FILMS
Film director Louis-Martin Charest and choreographer Margie Gillis have forged a remarkable artistic partnership that has yielded unforgettable cinematic and dance creations. Their collaborations seamlessly blend the worlds of film and dance, resulting in visually stunning and emotionally resonant works. Charest’s keen eye for cinematography complements Gillis’s choreography, giving birth to a unique fusion of movement and visual storytelling that captivates audiences. Their shared commitment exploring the human experience has produced a body of work that continues to leave a profound impact on the audience, making them a dynamic duo at the forefront of their respective fields.
THE ESSENCE REMAINS
Directing, art direction & editing _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis
Dancer _ Margie Gillis
Sound _ Gaétan Leboeuf
Camera assistant _ Tessa Rae Kuz
Production Coordinator _ Anita Czeski
The Essence Remains is a visual poem, a kind of declaration of values of the dancer Margie Gillis. Narrated and danced by the artist, she reveals her profound convictions: “Dance is a search for love, communication and transformation. Dance is a way to deepen experiential wisdom and touch the very core, yes the very essence of who we are and to share that.” Margie Gillis
COVIVIDE
Production _ Margie Gillis Dance Foundation, LIBERAMAE performance & films
Directing, art direction & editing _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis
In collaboration with _Geneviève Boulet
Dancer _ Geneviève Boulet
Sound _ Gaétan Leboeuf
Light Design, set design & Technical Director _ Pierre Lavoie
Cinematography & grading _ Claude Précourt
Prisoner of a monotonous daily life, the protagonist finds herself lost between reality and imagination, searching for a meaning to her new confusing existence. With her body and mind in constant confrontation, Geneviève explores the absurdity of this situation in a game between reality and fiction. Experience a surreal journey through the twists and turns of the mind with Geneviève Boulet’s captivating performance.
UN TEMPS IRRÉGULIER
Director, Art direction and editing _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis in collaboration with Alexandra Caron
Dancer _ Alexandra Caron
Text _ The poem Voilà un temps irrégulier from Marie Uguay is published in Poèmes, Les Éditions du Boréal (Montréal)
Interpreted by _ Jeanne Chaumont-Goneau
Music _ Gaétan Leboeuf
Light design and technical director _ Pierre Lavoie
Cinematography and grading _ Claude Précourt
Come explore the depths of the human soul through the captivating performance of dancer Alexandra Caron in Un temps irrégulier. This solo performance invites the audience to cross a singular space-time filled with life’s calls and heaviness. Accompanied by the poem Voilà un temps irrégulier by Quebec poet Marie-Uguay and read by Jeanne Chaumont-Goneau, this performance offers an immersive experience that questions reference points and explores the transitory body.
CIRCULAR LABYRINTH
Director, Art direction and editing _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis
Dancer _ Ruth Naomi Levin
Music _ Larsen Lupin
Light design and technical director _ Pierre Lavoie
Cinematography and grading _ Claude Précourt
Circular Labyrinth is a film about the process of navigating love, loss and identity as a human being. How do we find centre amidst longing? How do we find self alongside other? How can sorrow lead us to surrender? Circular Labyrinth shows a human being in the continual process of locating, defining and navigating home. She is afloat, circling in the amorphous, ever-shifting, seemingly repetitive world of longing, relationship, loss and memory; perpetually reaching for love. As she reaches more completely, so she falls more fully. Only, she finds, grace is there to catch her. Carrying her to a centre more loving and truer than ever she knew before.
WHEN DREAMING MOLLY
Director _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis
Camera _ Gérard Martin
Text _ James Joyce
Narration _ Siobhan McKenna
Director of photography _ Claude Précourt
Artist _ Troy Ogilvie
Sound_ Paskal Perrault
Lighting _ Pierre Lavoie
When Dreaming Molly is a work is based on the solo Bloom, first created and performed by Margie Gillis in 1989. Danced to Molly’s sections of Molly’s famous and iconic monologue from James Joyce’s Ulysses. The dance vocabulary is entirely in the art of articulate nuance. Innovative, raw, and vulnerable. The work explores the joy and challenge of physically matching the stream of consciousness, and the wildness of the mind, as it searches for transformation and finally reaches the ultimate: “Yes”. Troy Ogilvie’s Molly is petulant, savvy, curious and brave. Louis-Martin Charest’s vision of the film version follows in Joyce’s invention and plays with the late night, dream like ramblings of Molly and phrases of thought come and go, finally tumbling to conclusion.
CROW
Director _ Louis-Martin Charest
Choreography _ Margie Gillis
Camera _ Gérard Martin
Director of photography _ Claude Précourt
Artist _ Susan Paulson
Sound_ Paskal Perrault
Music _ Travis Laplante
Lighting _ Pierre Lavoie
Costumes _ Sonya Bayer and Norma Kamali
Choreographed by Margie Gillis for artist Susan Paulson, Crow explores the complexity of crows through pure movement, restlessness, sensuality, and stealth. In this film adaptation, the director portrays the feeling of both physical and inner entrapment, revealing our true nature and reminding us of the ties that bind us to these innately intelligent birds.
