Duration
1h15’
Followed by Closing Party in the LAC Hall with DJ Set by Alan Alpenfelt
Symphony of hearts
Rhodnie Désir
Sala Teatro
Past event
15 June 2024
21:00
Symphony of hearts
Rhodnie Désir
Sala Teatro
Past event
15 June 2024
21:00
The new creation by Canadian choreographer-documentalist Rhodnie Désir is a social symphony in constant evolution, a work that proposes a tempest of bodies, sound compositions and immersive installations inspired by data culled from citizens and scientists.
In Symphony of hearts, the musicians and dancers transform the stage of the Sala Teatro into a great heart pulsing humanity. Tensions in a dance-music duet, a decagon of violins combining the impressive physicality of plural bodies, and even songs in invented language: the sum of all these flows forth like an ode to the polyrhythmic power of the heart.
The work features original music by the French-Canadian singer/cellist Jorane, performed live by the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana conducted by Naomi Woo, and accompanied by the beatmaker and sound designer Engone Endong and the percussionist and flutist Lasso Sanou.
Resulting from a documentary research at two institutions specialising in heart health and the testimony of more than forty people, Symphony of hearts combines arts and sciences to address the beauty and flaws of the heart and the cardiovascular system.
creative director (choreographer, documentalist, artistic director, vocal composer)
Rhodnie Désir
conductor
Naomi Woo
dancers
Mara Dupas
Camille Gendron
Aly Keita
Luce Lainé
Emmanuelle Martin
Mya Metellus
Carlos-Alexis Mendoza-Bustinza
Ernesto Queseda Perez
Greg “Krypto” Selinger
Abe Simon Mijnheer
musicians
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana
House Band of RD Créations (Engone Endong, Lasso Sanou)
musical composition
Jorane
Engone Endong
Rhodnie Désir
Aly Keita
beatmaker and sound designer
Engone Endong
percussion arrangements
Rhodnie Désir
Jahsun
orchestration
François Vallières
scenographer
Olivier Landreville
costume designer
Mélanie Ferrero
lighting designer
Chantal Labonté
video and digital designer
Chélanie Beaudin-Quintin
creative support
Isabelle Poirier
artistic consultant
Philip Szporer
researcher
Pascale Bilodeau (ONF)
production
RD Créations
in co-production with
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura,
Danse Danse,
National Arts Centre
staging in Lugano in collaboration with
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana
majors partners
National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund,
Canada Council for the Arts
principal partner
Fonds de Recherche du Québec
creative partners
Montreal Heart Institute (MHI),
Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino,
National Film Board (NFB),
Place des arts,
Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec,
Conseil des Arts de Montréal
artistic associate
Orchestre Métropolitain
developed with the support from
the NAC’s National Creation Fund
special thanks to
Michel Gagnon for his commitment, attentiveness and sincere interest in the project
thanks to
the entire LAC team, to the heart health specialists and patients of the Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino for their testimonials, and to doctor Tiziano Cassina for his precious time
thanks also to
the Montreal Heart Institute, the young people at Collège Jean-Eudes (Montreal) and all the people who agreed to testify during the Symphony of hearts documentary research begun in 2022
Choreographer-documentalist and artistic director of the company RD Créations, she has created over twenty works. Among other awards, she won the Prix Envol and the Grand Prix from the Prix de la danse de Montréal for Bow’t Trail Retrospek in 2020. In 2021 she was chosen as one of the “25 to watch” by Dance Magazine in New York and nominated for the prestigious career award “The APAP Award of Merit”. In 2022 she received the “Danseuse de l’année” award at the Gala Dynastie, she became the first Associate Artist of the famous Place des Arts institution in Montreal and she makes her entry at the Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame (Sandra Faire Next Génération Award). Her choreographic-documentary and Afro-contemporary signature is deeply rooted in the polyrhythmic languages. As a performer and an orator, her words and her international civic actions makes her shine as far as at the UNESCO
Rhodnie Désir tells us about Symphony of hearts
Trailer
Backstage
Interview with conductor Naomi Woo
Barbara Widmer Artistic Director of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana
Foto di scena
