New teaser
Myriam Allard
Video recording: Antoine Quirion Couture
Editing: Miguel Medina
Diary
Hedi Graja - portrait
Myriam Allard
Multidisciplinary artist Hedi Graja was born with one foot on each shore of the Mediterranean, which crucially influenced his artistic identity. Introduced to theatre in Paris, then trained in classical singing in Toulouse, he eventually discovered flamenco, which would have a pivotal effect on his path. He left for Seville to dig deeper and flamenco singing became his preferred expressive medium. After spending four years in Andalusia, he completed his studies in art and literature in Paris, where he also continued studying flamenco singing and collaborated as an actor with the theatre company Le Théâtre du Voyageur. In 2005, he moved to Montreal where he founded company La Otra Orilla with dancer Myriam Allard. Since then, ha has developed the company’s visual signature, taking charge of stage direction and design for all their productions. With a strong, fiery bass-baritone voice, rare in flamenco, Hedi Graja’s singing displays the elements of a deep flamenco, anchored and timeless.
Stéphanie Rodrigue - portrait
Myriam Allard
Stéphanie Rodrigue studied Fashion Design and has been working in the industry for 19 years. Passionate and fascinated by dance and circus, she became, in 2004, specialized seamstress in flamenco costumes, creating traditional costumes with a contemporary touch. She worked full time for Cavalia and Odysséo, as well as Les 7 doigts de la main as a seamstress. Stéphanie herself practices flamenco and swing (Lindy hop) for several years. She also studies and practices massage therapy, which leads to a better understanding of body movements, an asset for the construction of dance costumes. Creative and passionate, Stéphanie Rodrigue loves colors, textures and all that creates a harmony and emotion.
Myriam Allard - Portrait
Myriam Allard
Sensitive to the world of music and dance from early childhood, Myriam Allard’s life changed when she discovered flamenco. At the age of 21, she left Quebec to travel to Spain, where she lived for six years. After intensive training she began dancing professionally at the traditional tablaos flamencos in Spain, Japan, France and Germany. Drawing strength from her rigorous Spanish training and extensive professional experience, Allard’s dance breaks free of the traditional esthetic boundaries to develop an idiom that combines the instinctive and the impulsive with great sensitivity and refinement. She now lives in Montreal, where she founded La Otra Orilla in 2006 with singer and director Hedi Graja. Within this company she has developed a unique choreographic expression and produced twelve different productions that have toured Canada, the US, South America and Great-Britain with much success.
Residence at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce’s Cultural Center.
Myriam Allard
The last residence of MAGNETIKAE took place from August 26th to September 6th at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce’s Cultural Center. The whole team of La Orilla Orilla finalized the creative process for 2 weeks during which the company called Salle Iro-Valaskakis-Tembeck their home. Thanks to the residence in this beautiful space, MAGNETIKAE is now ready for the premiere of its full length. The launch of the latest opus of the company will be held in Vancouver on September 26th.
The whole company warmly thanks the team of the Notre-Dâme-de-Grâce Cultural Center and more particularly Mylène Robillard for her support, Ève Côté, and the technical team for this residence. We also thank the people who came to see the last rehearsal and celebrate with us the end of the creation!
Present at the residence:
Performers: Myriam Allard (dance), Hedi Graja (vocals), Guillaume Rivard (keyboard), Miguel Medina (percussion)
Director of rehearsals and outside eye: David Rancourt
Lights: Julie Basse, Joëlle Leblanc
Sound: Arthur Champagne, Catherine Sabourin, Michel Coulombe
Costumes: Stéphanie Rodrigue
Communications and video: Adeline Silva
Guillaume Rivard - portrait
Myriam Allard
Montreal based multi-instrumentalist Guillaume Rivard has been active in the music scene for fifteen years, working with songwriters such as Pascal Dufour (Les Respectables), domlebo (Chercher Noise) and Berghella. He was also part of The Musical Box, a Québec production remounting mythical Genesis’ works with which he toured North America, the UK and Europe for several years.
Guillaume has played for theatre, stand-up and improvisation productions in the past years, among others LIM (Montreal Improvisation League) and Ottawa’s Improtéine.
