Movement and Music

It’s December now, and we’re really close to the world premiere of who we are in the dark next year. Peggy has completed choreographing for our seven fantastic dancers; and composers/musicians Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara have completed their original score.

In this series of ultra-sneak peeks at this incredible new work, we’ve taken four short excerpts from the latest archival video, and asked Peggy to comment on the movement and the music in each one.

movement and music #1
”This is an early scene from the piece, and choreographically I’m working with the idea of form arising out of darkness. Energies funnel, eddy and swirl as ‘particles’ collide and coalesce; orbital pathways and rotational forces seem to be arranging the dancers. The sound is open and spare with a melody line threading through it. There is a sense that the music and the movement are in a state of emergence.”

movement and music #2
”In the aftermath of a violent and chaotic scene, two dancers – Kate Holden and David Norsworthy – are  suddenly thrown together. The push and pull between them reveals tensions and desires that cannot be resolved. Sarah Neufeld’s violin line feels to me as if it arises from their bodies.”

movement and music #3
”This scene is a bit of a rampage. The dancers advance in a single confrontational line that explodes and reforms. The music pushes forward with a tremendous pressure fuelled by Jeremy Gara’s playing. It makes me think of a mob advancing downhill and gaining a momentum they can’t control.“

movement and music #4
”These four women – Sarah Fregeau, Mairi Greig, Kate Holden and Sahara Morimoto – are linked together through an acknowledgement of losses suffered. They are there for each other. The deep listening among them offers condolence. The music offers comfort, its beauty is healing.”

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The final step before our debut with Canadian Stage at the Bluma Appel on February 21 is a 6-day residency at the Betty Oliphant Theatre, where we’ll incorporate all of the design elements into the show: the set drops by John Heward, projections by Jeremy Mimnagh, costumes by Robyn Macdonald and lighting by Marc Parent.

All the details for performances of who we are in the dark in Toronto and on tour across Canada in February, March, and April 2019 are here on our website.

who we are in the moment

We recently sat down with composers and musicians Jeremy Gara and Sarah Neufeld from Arcade Fire, and chatted about their experience working with Peggy on who we are in the dark for the upcoming Canadian tour in 2019.

Jeremy and Sarah

1. How did you become involved with who we are in the dark?

Jeremy Gara: Sarah mentioned ages ago this wonderful collaboration she had done with Peggy, and as her excitement grew and morphed into future plans, she brought me in to collaborate as well. Sarah and I play in a band together and have also worked together as a duo, so we have a pretty easy and natural way of playing together - and now I’m spoiled to be brought into this amazing project with PB!
Sarah Neufeld: I collaborated with Peggy a couple years ago; a short piece with the two of us performing side by side [fractured black]. It was incredible working together - so much fierceness and grace. Peggy brought up the idea of doing a full length collaboration with her company and I jumped at the chance.

2. What do you enjoy about working on a dance performance? How is it working with Peggy and the other collaborators?

JG: It’s amazing to be able to work in the moment with the dancers: it’s incredible what the choreography and the movement can do to push and pull the music in different directions. Peggy is wonderful to work with…she has a clear vision and purpose but is at the same time SO open to ideas and open to change, both with us as musicians and with her dancers. She has total trust in their instincts and respect for their artistry and it’s really, completely in the moment. It’s a wonderful, positive work environment.
SN: My music has always been informed in some way by movement, by the body, by a kind of kinetic aliveness. Writing with and for dance feels very natural, challenging but in such a good way. I feel it pushes me in all the right directions. I’m inspired by Peggy’s process, her energy, her focus, and the general amazing attitude and openness of her entire company.

Sarah in rehearsal at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Photography by Jeremy Mimnagh.

3. How is this collaboration different from your other artistic processes?

JG: Well, I usually just work on musical collaborative projects or completely on my own in my solo pursuits, so it’s always different! Different people, different energies, different city. Always a fresh look!
SN: This is the first time I’ve ever worked on a full length dance piece. I’ve worked on lengthly projects before; film scores, albums etc, but this is totally different in the way the work emerges and evolves. A lot of the music is being created for already choreographed scenes, so that’s giving us a lot of different information than the type of imagination palette when starting from a solely musical jumping off point. It’s actually allowing Jeremy and I to find new ways of playing together that we might not have ever found otherwise.

Jeremy in Rehearsal at Canada's National Ballet School

4. Have you ever performed live with contemporary dancers? If not, what do you think about it? What kind of rush does it give you?

JG: I have, actually. I used to work frequently with Le Groupe Dance Lab in Ottawa when I was younger. It’s actually where I first explored composing music that wasn’t in a traditional “rock band” sort of environment. It’s really a whole different world, on an artistic level, all the way down to the technical and logistical level. 
SN: I have as well, and it’s always totally unique and super satisfying on so many levels!  

Jeremy Gara. Photography by Brantley Gutierrez

Sarah Neufeld. photography by Lisa Fleischmann

5. What excites you the most about who we are in the dark?

JG: JUST GETTING STARTED! It’s all pretty exciting because it’s just taking shape! The dancers are amazing and the work is really, really strong. There are moments where I get really lost in the moment and that’s the best feeling, honestly. 
SN: Yeah, me too. Some of the music I’ve been really immersed in the working of already, but there’s the whole of it still very much unfolding, so there’s this wonderful tension between feeling like we have a handle on something tangible, and being in a very raw unknowing state of creation.

who we are in the dark has its World Premiere with Canadian Stage / Fall for Dance North February 21-24, 2019. Tickets are on sale now!