When sound and body vibrations meet
The Totem Dance series brings our instrumentarium and our sound installations in dialogue with the dance community. In this series, it is the music that is defined first in the creative process, followed by an invitation to a choreographer/dancer to create their part. This reverses the usual order in collaborations with dance, where composers are invited to create music for a new choreography as a second step.
This series allows us then to present duo shows with a different choreographer/dancer who uses our instrumentarium as an important presence, both on the stage and in the sounding space. The use of live musical performance during the show (never simply fixed media) is one of the important characteristics of the series. In Totem Dance shows, the physicality of our instruments, which is often quite spectacular, is always integrated in the staging.
This series allows us to present our instrumentarium in contexts much different from those of concert music and in particular to reach a completely different audience that is interested in dance and movement.