Julie Basse - portrait
Myriam Allard
Faithful collaborator of many pioneers theater directors in Montreal, such as Félix-Antoine Boutin, Maxime Carbonneau, or Jean-Philippe Baril-Guérard, this lighting designer trained at the National Theater School of Canada. Basse also ventures with talent with dance companies (La Otra Orilla, In her living room), opera (Opéra de Montréal, Pacific Opera Victoria, Edmonton Opera, Lafayette Opera Washington) and music (Alex Nevsky, Lisa Leblanc, Jason Bajada, Plants and Animal, Dead Obies). Inspired by all her surroundings, in the theater, in the museum or in the street, always in search of accuracy, she uses the light on stage to direct the regard, to create gently enveloping atmospheres, but also to sublimate space, to give each moment a dazzling, unique character.
With Moment Factory, she signs the lighting design for the "Vallea Lumina" light path in a forest in Whistler, British Columbia.
DJD - Calgary
Myriam Allard
La Otra Orilla was in Calgary between April 21st and May 13th, to present the first 45 minutes of MAGNETIKAE in a shared program with the company Decidedly Jazz Dance. The beautiful invitation came from Kimberley Cooper, Artistic Director of the nationaly acclamed company. The show, entitled "Double Bill", was presented 14 times.
Our warmest thanks go to everybody at DJD! The artistic, technical and administrative team gave us unwavering support during the three weeks of shows, making this an exciting and remarkable stay.
Exective Director: Kathi Sundstrom
Artistic Director: Kimberley Cooper
Performers: Julia Cosentino Catherine Hayward Tasha M Korney Sabrina Naz Jason Owin F. G Shayne Johnson Jared E Kaja Irwin
Musicians: Rubim de Toledo Karimah Jon McCaslin, Carsten Rubeling and Bob Tildesley
Technical staff: Cameron Clow, Marcia Liber, Jackson Buchanan Jaclyn Gowie, Madeline
La Otra Orilla
Performers: Myriam Allard, Gaël Lane Lépine, Miguel Medina, Hedi Graja
Lights: Julie Basse
Costumes: Michèle Gagné et Marianne Thériault
Rehearsal director: David Rancourt
Sound: Philippe Pelletier
Communications: Adeline Silva
David Rancourt - portrait
Myriam Allard
David arrived in Montréal in 1999 as a dance artist and has been an outstanding performer since the end of his studies at LADMMI (the Montréal Modern Dance Workshop) in 2003. He has worked with many choreographers which led him to experiment in various types of art and movement allowing him to dance on local, national and international scenes. In recent years he continued his collaborations with different artists: Alan Lake, Pierre-Paul Savoie and Annie Gagnon, as well as new projects with Caroline Laurin Beaucage, Aurélie Pedron and Ariane Boulet.
Passionate about the art of movement and breath, he practices the Continuum with Linda Rabin and Qu Gong with Marie-Claude Rodrigue for more than ten years. He is also part of the Fragments Libres school team. As an external eye and artistic advisor, he collaborated with Edgar Zendejas at EzDanza in addition to working with other creators of his generation.
Always committed to his community from the moment he arrived in the city, David is a member of the Regroupement Québécois de la Danse (RQD) since 2000 and serves on the boards of EzDanza and Annexe A.
Second residence at Quai 5160
Myriam Allard
La Otra Orilla was back at Verdun’s Maison de la culture from January 14th to 20th to design and stage 40 minutes of MAGNETIKAE. A significant breakthrough in creation. The team worked on dance, music, lights, sound, costumes and set, to bring together a short version that will premiere in Calgary in April-May.
We once again thanks the team of Quai 5160 for its warm welcome!
Present at the residence:
Performers: Myriam Allard (dance), Hedi Graja (singing), Gaël Lane Lépine (keyboard), Miguel Medina (percussions)
Lights: Julie Basse
Sound: Philippe Pelletier
Costumes: Marianne Thériault
Communications: Adeline Silva
Video : ©Robin Pineda Editing : ©Miguel Medina Photo : ©Lydia Pawelak
Miguel Medina - portrait
Myriam Allard
Miguel Medina is a musician and percussionist. Following his studies in composition and classical percussion at Manuel M. Ponce Conservatory in Mexico, Miguel Medina worked for three years with choreographer and director Ruben Segal of Barcelona. Since nine-year-old he is musician for contemporary dance at Concordia University and the Montreal School of Contemporary Dance, he has also worked in numerous musical projects in Mexico, France and Canada. Notably El Azote, Juan Carranza, Gitan Blues, Sarah Renelik, Malade Mantra, Spanish Flamenco Arte Ballet Company, SaSaSa Company, Jorge Martinez, La Otra Orilla and the composer guitarist Caroline Planté. He is also a director and editor of different short films (Rhizome Films).
