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THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD (classroom)

Choreographic and visual art works

Educational objectives

The following excerpts, with accompanying questions and background information, focus our attention on the characteristics of the dancing body in Perreault’s oeuvre.

Students learn how Perreault’s drawings were a source of inspiration and support during his creative process. They analyze his dancers’ gestural and expressive qualities, and discuss his unique creative vision. The worksheets are designed to offer a deeper understanding of how body, expression and performance are inseparable in all of Perreault’s works. Students become more aware of the role of dynamics and, especially, of weight in the expressiveness of a dance work.

Pathways to appreciation

Aspects related to artistic creation

Elements of choreographic language:
- Movements tied to energy: effort and states
- Personal and general space
- Relationship between partners: dynamic and spatial actions, types of formation
Composition procedures
Structural elements
Elements making up the stage environment

Aspects related to performance

Elements associated with artistic expression

Aspects related to culture

Elements from dance history

Symbolic dimension

Fragility – instability – precariousness – support – letting go

Select a worksheet
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¹
Perreault, “dance at his fingertips ”*

Eironos
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

A number of artists, writers, filmmakers, dramaturgs and choreographers fill notebooks with drawings, lines, ideas and sketches as a prelude to their creative explorations. Jean-Pierre Perreault adopted this form of expression with a natural eloquence, using charcoal, gouache, ink and watercolour to give form to his ideas. For each of his choreographic works, Perreault created a new “world” in his signature style.

What is striking about these created worlds, in monochrome or colour, is the strong sense of space. Within these spaces, anonymous figures emerge from the choreographer’s imagination, drawn with a simple stroke of a brush or pen. What makes them so compelling to us, as if they were alive? The artist’s comments are revealing: “In my drawings, the characters have personalities, even if they are anonymous. There is always a story in each one, and if they are always doing the same thing it’s because I’m not trying to produce choreography at all, or even movement, but rather spatial relationships. I think of what lies underneath.” (Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions, (Trans. Steve Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 51)

In the studio…

* Expression borrowed from Rober Racine, visual artist
²
Still images

Here are nine preparatory sketches for various works. We suggest students take the time to closely observe and immerse themselves in the images, and then reflect on their impressions.

What type of energy do these bodies convey?

What do you think their physical or emotional state is? How would you describe the surrounding atmosphere? Choose one or two words to describe the spirit of each drawing (e.g., freedom, letting go, momentum, instability, nonchalance, destiny, constraint, passion).

Students can think about how these bodies occupy the space and the dynamic tension between the characters and their environment.

They can imagine a thread connecting the figures to each other or to the space (sky, earth an object in the environment). What type of tension might there be between the connected elements?

In the studio…

“He is trying to rediscover the hand’s free-flowing movement . . . executing without the constraints of gravity and physical limitations, the steps, figures, marks, colours and transparencies that charcoal, watercolour and pastel can allow him—dance at his fingertips. » (Rober Racine in Gélinas, A. (Ed), Jean-Pierre Perreault, Choreographer , Dance Collection Danse Press, 1992, p. 107)

Joe
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“The practice of drawing, a corollary to the choreographer’s transformation of movement vocabulary, confirms his new conception of performance, at the same time inaugurating a composition process that, for him, is entirely new.” [Translation] (Mathieu Albert, “Jean-Pierre Perreault,” ETC, No. 15, 1991, p. 74)

Eironos
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“The drawings, the paintings, have become my trips. I go off in all directions, and while I draw I feed my fear, and, eventually, the work. When I see the dancer coming, all this is forgotten.” (Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 61)

Vent d'Est
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“I make no distinction between my choreographic work, my set design and my painting. I’m an artist who takes advantage of all sorts of possibilities: it’s like making a garden, it’s the creation of an environment.” (Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 44)

Les Années de pèlerinage
Jean Pierre-Perreault, artist

“While I was travelling, drawing was a way to look at forms—not to understand them intellectually, but to play with them, make little collections of them, gather information.” (Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 45)

Vent d'Est
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“For him [Jean-Pierre Perreault], drawing opens the door to a world free of material restraints, which allows him to develop his work and concept in an open, more workable space.” [Translation] (Mathieu Albert, “Jean-Pierre Perreault,” ETC, No. 15, 1991, p. 75)

Piazza
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“In his drawings, the dancers are faceless. They look like grupetti—the letter i bent over, lying down, standing straight, huddled together. Whispering secrets, listening to each other move, breathe.” (Rober Racine in Gélinas, A. (Ed), Jean-Pierre Perreault, Choreographer, Dance Collection Danse Press, 1992, p. 110)

