Additional Information
There will be something new on Wednesday, March 11 at the Espace Orange du Wilder in Montreal: the Quasar saxophone quartet will present five new artistic creations during the La Semaine du Neuf festival, organised by Le Vivier. Creations resulting from as many composer-dancer pairs. A marriage between music and movement, as is the theme of the 2026 edition of the festival. A union, however, that is likely to offer something quite different from a usual choreographic performance. Indeed, the question at the heart of the creative process is this: Is there an implicit hierarchy between dance and music, where one is subordinated to the other? One can guess that the presence of the four Quasar saxophonists on stage will have a significant impact on the outcome and the music-kinetic dynamics. The five new works are the result of residencies carried out by Quasar and the artists present at the National School of Music and Dance of Monterrey in Mexico. I talked about all this with Marie-Chantal Leclair from Quasar.
PanM360: Hello Marie-Chantal. What is the idea behind this show?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : It is a creation project that places musical composition and dance on an equal footing. There are about twenty people in the project: six dancers from the Escola in Monterrey, the four saxophonists from Quasar, and five composers and five choreographers.
PanM360: Have you wanted to do this with this Mexican institution for a long time?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : This is our third collaboration with the Escola. At the beginning, it was only about working on the music aspect, in a very usual way. Then, recently, Alejandro Padilla from Escola proposed that we be part of this co-creation project with both disciplines. And we said yes.
PanM360: Is there a common thread among all the creations?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : Good question. Each piece lasts about ten minutes. Each composition/choreography pair operated independently. But we commissioned musical interludes between the numbers from the Quebec composer Chantal Laplante. So, in the end, it is a show that lasts about an hour and unfolds continuously, without interruption. The whole is a coherent artistic gesture.
PanM360: That isn’t the first time you’re doing interdisciplinary work?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : We collaborated with Carré des Lombes and Daniel Desnoyers last summer. We did a project at Domaine Forget, with a dance troupe, for the commemoration of François Sullivan’s 100th anniversary. And other interdisciplinary projects. We already presented a show in Montreal with the Escola in 2023. It was a more classical collaboration where we played the music to choreographies. But this is our first collaboration of this participatory and integrated scale with dance. It was a very free encounter.
PanM360: What is your role in the staging?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : We are always on stage. In each of the pieces, we are situated differently. For example, in the first piece, that of Daniel Desnoyers, we move around during the performance. We don’t dance, but we move. It’s very important not to be out of place. But still, Daniel guided us.
In other pieces, we are in the four corners of the room. We encircle the dancers. In each creation, it was necessary to find a physicality in the space. It’s certain that it’s the dancers who occupy the most space. In Sophie Dupuis’ piece, we are very separated. Even though we play with music stands, the dancers pass right through us. It’s really not an orchestra pit thing.
PanM360: How did the composers and choreographers work together?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : A lot of back and forth, dialogue, exchanges. Then a lot of changes once on stage. Some scores give us a lot of freedom and creativity while the dancer is working. In other cases, the scores are very detailed. Sometimes the dancers follow us, other times we follow them in the movements and the type of energy deployed. Sometimes, I have to check when the dancer exits, and then I have to stop playing. Or it’s the dancers who wait for us to do certain things before they perform. It’s always a dialogue. We wanted to create an equal relationship. In most choreographies, one form of art is more subordinate to the other. Not here.
PanM360: What do you take away from this experience at Quasar?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : It makes us want to keep going. The approach was non-hierarchical, with a lot of collegiality. Everyone arrived there with a lot of openness and listening, a lot of generosity, a lot of passion, a lot of commitment. We were welcomed really well there. They took care of us. We are really happy to welcome them to Montreal.
And we can’t wait to see them again. It will be like reuniting with friends and welcoming them into our home. And to be able to introduce them to Montreal as well. It’s perfect. We are fulfilled.
PanM360: Thank you!
Programme:
Sophie Dupuis (composition), Daniel Luis (choreographer): New work, 2026 – premiere Olivier St-Pierre (composition), Jaime Sierra (choreographer): New work, 2026 – premiere
Miguel Vélez (composition), Brisa Escobedo (choreographer): New work, 2026 – premiere
Eduardo Caballero (composition), Lila Geneix (choreographer): New work, 2026 – premiere
Alejandro Padilla (composition), Danièle Desnoyers (choreographer): New work, 2026 – premiere
Quasar
Jean-Marc Bouchard (baritone saxophone)
André Leroux (tenor saxophone)
Mathieu Leclair (alto saxophone)
Marie-Chantal Leclair (soprano saxophone)
Higher School of Music and Dance of Monterrey
Grecia Kristell Chapa Gonzalez (dance performer-creator)
Sofia Tellez Marquez (dance performer-creator)
Paola Espinosa Castro (dance performer-creator)
Jorge Daniel Gomez Andrade (dance performer-creator)
Santiago Morales Maya (dance performer-creator)
Cristina Mabeth Soto Martinez (dance performer-creator)
