brücken (Musik für Köln)

Duration: 55 minutes. Take part in the pre-show activities and discover the universe of John Cage in the Studio lobby, 45 minutes before the show begins.

Tickets for Listen to the Silence – un voyage avec John Cage: $15

 

Discover the sublime cinema of Jaco Van Dormael

To mark the presentation of Kiss & Cry, the Théâtre français, in association with the Alliance française d’Ottawa, will be presenting screenings of two excellent films by Jaco Van Dormael: Toto le héros (Thursday, November 20 at 6 p.m.) and Le huitième jour (Tuesday, November 25 at 6 p.m.).

The films will be presented at the Galerie de l’Alliance française at 352 MacLaren St. in Ottawa. Free admission.