The choreographic initiation workshops orchestrated around the show aim to make young people aware of contemporary dance and the process of choreographic creation.
Working with the delightful themes exemplified in the L’École buissonnière (Playing Hooky) show, these workshops weave together poetry, song, theatre and dance. Jacques Prévert’s world of playfulness provides the spark for these beginner choreography workshops to create bridges between literary tales and contemporary dance. Our objective is to Inspire participants’ creativity as they discover the process of creating choreography.
To do so, the workshops use the words of a nursery rhyme by Prévert to explore the facets of movement and dance. Participants discover the parallels between words and gestures, the written word and the choreographic writing. The workshop leader guides them in inventing movements which are then assembled into choreographic phrases. The next step brings the nursery rhyme and the choreography together, highlighting the performance aspect. The workshop concludes with a presentation of the choreography created.
Offered at schools, community centres and theatre halls, the workshops are generally about 50 minutes and are directed by professional performers and choreographers.
In addition to its performance of The Chairs, PPS Danse proposed a series of choreographic initiation workshops based on the literary work of Eugène Ionesco, and on the company’s adaptation into a choreographic piece.
The workshops aimed to sensitize participants to contemporary dance, acting and the process of choreographic creation. Through each of the proposed explorations, participants were invited to question themselves on choreographic creation and the role of the performer in dance.
The activity consisted of various activities, including the reading of an excerpt from Ionesco’s piece, the exploration of voice and gesture, and the scripting of a choreographic sequence. The participants became part of the creation by taking turns playing the role of both the dance performer and the choreographer. Assisted by professional dancers and choreographers, each was led to develop a sensitivity to the gestures of dance and to theatrical play.
Les Chaises’ introductory choreographic workshops were offered in the form of a one-time meeting (an intensive workshop) or six one-hour adapted meetings, each spread over several months.
Workshop “The Chairs” for children:
Workshop “The Chairs” for retired persons at Villeray :
View our workshop with retired people on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/74880162
In connection with its show Contes pour enfants pas sages, PPS Danse offered a series of introductory choreographic workshops for elementary school students. Based on Jacques Prévert’s tales, these introductory choreographic workshops aimed to sensitize participants to contemporary dance and the process of choreographic creation.
Presented in the form of a game, the workshop used animal movements from Prévert’s work, Contes pour enfants pas sages, as choreographic material. It was structured around different activities including reading a story, exploring gestures, scripting a choreographic sequence and ending with mini performances.
In order to create bridges between the artist and the public, they promoted access to contemporary dance through literature, theater, music and song. The workshop was offered in schools or community settings, and included one or more meetings with professional dancers and choreographers.