PAULINE GERVAIS & MARGIE GILLIS

In a dimension altered by technology, four protagonists struggle to find new bearings. Together, they try to connect their own matrices to those of others in a quest for shared identity. Those who were once men and women now live together as one people in a land of virtual borders. MMXX is a new process that allows its digital entities to escape isolation. Despite their restricted movements, the four android dancers manage to transcend distance and solitude. Their disjointed, frenetic, synchronized gestures generate a mirage of unity and tenderness. She and he. He and she. The nebulous nature of this quartet survives thanks to the power of numbers and the repeating multiplication of MMXX...

This new selection of solos was created during the pandemic, in collaboration with the dancers of the Margie Gillis Dance Foundation’s Legacy Project. Histoires d’isolement is a product of the joys and frailties experienced during the lockdown. Although the performers were fortunate enough to have homes, friends and support networks, they deeply yearned to dance. Their struggles and experiences served as the starting point for each of the pieces. The themes that emerged were isolation, overwhelming responsibility and the desire to help others, the search for deeper inner strength, suspended time, explosive frustration, the excitement of spring and new growth, the search for gentleness of the heart, abandonment and vulnerability.