Luminato: Exemplary cast never falters in ‘mesmerizing’ performance of ‘Nuit’ from Toronto’s Compagnie de la Citadelle

Compagnie de la Citadelle: “Nuit”

Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W.; luminatofestival.com/event/nuit or 416-366-7723.

You hear them before you see them; a murmur of rattling feet. They enter a dimly-lit anonymous space of forbidding grey-green walls; four women and four men, all in black. Each is very much an individual yet in strange and inconclusive ways seek connection. They group and shuffle across the space with tiny steps in precise tattoos. They break into furious solos and smaller groupings, sometimes careening and lurching desperately. Their steps become thunderous then suddenly diminish to a whisper. They leap into each other’s arms, more for passing comfort than love. Occasionally they yelp or hum or sing softly.

Who are these people? Why are they here? What are they doing?

The fact that these questions remain unanswered in choreographer Jean-Pierre Perreault’s mesmerizing 1986 work, “Nuit” is exactly its point. We are made witness to an embodied representation of humanity’s most existential questions. These are not characters playing roles. They are us.

Montreal-born Perreault, who sadly died in his prime in 2002 at age 55, had a large catalogue of creations before his monumental, large-cast 1983 work “Joe” became his signature piece and ticket to international renown. Arguably, “Nuit” was his masterwork; more nuanced, more personal, more powerful.

How blessed we are that Laurence Lemieux, who performed in a revival of “Nuit” not long before Perreault’s death, has laboured lovingly, with the help of Luminato, to restore an almost forgotten landmark of Canadian choreography to its original 1986 form, complete with a faithful reconstruction of the Perreault-designed set.

Lemieux, artistic director of Toronto’s Citadel + Compagnie, has assembled an exemplary cast to bring “Nuit” back to life. It is a work that demands total focus as well as emotional and physical commitment for every second of its 83 minutes. These splendid artists never falter.

In an ideal world, “Nuit” deserved a longer run, but this does not diminish the significance of its revival. Ballet is good at cherishing its historic gems, contemporary dance not so much. One wonders what other neglected works Lemieux may be eyeing. Meanwhile, let’s hope “Nuit” grows legs and tours the country, returning to Toronto in the not-too-distant future.

To read more Toronto Star coverage of the 2023 Luminato Festival, click here.

SHARE: