MECHANICAL VARIATIONS

Audience: Ages 5 and up
Length: approx. 40 minutes

A Quebec-France co-production of Festival Escapades, la Maison des Arts de Créteil and Le fils d’Adrien danse.

A tiny, shiny piece of poetry

Think of the famous scene where Fred Astaire dances with a coat rack and you get the picture. Mechanical Variations finds Harold Rhéaume all alone on stage until he comes across two strange-looking sculptures. The Weeble wobbles; The Skater skedaddles. With tenderness and good-natured humour, the dancer brings them to life.

The Variations let us observe the inner world of a lonely, naïve man-child left to his own devices. Movement is pared-down to an expressive minimalism. With video technologies, the show is a nod to Norman McLaren’s movies and Charlie Chaplin’s fantasy-world.

This playful and unconventional meeting of contemporary dance and visual art came about in 2004 as a collaboration between Harold Rhéaume, art designer Yvan Dagenais and the French Escapades Festival. The first phase of the creation process and five shows took place at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris.

In November 2007, the Maison des Arts de Créteil came on board as co-producer, providing the team with a residency at its Studio technologique, and hosting nine performances. The young French spectators were mesmerized.

En 2008-2009, Mechanical Variations brought joy to young audiences at Montreal’s Les Coups de Théâtre festival before crossing the Atlantic once again for 12 shows in the greater Paris region.

Residencies

October and November 2007 — Maison des Arts de Créteil (France)
November 2004 — Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris (France)