Whenever Compagnie Marie Chouinard takes the stage, audiences
can be certain they’ll see a dance performance. Though the
modern performers may twist and contort their bodies in a way that
could cause traditional ballet masters to consider corporal
punishment, the question of classification would never come up.
So it’s not surprising that when the head of the company
talks about her art, she never refers to other dancers. But Marie
Chouinard doesn’t refer to dance as a whole, either.
Instead, Chouinard, a Canadian famous for her solo performances
in the 1980s, relates dance to other arts. Her simile-heavy methods
of communication mirrors her company’s style: both rely on
the external to relate the internal.
“I start with the body itself,” Chouinard said of
her creative process. “I have a specific interest
that’s very kinetic and mathematic, and, going deeper,
another dimension is revealed. Bach was studying a mathematical
problem, and there is a mystical emergence into the
work.”
Chouinard brings her company’s spiritual vision to Royce
Hall on Oct. 7-8 as part of UCLA Live, performing two pieces per
night.
The first, “Le Cri du Monde” (“The Cry of the
World”), studies people’s primal urges by having its 10
dancers physically mimic different animals. The second, “24
Preludes by Chopin,” uses dance to explore how people
interact with music when it is frequently heard. Chouinard
choreographed both pieces.
“When I’m choreographing for other dancers, I use
every dancer as an individual medium. I try to tap into each
one’s qualities,” she said. “It’s like a
painter using different qualities of red. I’m trying to get
the core of their substances.”
Chouinard started her career choreographing pieces by herself,
for herself, but she retired from performance in 1990 to start a
company. The result has been staggeringly successful, as Compagnie
Marie Chouinard frequently wins dance awards in Canada and receives
invitations to perform around the world.
The company inherits much of its style from the way Chouinard
likes to work. She prefers to start on a new piece by clearing her
mind of all her old ones, and anything that pops into her head at
that point could wind up in the choreography.
Chouinard created “24 Preludes by Chopin” simply
because she had heard the composer’s “24 Preludes, Opus
28″ a few times and it got stuck in her head. Rather than
clearing her mind completely, Chouinard chose to focus on the song,
ending up with a new performance.
Chouinard has always worked in this way, whether choreographing
for herself or for her company. The only difference, she said, is
that working for a company allows her to explore dance from a more
detailed and intimate perspective, which is also why she enjoys
having a company more than pursuing solo work.
“What is the difference between a piano performance and an
orchestra?” she asked. “The difference is in the
possibility of counterpoint and having many layers at once. You can
resonate from one space to another, while a solo is like having
only one instrument.”