Sarah Bronsard She is a Montreal-based choreographer who found her most fertile ground in dance. flamenco and in the contemporary dance scene after a multidisciplinary artistic journey, which includes music, glass blowing, digital arts and a career as a painter. Her relationship with movement has its roots in the flamenco, “a rigorously codified art where dance and music are intimately linked,” in his words. “Through its constant play of mounting tension and explosive releases, the flamenco arouses in me a state of desire. More than a hardness that slows down movement, the flamenco "He taught me to perceive tension as a constant adaptation, a living movement between contraction and expansion. My choreographic creations develop in the tension, although sometimes uncomfortable, between my respect for the flamenco tradition and the desire to create outside the references imposed by this tradition."
The Canadian artist will perform on September 18th at Vancouver International Flamenco Festival their project Ebe –low tide, would be its translation–, which is the result of an artistic collaboration with Patrick Saint-Denis (robotic and sound art). The poetic pillars that support the work are the cyclical movement of the waves, breathing and the remains on a beach when the waters have retreated. «From this metaphor of what remains after the tides, we delve deeper beyond what is commonly heard on an accordion and in the flamenco. Ebe offers a shared contemplative and sensorial experience through different rhythms that inhabit us and around us."
– Please introduce yourself to the flamenco community. In case anyone doesn’t know Sarah Bronsard, the brilliant dancer and choreographer from Montreal.
– My relationship with creation has taken many paths. I studied music as a child, then had an active career as a painter and visual artist, studying glassblowing and digital arts. Although these art forms were rich, I felt a lack of connection between the deep experience of creating and the presentation of my work. Then, more than twenty years ago, a friend invited me to a class in flamenco and everything became clear to me: I instantly found a channel that could channel my physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual being at the same time. flamenco It gave me a space where all aspects of myself could resonate and exist at the same time. So I moved my visual practice onto the stage, fueled by this powerful experience. My insatiable curiosity led me to integrate other forms of dance into my relationship with movement, especially somatic practices, butoh and contemporary dance, because they enrich my perception of time and space. All of these experiences inhabit my dance and give me a wide playground to explore through my choreographic practice.
– On September 18th he participates in the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. How do you approach this performance in such an attractive showcase?
– VIFF is an important milestone in the international flamenco community and I feel honoured to be involved in it. This organisation has evolved over the years, becoming a well-known and respected festival, inviting such inspiring artists and providing space for dialogues around the topic. flamenco. I am also very excited to visit Vancouver. I have not yet had the chance to discover this part of my country, its landscape, its relationship with the ocean, the scale of its trees and its moss. Also, I am very excited to finally present the work Ebe at VIFF, because we have been working on this opportunity with the festival for almost four years, due to the impact of the pandemic. I approach this presentation as an opportunity to share the unique experience that is Ebe with an audience of connoisseurs, who know a lot about flamenco. Since the piece is so far from tradition in many ways, I am excited to rediscover Ebe in this context. This will likely provide specific insights to the audience and I'm looking forward to finding out what will resonate.
"I think that he flamenco attracts intense and searching people. Its complexity and its demands make it a precious channel to channel all that energy. For me, the flamenco It is the strongest language to channel the musician, the visual artist, the dancer and the human being that I am.
– Tell us about the project Ebe that the Vancouver public will see Flamenco Festival. The cyclical movement of waves and robot accordions sounds intriguing, my lady.
- Ebe It develops around a choir of robotic accordions, with a choreography anchored in the flamenco, to explore the communicative dimension of breathing. The unconscious adaptation of our breathing to that of accordions, like the hypnotic effect of the sea, reveals the power of what influences us beyond our daily perceptions. It is from this cyclical and vital phenomenon of the tides that Ebe. The poetic anchors that support the work are the movement of the waves, breathing and the remains on a beach when the waters have retreated. From this metaphor of what remains after the tides, we dig beneath the surface, beneath what is commonly heard on an accordion and in the flamenco, as we seek to find what connects us in the interstices, the silence and the movement. Ebe offers a shared contemplative and sensorial experience through different rhythms that live in us and around us.
