Attention all dancers and dance enthusiasts! Internationally-renowned dance company Marie Chouinard is coming to Kingston on January 30th. Marie Chouinard has created choreography based on Stravinsky’s iconic score, The Rite of Spring. As well as a piece based off the book Mouvements by Henri Michaux. Learn more about the details of the show, here.

It’s wonderful to learn about a show from the perspective of a performer. Dancer Valeria Galluccio has been part of Marie Chouinard since 2011, she took some time to answer a few questions about the upcoming show via email. See below to learn about her experience and why she is looking forward to the Kingston performance. 

Keep up with Kingston: Where else has this series been performed?
Valeria Galluccio: In many countries! The Rite of Spring has been presented more than 300 times all over the world since its creation in 1993. HENRI MICHAUX : MOUVEMENTS has also been presented many times (over 100!) in different countries since its premiere in 2011.

KUWK: What have you enjoyed about travelling with this show and your team?
VG: The Rite of Spring and HENRI MICHAUX : MOUVEMENTS are two energetic pieces, not of the same colour, but both are very bright and distinctive. I enjoy how this combination, it pushes the boundaries of my physical abilities.To perform these works, the body needs a specific kind of muscular preparation and resistance that goes beyond the work of performance and stage presence.

KUWK: Tell me a little about the performers in the show, they all have very different backgrounds but are all very well-trained. How important is technical training in executing the vision of these performances in particular?
VG: The Compagnie is formed by 10 dancers. We have different backgrounds, some of us studied ballet, others modern technique, others mime. Marie prefers technical dancers but at the same time not too technical, because she loves to have the latitude to work the performers’ bodies based on her idea of the movement and the dancers’ maximum potential. Marie loves to work with different types of bodies, so you will see that the dancers are physically very different.

KUWK: Have you been to Kingston before?
VG: Personally this is my first time in Kingston but the Compagnie presented the 24 Preludes by Chopin and The Rite of Spring here in 2009.

KUWK: What are you looking forward to, in terms of sharing this performance with the Kingston audience?
VG: Sharing and communicating on stage is the whole point of my being a performing artist. What I love to share is not really definable now, as I am speaking, because it takes form at the moment of the performance. It is unique, not repeatable, and sacred. Every time that I perform, I prepare my soul and my body to meet the public, to share a part of my thoughts, my being or my experience of being alive, through my body, through the movement, through the work of Marie.

KUWK: What do you love about this show?
VG: In The Rite of Spring I can physically explore movements that are very sharp, fast and very defined in space. At the same time, I discovered the sensuality of rolling the spine and the connection with the breath. The complexity of the music of Stravinsky helps me find a way to keep the tempo by playing the notes with my body or being an instrument myself, adding to the music. This makes the show very challenging for me.

In HENRI MICHAUX : MOUVEMENTS I have a strong connection with the drawings. I dance the shape and the soul of the drawings. The music of Louis Dufort is inspiring and is a real source of support throughout the work.

KUWK: What can the audience expect from the performance?
VG: Be ready for highly-charged and sensitive energy.