Dance Review: Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal’s “Dance Me”

What: Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal in Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me”
When: September 28, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Jubilee Auditorium
Choreographers: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Ihsan Rustem

I had absolutely no concerns about the music outshining the dancing at Dance Me by Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal (BJM) last weekend at the Jubilee Auditorium. The 80-minute performance traced a narrative of love, light, and loss that left the audience enraptured as modern, expressive ballet was paired with the music and poetry of Leonard Cohen.

Alternating between upbeat songs with intricate dance numbers involving the entire BJM ensemble, and slower, simpler pieces including solos and duets, Dance Me took the audience on a wide-ranging emotional journey. With dancers dressed in Cohen’s trademark blazer and fedora, the performance event’s story was not a generic one, but rather a tale drawing on elements of Cohen’s own life.

BJM used live recordings of Cohen’s music for much of the show, imbuing the dances with intimacy. In the introduction to the piece “Susanne,” the audience heard Cohen himself discussing the song before principal artist Celine Casson embodied the character of Susanne in a beautiful dance. In another haunting moment, “So Long Marianne” was sung by one dancer kneeling onstage. Behind her, isolated, stood another dancer, representing Cohen, who, after the song finished, recited Cohen’s last letter to his ex-lover and muse before her death. “Endless love,” it concludes. “See you down the road.” Despite an absence of any traditional choreography, “So Long Marianne” was one of the most emotionally charged moments of Dance Me, with sobs being heard throughout the audience.

Death was, in fact, a continual theme in Dance Me, even during more upbeat moments. The dancing, like much of Cohen’s writing, was at once serious and cheeky, somber and witty. Only dancers’ legs were visible in one dance that centred around a single typewriter. Later, the same typewriter reappeared before a dancer dressed as Cohen was led offstage into darkness.

While emotional, Dance Me was not merely maudlin. Artistically, it was beautiful in its precision and grace. The show’s choreography played continuously with shape, as dancers entwined as supposed lovers or performed impressive lifts. Clothed mostly in black, the dancers created not a visual spectacle, but a profoundly moving and aesthetically fascinating, visceral experience. Beyond shape, the show focused heavily on light. On a bare stage, the dancers’ only set pieces were a single desk and chair. Contrasting shapes created with stage lighting were haunting, as dancers vanished into darkness only to re-emerge moments later.

Dance Me may have been too modern, experimental, or understated for some tastes; for me, however, it inspired unwavering emotional engagement. Alberta Ballet was lucky to host BJM and this inspiring, beautiful work of art.