Piazza
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“When I choreograph, I treat dance like matter, like paint pigments or musical notes. It is a system of tensions between one gesture and another, between two individuals, between colours, between sound and silence.” (Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 121)

Joe
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

“ In most cases, a new sketchbook was begun for each choreographic project. But as the right sketchbook was not always at hand at the right moment, Perreault would pick up whatever was at hand to continue his annotations. The projects thus came to cross-fertilize each other.” (Laurier Lacroix in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p.47)

Dernière Paille
notation by Jean-Pierre Perreault
³
Perreault’s signature

Stella
Jean-Pierre Perreault, artist

A choreographer’s signature is usually the result of a long process during which the dancer/creator uses the raw material of “dance” to give form to his or her artistic vision. Perreault’s early experiences with the dancing body brought him into contact with modern dance. But it was his encounter with the modernist vision of art, promoted by his spiritual mentor, Jeanne Renaud, which undoubtedly had the greatest influence on his artistic thought. The young dancer/choreographer embraced the principles of aesthetic freedom adopted by a number of artists, painters, musicians and dancers he met early on in his career, particularly those who belonged to Les Automatistes , some of whom were signatories of the Refus global manifesto. Perreault’s unique vision was rooted in his desire to free himself from aesthetic and choreographic references, and from the predominant model of the dancing body. From the start, and throughout his career, Perreault sought to create a form of dance that was closer to real life. To do so, he tirelessly questioned dance and all of its elements (dynamics, rhythm, body, syntax), as well as the concept of performance.

During this early phase of experimentation, the dancer’s relationship with gravity soon became an important source of artistic expression. For Perreault, the weight of a dancer’s body is not something to overcome, as in classical dance, but rather something to be affirmed and accentuated. Bodies lose their balance, let go, fall or support each other, expressing in different ways a stability that is always precarious. Like the great thinkers and pioneers of modern dance, Perreault intuitively recognized that the expressivity of movement is closely tied to the dancer’s relationship with weight.
⁴
Observe

Excerpt from Dernière Paille (1980)

Questions to direct our focus

Many Perreault experts consider Dernière paille (1977-1980) to be emblematic of his signature, a precursor to the rest of his choreographic work. In the words of Ginelle Chagnon, one of Perreault’s most important collaborators, “It is a work in which Jean-Pierre starts to free himself as a dancer from his classical lines. The material is almost unisex, as in Joe.
Women and men wear the same costume, which camouflages the body. We’re witnessing the emergence of his unique perspective on the human body.” Excerpt from « Soirée Jean-Pierre Perreault : un devoir de mémoire », Sylvie St-Jacques, La Presse, 12 décembre 2009.

In this excerpt from Dernière paille, what elements make up the stage environment?

How does the arrangement of the space lead the dancers to use their body weight differently than if they were performing on a conventional stage?

In this stage environment, what space do the dancers use (floor, surfaces, levels)?

What types of movement and effort are permitted by the stage environment (floor, ramps, lines)?

Which dynamic actions allow the two main performers to enter into a relationship with each other?

How do the costumes chosen by Perreault help to shift the viewer’s attention to the energy of the bodies rather than their shape?

What is your overall impression of this excerpt?

Imagine yourself in the body of one of the performers. What are the most predominant dynamic qualities?
⁵
Observe - 2

Excerpt from Dernière Paille (1977)

Questions to direct our focus

In this excerpt from the original version of Dernière paille (1977), we hear no music, but only the sound of feet hitting the floor, or a dancer’s body being pulled. The body’s weight reveals the musicality in all movement. This work shows Perreault’s early experimentation with weight. The following questions invite further exploration of this aspect of his work.

Ask students to identify ideas linked to gravity, such as balance, loss of balance, weight transfer, moving the centre of gravity, falls, a sense of weightlessness, weight. Is there a wide range of nuances in the dancers’ gestures?

What challenges does Perreault give to his dancers in terms of gravity?

How do the dancers’ movements mobilize the body? What body parts are most active? What type of energy is used to execute the movements (strength, tension, etc.)?

What compositional processes does the choreographer use to reinforce the effect of the body’s weight (time, relationships among the dancers, space, actions, etc.)?

What are students’ impressions of these gestural and choreographic choices?
⁶
Perreault, a sculptor of movement

Eironos (1996)
Marco Mona, photographer

In looking at Perreault’s oeuvre, from his earliest works to his final creations, those with an experienced eye will see a consistency in the way his dancers move. They seem to prefer being slightly unstable, rather than balanced and resolved. Often in a state of fragile and fleeting balance, the dancers move expansively across the space, looking to reconnect or make a break, letting themselves fall into the arms of another dancer or group, or simply to the floor. The use of the body’s gravity is emblematic of Perreault’s choreographic style.

