Popmolle

Popmolle is an immersive, sensory performance combining contemporary dance and the digital arts into a singular form. Three performers share the stage with three large robots that act as both scenographic and choreographic objects. An immersive sound and light environment is deployed on stage and beyond using laser and video projections. Whether using body movements, algorithmic processes, physical structures on stage or direct control of interactive parameters, performers from different disciplines experiment in deforming each other.

Popmolle is a unique work that invites the public to dive into temporary, fragmented environments, sometimes lyrical and immersive, sometimes crude, absurd or offbeat, offering an exploration of the expressive possibilities of softness (“molesse”, in French) and elasticity through movement, image and sound. In search of moments of stabilization in a network of elusive and dynamic elements, this interdisciplinary collective sees machinic, human and incandescent bodies intermingle and deform each other to perform a contemporary “ballet mécanique”, and puts into perspective relationships between human and non-human actants.

About the collective

Popmolle is a creation laboratory made up of five Montreal artists (Liliane Moussa, Simon Laroche, Marine Rixhon, Danny Perreault, Anne-Flore de Rochambeau). Since 2015, the collective has been working to produce performances combining dance, digital arts and robotics. Conceived as an adaptive and non-hierarchical space for exploration, the laboratory invites mutual contamination, interdependence and the valorization of each disciplinary language. The artists push back the boundaries of their respective practices to promote the hybridization of forms and the decompartmentalization of artistic creation.

Credits

Creation: Liliane Moussa, Simon Laroche, Marine Rixhon, Danny Perreault, Anne Flore de Rochambeau

Performers: Liliane Moussa, Marine Rixhon, Alexia Martel, Simon Laroche, Danny Perreault

Choreography: Liliane Moussa, Marine Rixhon, Anne-Flore de Rochambeau

Robotic scenography and sound composition: Simon Laroche

Light, video and laser: Danny Perreault

Lighting technician: Bastian Pena Miranda

Advisor: Jessica Serli

Rehearsals: Sarah Williams

Costumes: Fany McCrae

Light consultant: Paul Chambers

Mechanical design consultant: Yves Antoine Crête

Lighting assistant: Lora Boisvert

Photos: David Wong, Vanessa Fortin

Production residencies and support: Agora de la danse, CCOV, Maison de la culture Mercier, LAVI (Laboratoire Arts Vivants et Interdisciplinarité), Circuit-Est, Perte de signal, Espace Cercle-Carré, Département de danse de l’UQAM, Université Concordia, Projet EVA