Myriam Allard
A series to know the people who work on PPS Danse productions.
Myriam Allard / choreographer and performer for the production Lhasa Danse
Your place of birth?
I was born in Quebec City.
You are also a dancer. Is performing still important to you? Do you miss the stage?
I miss the stage terribly. My profession is meaningless if it is not shared, if it doesn’t resonate with the spectator. I’m experiencing a very painful loss of bearings at the moment.
How did you get the desire to choreograph?
Flamenco is basically a solo dance, where you learn very quickly to create your own choreography within a traditional artistic form. After several years of exploring and refining my movement within the rules of the art, I began to develop a hybrid language, to create a personal aesthetic that no longer necessarily meets the codes of flamenco. I would say it was a necessity for me.
Dancing and choreographing are different roles, which you assume in the production Lhasa Danse. Is it complicated to be both the one and the other, to be in the abandonment and to be directing?
I have been a choreographer and dancer for more than 20 years. It is indeed a challenge, in the sense that one sometimes lacks perspective, it is then necessary to bring in an external viewpoint to give oneself guidelines and keep the directions that one has given oneself, precisely to be able to abandon oneself in the interpretation without getting lost. Being a choreographer-interpreter also offers a great deal of freedom, space to improvise, to be in touch, which would no doubt be very different if I had to respect a choreography I hadn’t written.
What does the universe of Lhasa de Sela mean to you? Do you have a particular history with her repertoire?
Lhasa is a poet, a musician, a powerful artist. Her repertoire is of great richness. When Pierre-Paul invited me to participate in this collective creation, my first reflex was to be intimidated, to be afraid of not being up to the task… But I think that one of the things that Lhasa’s memory offers us is to remind me that my only real responsibility as an artist is to offer my vulnerability and to be authentic. That’s all that matters, and that’s what she did so brilliantly.
As a performer, what difference does it make to be on stage with musicians? with singers?
Musicians bring their energy, often more raw than that of the dancers. It’s a very important inspiration for me to have these bodies dancing through their instrument, with me on stage.