In his early days, like many choreographers of his time, Perreault rejected the image of the virtuosic body. Much of his research and experimentation aimed to show an authentic and true-to-life dancing body, rooted in the present day. In clearly affirming the weight of bodies, steps and relationships, Perreault invited us, through our imagination, to feel, like him, the inevitable weight of history and the world. Although he was not an activist, he conveyed the torments of the human condition better than anyone.
⁷
Compare - 1

Excerpt from Monuments (1975)

Authenticity over aesthetics

The two works excerpted here are more than 20 years apart: Monuments (1975) – Worksheet 7 and Les Années de pèlerinage (1996) – Worksheet 8.

In Monuments , we see Perreault the experimenter at work. What might look like a simple choreographic exercise, or even an “anti-dance,” in fact reveals the choreographer’s endless creative quest. Simple gestures, the absence of virtuosity, the thrust of movement, the modulation of gestural phrasing, an awareness of movement: the entire language of the body is turned upside down to create a dance that is above all authentic. It was this quest that led Perreault to say to his dancers, “Don’t start with an idea. Make a gesture and let it speak to you. When you put your arms around someone, you feel something, but you don’t need to identify it. The spectator will do that for you.” Perreault also said: “I don’t want interpretation in my work. The dancers have to be present. They shouldn’t censor themselves or try to identify what they’re doing. They should just do it.”Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions, (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 13

Invite students to watch the excerpts from Monuments (1975) and Les Années de pèlerinage (1996). Ask them to identify the seeds of Perreault’s future work in the first excerpt, and the connections between the two works. Students should pay particular attention to the following elements making up a dance piece:

Use of space
Use of weight

Body shapes
Musicality

In the studio…
⁸
Compare - 2

Excerpts from Les Années de pèlerinage (1996)

Authenticity over aesthetics

The two works excerpted here are more than 20 years apart: Monuments (1975) – Worksheet 7 and Les Années de pèlerinage (1996) – Worksheet 8.

In Monuments, we see Perreault the experimenter at work. What might look like a simple choreographic exercise, or even an “anti-dance,” in fact reveals the choreographer’s endless creative quest. Simple gestures, the absence of virtuosity, the thrust of movement, the modulation of gestural phrasing, an awareness of movement: the entire language of the body is turned upside down to create a dance that is above all authentic. It was this quest that led Perreault to say to his dancers, “Don’t start with an idea. Make a gesture and let it speak to you. When you put your arms around someone, you feel something, but you don’t need to identify it. The spectator will do that for you.” Perreault also said: “I don’t want interpretation in my work. The dancers have to be present. They shouldn’t censor themselves or try to identify what they’re doing. They should just do it.” Jean-Pierre Perreault in Febvre, M. et al., Jean-Pierre Perreault – Alternate Visions , (Trans. Steven Sachs), Blue Dawn Press, 2004, p. 13

Invite students to watch the excerpts from Monuments (1975) and Les Années de pèlerinage (1996). Ask them to identify the seeds of Perreault’s future work in the first excerpt, and the connections between the two works. Students should pay particular attention to the following elements making up a dance piece:

Use of space
Use of weight
Body shapes
Musicality

In the studio…
⁹
Perreault and his dancers

Excerpts from Les Années de pèlerinage (1996)

Les Années de pèlerinage is emblematic of Jean-Pierre Perreault’s duets, one of his favourite types of choreography. Perreault adored the early 19th-century romantic composer Franz Liszt. He drew inspiration from Liszt’s work to create the three duets in Les Années de pèlerinage, which is named after a piece of music by the composer. As in numerous other works by Perreault, the performers stand out not for their technical prowess or physical appearance, but rather for their ability to put us in touch with the humanity of their gestures and their physical or emotional state.

Choreographic, scenic, musical and gestural elements are so closely intertwined in Perreault’s work, it is difficult to think of them separately. However, students should focus their attention here on the performers’ dancerly qualities.

What is students’ appreciation of aspects related to artistic expression, such as musicality, fluidity, projection, presence, expansion, etc.?

Questions for students

Imagine being one of the dancers in Les Années de pèlerinage. What words would best describe your physical or emotional state, your level of exertion, your feelings, your relationship with the other dancer?

What creates the relationship of complementarity between the two dancers? How is this relationship conveyed?

Jean-Pierre Perreault was searching for authenticity. What makes these dancers authentic?

