Month: January 2022

Categories
Between the Lines

TEATRAM (The Group)

Richard Trem­blay in res­i­dence (1972)

The com­pa­ny Le Groupe Téâ­tram (1974 – 81) emerged from the Théâtre Com­mu­nal Con­tem­po­rain (TCC, 1970 – 74), a col­lec­tive direct­ed by Richard Trem­blay. The Téâ­tram Group (the­ater com­pa­ny) was the cru­cible of the chore­o­g­ra­pher’s ear­ly stage works in the chore­o­graph­ic the­ater. Soon, the chore­o­g­ra­ph­er became involved in a the­atri­cal lab­o­ra­to­ry for the Kathakali dance-the­ater and the actor’s train­ing as well as in the inter­pre­ta­tion and cre­ation of new works evolv­ing over two decades towards his work at Danse Kalashas (1990- ), his dance com­pa­ny. Téâ­tram’s train­ing pro­gram in phys­i­cal the­ater enabled young per­form­ers to pre­pare for train­ing in Kathakali and gave them the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take dance lessons in India, par­tic­i­pat­ing in the process of cre­at­ing stage works dur­ing which some of them shared the intense moments of the life and work expe­ri­ence of the Group. Richard Trem­blay’s main cre­ations at Téâ­tram are: Rhi­noc­er­os (TCC /Centre d’an­i­ma­tion théâ­trale, 1971) after Ionesco’s, and pre­sent­ed at the Gésu the­ater, Mon­tre­al; Angel and Clemen­tine (TCC, 1972), on texts from the ancient tragedy; Inter­mède (1974), chore­o­graph­ic the­ater, pre­sent­ed at the the­ater fes­ti­val of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Que­bec at Chicouti­mi; and Madam’s Being Car­ried Away (1975), after Genet’s The Maids and a mon­tage of texts by Racine and Euripi­des. The lat­ter pro­duc­tion was pre­sent­ed at the Nation­al The­ater School of New Del­hi and, in a reworked ver­sion, The Erinyes, at the New The­ater Fes­ti­val in Bal­ti­more, in 1977. The Temp­ta­tion of Saint Antho­ny (1980), adapt­ed from Gus­tave Flaubert was Téâ­tram’s last pro­duc­tion with a new team of actors. An off­shoot of the Ger­man expres­sion­ism, the chore­o­graph­ic the­ater under Johann Kres­nik (1929 – 2019) uses the text as a coun­ter­point to the dance. The Tanzthe­ater Wup­per­tal, which has evolved its own style, is anoth­er branch of the same artis­tic move­ment. The Kathakali Insti­tute and Danse Kathakali de Mon­tréal (1981 – 90) fol­lowed Le Groupe Téâ­tram.

The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1980).
Adaptation and Direction: Richard Tremblay.
From L to R: A. Bombardier, C. Poissonneau, J. Dubé and V. Pinette. Cinéma Parallèle, Montréal, on 13 -14 septembre 1980 and 17 through to 28.
(Photo: J. F. Boucher)
Madam's Being Caried Away / The Erinyes (1975). 
Choreographic theater: Richard Tremblay. Auditorium of the Cultural Center, Mont-Jacob, Jonquière (QC).
From L to R: G. Bouchard, R. Tremblay, M. Michaud and L. Tremblay. Delhi, Baltimore, 1975-77.
(Photo:  Téâtram / Archives R. Tremblay)
Madam's Being Caried Away / The Erinyes (1975). 
Choreographic theater: Richard Tremblay. National School of Drama, Delhi, 1975. The 9-member team after the performance. Standing in the background: Munnir Ahmed, one of the institution's three technical staff.
(Photo:  R. Tremblay)
INTERMÈDE (1974). 
Choreographic theater: Richard Tremblay. Theater Festival, Université du Québec, Chicoutimi, March, 1974. 
(Photo:  A. St-Onge. Archives R. Tremblay)
GITOPADESHAM 
Kathakali dance theater (Repertoire). On a tour of Canada (1981). From L to R: Vellinezhi K. Gopalakrishnan (Krishna), Richard Tremblay (Arjuna). Teatram / The Kathakali Institute (Montreal) 
(Photo: J. F. Boucher, 1981. Archives Danse Kalashas)

Oth­er images from The Kathakali Insti­tute and Danse Kathakali de Mon­tréal (1981 – 90)

DURYODHANA VADHAM 
Kathakali Dance Theater.
 K. Gopalakrishnan as Duryodhana. Duryodhana vadham (Kathakali repertoire)
(Photo :  J. F. Boucher, 1981. Archives Danse Kalashas)
GITOPADESHAM 
Kathakali dance theater (Repertoire, 1981). From L to R: Vellinezhi K. Gopalakrishnan (1951 - 2008) impersonating Krishan and Richard Tremblay as Arjuna.  The Kathakali Institute (Montreal) 
(Photo: J. F. Boucher. Montage: silentculture)
The Anger of Achilles (1988-91-93, 2000) 
Kathakali dance theatre: New repertoire.
Choreography: Richard Tremblay

Behind the scenes at the Kerala premiere. SNA Regional Theatre, Thrissur (Kerala, India). Richard Tremblay and Kalamandalam Gopi (right) in the role of Achilles. 
(Photo: Rajagopal, 1993)
Categories
Between the Lines

The Kiss

Bow­ing to the Unknown

Before leav­ing, we kissed each oth­er; the rit­u­al of a more or less con­sent­ed farewell. When Mathilde approached Anil, he pre­sent­ed his cheek. She asked, sur­prised: “How do they do that in India?” The dancer clasped his hands on his chest and greet­ed her in response to a ques­tion for­mu­lat­ed in a lan­guage he did not under­stand. The ges­ture sur­prised her; or per­haps it embar­rassed her, see­ing it as a sign of mod­esty and a hes­i­ta­tion in the face of an invi­ta­tion to kiss. Anil had slipped behind a famil­iar ges­ture, a ges­ture inher­it­ed from his thou­sand-year-old India, he per­formed to greet the stranger. Yet, both of them want­ed to be strangers, hang­ing on a ges­ture they could not finish..

Richard Trem­blay, fol­low­ing a res­i­dence at the Cen­tre choré­graphique de Belfort (France, 1998) with the par­tic­i­pa­tion of Anil Kumar and Guil­laume Lemas­son. Pho­to: Kalashas.

Categories
Between the Lines

The Invisible Man

A dance soloist presents him­self: nei­ther dancer nor chore­o­g­ra­ph­er, anec­do­tal, sin­gu­lar, mas­cu­line, under a body that he has made exot­ic by sin­gling it out on the out­skirts of the Ger­man expres­sion­ism. So he con­se­crat­ed the exoti­cism of his body like, but not to be con­fused with, the oth­er dancer wrapped in rhythm, col­or, sto­ry and per­cus­sion. None of them would claim to be ‘exot­ic’ for all that.

OTHER
Pho­to col­lec­tion from Kérala, India (R. Trem­blay, 1976 ‑1981). Album de Kathakali.