Nuit

“Nuit” is a piece in which four women and four men, grappling with the hurly-burly of everyday life, interact in a “story without a plot,” a foreshadowing of Perreault’s later works.

Drawing had always been among Jean-Pierre Perreault’s creative pursuits but he began practicing it more systematically in the 1980s. His pictorial explorations helped him design “places for dancing” 1 that were really spaces for reflection where he could defy the laws of gravity and accentuate problems in the plastic arts. Perreault worked with visual artist Richard Purdy to design his first set for Nuit. Its movable walls allowed for vanishing perspective, a theme that would frequently resurface in Perreault’s work. Nuit (1986) is a piece in which four women and four men, grappling with the hurly-burly of everyday life, interact in a “story without a plot,” 2 a foreshadowing of Perreault’s later works. During this harsh night, the characters push themselves to their limits, different types of interaction take shape and areas of tension emerge among the various materials, masses, volumes and configurations. Dance becomes a “sculptural material endowed with mobility.” 3 This demanding, fiery piece, performed in half-light, expresses a troubling, subterranean vulnerability, rooted in the unflinching integrity that its author succeeded in transmitting to the dancers. Extending some of the strategies Perreault used in Joe, the dancers become percussion instruments, beating the ground in intoxication and finally exhaustion. The performers had backgrounds in both dance and theatre. The mix helped transform the production into a drama that left an indelible impact on the audience. One of the dancers, Louise Bédard, appears to have been a source of inspiration for Perreault and was again given a pivotal role. The deep blue used by Jean Gervais in the lighting design for Nuit would become part of the signature hue of Perreault’s works. The singular materiality of Nuit and the interpenetration among the multiple components that Perreault again created make this a major work not only in Perreault’s legacy but in the history of Canadian choreography. 1. Laurier Lacroix, “L’invention de la danse,” in Michèle Febvre, ed., Jean-Pierre Perreault. Regard pluriel. Montreal: Les heures bleues, 2001, p. 56. 2. Michèle Febvre, “L’espace de la gravité,” ibid., p. 32. 3. Mathieu Albert, “Jean-Pierre Perreault,” ETC Montréal 15 (August 1991).

Source : Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault

Credits

Group work for 4 female dancers and 4 male dancersChoreography: Jean-Pierre Perreault Music, set design and costumes: Jean-Pierre Perreault Lighting: Jean Gervais Rehearsal director: Janet OxleyDancers: Louise Bédard, Hélène Blackburn, Pierre-André Coté, Annie Dréau, Claude Godbout, Pierre-Paul Savoie, Daniel Soulières, Tassy TeekmanPremiere October 16, 1986, Salle Marie-Gérin-Lajoie, Université du Québec à Montréal Produced by Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault Length 85 minutes