In the studio…
¹⁰
Perreault, a sculptor of space - Joe

Excerpt from Joe (1984)

Observe

Joe, Stella , and Adieux

In these three excerpts from Joe, Stella and Adieux, the stage environment is sculpted with geometric structures. Far from being simple props, these structures are ideal surfaces for dancers to play with gravity. The dancing bodies let themselves go, drop and slide; they soar, propelled by the angle of the slope; they struggle to find stability in precarious positions. Bodies and the set are inseparable in Perreault’s work. It is through these “obstacles” that the experience of gravity is both affirmed and transformed.

Questions to direct our focus

The following questions can help to spark a group discussion among three teams, each focusing on one excerpt.

List the various ways in which bodies come into contact with the structures (ramp, triangular pyramids, see-saw) in these excerpts.

What types of gestures do these structures permit? Do they increase the corporeal and dynamic possibilities of the danced movement?

What roles do the stage elements play in the expressivity of the dance?

Actions and movements executed in relation to scenic structures create a musicality, just like dance without props. Identify elements that allow for these sound variations.

Is there a relationship between the stage elements and the bodies of the dancers, as they appear in Jean-Pierre Perreault’s work (body/matter: the volume and shape of bodies and stage elements, the colours chosen for the lighting and costumes, etc.)?

How would you qualify the dancing bodies in Perreault’s works?

What requirements and challenges do these choreographic works create for dancers?

To find out how the stage environment both challenged and inspired dancers, listen to Tassy Teekman, a long-time collaborator of Jean-Pierre Perreault.
¹¹
Perreault, a sculptor of space - Stella

Excerpt from Stella (1985)

Observe

Joe , Stella, and Adieux

In these three excerpts from Joe, Stella and Adieux, the stage environment is sculpted with geometric structures. Far from being simple props, these structures are ideal surfaces for dancers to play with gravity. The dancing bodies let themselves go, drop and slide; they soar, propelled by the angle of the slope; they struggle to find stability in precarious positions. Bodies and the set are inseparable in Perreault’s work. It is through these “obstacles” that the experience of gravity is both affirmed and transformed.

Questions to direct our focus

The following questions can help to spark a group discussion among three teams, each focusing on one excerpt.

List the various ways in which bodies come into contact with the structures (ramp, triangular pyramids, see-saw) in these excerpts.

What types of gestures do these structures permit? Do they increase the corporeal and dynamic possibilities of the danced movement?

What roles do the stage elements play in the expressivity of the dance?

Actions and movements executed in relation to scenic structures create a musicality, just like dance without props. Identify elements that allow for these sound variations.

Is there a relationship between the stage elements and the bodies of the dancers, as they appear in Jean-Pierre Perreault’s work (body/matter: the volume and shape of bodies and stage elements, the colours chosen for the lighting and costumes, etc.)?

How would you qualify the dancing bodies in Perreault’s works?

What requirements and challenges do these choreographic works create for dancers?

To find out how the stage environment both challenged and inspired dancers, listen to Tassy Teekman, a long-time collaborator of Jean-Pierre Perreault.
¹²
Perreault, plasticien de l'espace - Adieux

Excerpt from Adieux (1992)

Observe

Joe , Stella , and Adieux

In these three excerpts from Joe, Stella and Adieux, the stage environment is sculpted with geometric structures. Far from being simple props, these structures are ideal surfaces for dancers to play with gravity. The dancing bodies let themselves go, drop and slide; they soar, propelled by the angle of the slope; they struggle to find stability in precarious positions. Bodies and the set are inseparable in Perreault’s work. It is through these “obstacles” that the experience of gravity is both affirmed and transformed.

Questions to direct our focus

The following questions can help to spark a group discussion among three teams, each focusing on one excerpt.

List the various ways in which bodies come into contact with the structures (ramp, triangular pyramids, see-saw) in these excerpts.

What types of gestures do these structures permit? Do they increase the corporeal and dynamic possibilities of the danced movement?

What roles do the stage elements play in the expressivity of the dance?

Actions and movements executed in relation to scenic structures create a musicality, just like dance without props. Identify elements that allow for these sound variations.

Is there a relationship between the stage elements and the bodies of the dancers, as they appear in Jean-Pierre Perreault’s work (body/matter: the volume and shape of bodies and stage elements, the colours chosen for the lighting and costumes, etc.)?

How would you qualify the dancing bodies in Perreault’s works?

What requirements and challenges do these choreographic works create for dancers?

To find out how the stage environment both challenged and inspired dancers, listen to Tassy Teekman, a long-time collaborator of Jean-Pierre Perreault.