Écoute pour voir gets up close and personal

If you have personal space issues, this meandering show may not be for you, unless you’re into facing your fears head on.

Écoute pour voir, an interactive dance project led by choreographer Emmanuel Jouthe, is on a mission to create intense, intimate meetings between two people outside of a stage setting. Dancers perform choreographed solos and are equipped with an iPod connected to two sets of headphones, to share a tune with one sole spectator. Separated, yet closely linked by a stretchy choreographic umbilical cord of sorts, the dancer invites the spectator into a private musical world.

Collaborator/dancer Raphaëlle Perreault, who has been working on the project since its inception in 2008, says the dance is just a pretext for a meeting. “We are just presenting ourselves as citizens inviting others to ‘get on the boat.’ Yes, we transform into performers for three minutes, but before and after, we’re just ordinary people.”

Jouthe asked dancers to choose well-known music that was meaningful to them. Perreault chose “Kalifornia” by Fatboy Slim and Laurie Anderson’s “Freefall,” which struck a chord for Perreault during a tumultuous period in her life. One of her most memorable interactions was a moonlit night along the Lachine Canal, when she danced for a woman who started crying at the track’s end. After, she revealed she had named her daughter Laurie after discovering Anderson’s ethereal song. “At that moment we connected because of a deep connection inside of us,” explains Perreault. “We are already sharing something we already know, and the dance is like a bonus.”

The dancers have performed the piece at various arts festivals, the Grand Bibliothèque National, and at Saint-Luc Hospital as a way to introduce dance into non-artistic settings. This summer the 16 dancers will be meandering through the park and the Just for Laughs festival scoping out their audience of one. Depending on your comfort level, check it out, from near or far.

July 21-22, 28-29, 7:30 p.m., Théâtre de Verdure in Lafontaine Park and July 23- 27, 7:30-9:30, Just for Laughs festival.
For more details, consult www.facebook.com/dansecarpediem.