Gaël Lane Lépine - portrait
Myriam Allard
After studying at Conservatoire de musique de Montréal in André Laplante's class and at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler, Gaël Lane Lépine is pursuing a career as a composer, performer and teacher. Since 2012, he has collaborated with many Montreal theatre productions as music and sound designer, with artists from different fields such as Catherine Dorion, Benoît Vermeulen, Navet Confit, and has performed within projects of Lewis Furey and Yan England, to name a few. Gaël also is musical director of the theatre program at Lionel-Groulx College.
MAGNETIKAE is his second collaboration with La Otra Orilla compagnie, as sound designer and performer, after The place in between in 2016.
Residence at Arsenal - CINARS
Myriam Allard
La Otra Orilla spent the intense week of Cinars Biennale in beautiful Arsenal contemporary art gallery, presenting 3 showcases within the off Cinars, and one public presentation of the work in progress within the TD Cultural Tuesdays program. The first 25 minutes of the work in progress were tested as well as prototypes of the costumes. We thank Danse Danse and l'Arsenal for this week long residence.
Many people to thank!
Artists on stage: Myriam Allard, Hedi Graja, Miguel Medina, Gaël Lane Lépine
Sound: Philippe Pelletier
Lights: Pierre-Luc Brunet
Costumes : Marianne Thériault
Coordination of the week + communications manager : Adeline Silva
The Arsenal team: Louis-Philippe Forest-Gaudet, Mylaine Dionne, Stéphanie Marleau Crépin
Photos: Hervé Leblay, Claudia Chan Tak, Romain Guibault
Vidéo shooting: Claudia Chan Tak
Teaser editing: Miguel Medina
Volunteers: Léa Touzé, Sarah Varichon
Marianne Thériault - portrait
Myriam Allard
Graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada (2008), she is a costume designer mainly in theatre, dance, opera and musicals. Her work can be seen in many productions such as: Cosi Fan Tutte (François Racine, 2008), l'Opéra de 4'sous (TNM, Robert Bellefeuille, 2010), Le Petit Roi (Juste pour Rire, Serge Postigo, 2011), Le Rêve de Grégoire (Chants libres, René Daniel Dubois, 2014), among others. She also works with Ottawa's youth theatre La Vieille 17 and Montreal's Le Théâtre Magasin. MAGNETIKAE is her third collaboration with La Otra Orilla, after Moi&lesAutres (2015) and the place in between (2016).
Fall for Dance North
Myriam Allard
MAGNETIKAE was on the road in October for it's first showcase! La Otra Orilla presented an excerpt of the work in progress at Ryerson Theatre Toronto, October 4th 2018, during FFDN's International Presenters' Program. The ice is broken!
On tour at FFDN 2018: Myriam Allard, Hedi Graja, Gaël Lane Lépine, Miguel Medina (performers), Philippe Pelletier and Pierre-Luc Brunet (sound and lights), and Adeline Silva (communications).
Residence Quai 5160
Myriam Allard
©Adeline Silva
From August 26th to August 31st, La Otra Orilla had it's first residence in a theatre for MAGNETIKAE, at Verdun's brand new Maison de la culture. Hedi Graja worked on the set and Julie Basse on lights, both making first drafts so as to start building the aesthetic of the show, while the performers rehearsed. We are extremely thankful to Quai 5160's team for the warm welcome and look forward to our second residence in that beautiful space in January.
Genesis
Myriam Allard
Lilek yasser fil frejdaire ?
* have you lived in the fridge long ?
I was reminded of the words and the tragic expression on the face of that African compatriot who I met one February day and who told me that this Montreal winter would be the last in a four-year exile that was finally coming to a close.
The North had shaken him, thrown him off balance by first troubling his senses. The cold, a chapping of the skin, the organs, and finally the spirit like a slow numbing. He no longer recognized himself and waited, resigned, for the uncertain hour of his deliverance.
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Uprooting, deprivation on a piece of an ice floe set adrift. Interior landscapes—do we traverse landscapes or are we traversed by them? Spaces that we pass through and lands that pass through us, knock us over, then inhabit us.
The virgin page, this snow bank in which the foot sinks and footprints erased from the icy ground. A great whitewashing. A passage via the pole, magnetic.
