FREE EVENT

Market Square
1 Market Square, Saint John, NB E2L 4Z6

A PUBLIC PERFORMANCE / NOT A TICKETED EVENT / IN MUSEUM

Duration : 3 hours
World premiere : Created at Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul as part of the 30th International Symposium of Contemporary art of Baie-Saint-Paul, Canada, August 31, 2012. Reviewed in 2016.

“The present is our only eternity.”
- Marie Chouinard

Originally performed by Marie Chouinard in a 3-hour solo, always in a public place, IN MUSEUM is now also being presented by the dancers of COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD, who replace each other in turn throughout the performance.

A visitor is invited to share discreetly a hope or a wish with the dancer. From each exchange a personalized reply will result, a free dance of dazzling spontaneity that conjures powers to make the wish come true. IN MUSEUM evolves over each progressive exchange between performer and visitor. Between each encounter, the dancer takes a moment to refocus before again giving form and shape to the invisible.

The performance brings to mind the white-clad Pythia, the prophetess of Delphi. This ancient Greek figure delivered her prophecies in a trance like state and in a language that only priests of the temple knew how to interpret. The history of Pythia and the act of divination may remain a mystery, but the inscription at the entrance to Apollo’s temple at Delphi has lost none of its truth: “Know thyself and thou will know the universe and the gods.”

CRÉDITS

Creation: Marie Chouinard
Performers: Michael Baboolal, Adrian W.S. Batt, Justin Calvadores, Rose Gagnol, Valeria Galluccio, Luigi Luna, Carol Prieur, Sophie Qin, Celeste Robbins, Clémentine Schindler, Ana Van Tendeloo and Jérôme Zerges
Costumes and props: Marie Chouinard
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Touring Team:

Rehearsal Director: Paige Culley
Tour Manager: Martin Coutu
Technical Director and Stage Manager: Félix Lefebvre

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Download CANTIQUE for free on the App Store — conceived by Marie Chouinard, music by Louis Dufort, featuring Benoît Lachambre and Carol Prieur.

The COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD wishes to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

The COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD is proud to be carbon neutral. Since 2020, the company has analyzed and offset the carbon footprint of its tours, its productions and its studios. The company supports the Quebec initiative, Carbone boréal, which reforests naturally deserted terrain in the boreal forests north of Lake Saint Jean. These are public lands which are protected by their designation as experimental forests in conjunction with the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. This project is also used for scientific research.

The use of cameras, camcorders, tape recorders and cell phones are strictly forbidden during the performance."