This choreographic installation is the result of an artistic collaboration with Patrick Saint-Denis (robotic and sound art). When I first met this artist, he had a set of three robotic accordions that I discovered in his workshop. Hearing them breathe had a strong impact on me. It evoked the sound of waves, the hypnotic effect of the ocean, and I wanted to explore this relationship with movement. Furthermore, the motors attached to each note of the accordions, the sound they made when activated revealed the potential to rhythmically dialogue with machines. So we first presented a thirty-minute version in 2018, and then a full version was created in 2021, with a new team of collaborators, including Olivier Arseneault as performer on stage and co-creator. Ebe It now has a theatrical version and a shorter version that we present on-site, outdoors and in non-theatrical spaces, which provides different experiences of the play.
– Do you think that the flamenco should offer more contemplative and sensorial experiences?
– I feel that the flamenco It is a very deep sensory experience in itself, it doesn't need anything else. But my artistic stance with Ebe is to offer a window into some of the aspects of the flamenco, namely the importance of breathing and how we connect on stage through movement. This is one of the things I prefer to see in a dance show. flamenco. How the artists on stage connect through movement and not just sound, which is what we usually focus on. I like to see how everyone physically “tunes in,” even unconsciously. EbeBeing on stage with these robotic presences, I explore how this idea of connection through movement can be transposed. I also like to experiment with how we tend to naturally anthropomorphize what surrounds us.
Another aspect of sensory experience that is Ebe It is the fact that I share this space with Olivier Arseneault. When performing, what interests us is the idea that any relationship is always mediated by something, just like the accordions in the piece. In everyday life, many things mediate our human relationships. For example, mobile phones and computers, but also the fact that we experience life in our own separate bodies and senses. Even when we feel very close to someone, there is always something that separates us: our different past experiences, our different ways, our specific sensibilities – all of these participate in the divergent perspective we have of the same shared experience. This paradox of experiencing life through our physical and spiritual selves, which may not have the same boundaries, fascinates me.
Finally, regarding the importance of contemplation in Ebe, comes from a desire to slow down in order to feel more. As we all know, the flamenco It can be intense and fast, which makes it a very exciting experience. But in my work, I like to explore the boundaries of what can be felt from the language of flamenco when you slow down, when you dance lying on the floor, or when you almost whisper. flamenco can be such a powerful tool to feel spiritually connected. Because of the different relationships with time that we experience in Ebe, is the opportunity to explore how to dance flamenco It can be a meditation.
«In the spring of 2023 I participated in the Festival de Jerez and it was an incredibly nourishing experience. Returning to Spain after so many years made me realise that the roots I had developed on my own were very much alive and still connected to this territory. Connecting with the immense generosity of the artists and the flamenco community there made me feel like I was coming home.»
– On his personal website he mentions that the flamenco It awakens in you a feeling of desire. A lively movement between contraction and expansion. Can you explain this to us?
- flamenco It is a very language elastic. He always plays with the rules, with the beat, with the other musicians and dancers. This elasticity is very much alive and for me it is the experience of desire, going towards something seeking to release, to release all the accumulated energy at once, then to start again, again and again… Elasticity is always a game between contraction and expansion, so for me the flamenco It is deeply a language of desire. In my personal artistic path, I took some breaks of studying flamenco traditional at different times: when I studied other forms of dance, when I did my master's thesis, when I gave birth to my son, when I started developing my own personal projects. And every time I returned to the flamenco traditional, I realized that my love for this language was still vibrant. So these moments fuera They also fed my relationship of desire with him flamenco. Another important aspect of the flamenco For me it is the fact that it is a path rather than a goal to achieve. When I started dancing, I realized that the dancers I liked the most were the older ones who no longer had anything to prove and one of the reasons I chose this path was because "it gave me time": in a world where everything must be done quickly, the flamenco He gave me a way to resist, time to convert.
– Why do you think that dancing flamenco captivates international audiences not necessarily initiated in the understanding of this music?
– I think that the flamenco provides a space to express the complexity that inhabits us. This language allows us to express exuberant joy as well as violence, pain and sadness, which are inherent to our human lives. The complexity of emotions is not only allowed but valued in the flamenco, and this probably makes it appealing and liberating to so many people, as it has been to me. At the same time, the musical language of flamenco It is deeply coherent and also very thick.
– In your opinion, what direction should dance take? flamenco in its conquest of broad, global audiences?
– Since I like to see things on a spectrum, a continuum, I feel that the flamenco as an art form it must sustain two opposing directions. It is essential for some artists to continue to preserve and master the core of their traditional language, just as it is essential for others to stretch its boundaries. Understanding this has been an important realization in my artistic path, as I use a traditional language that I was not raised in. For many years I struggled with a feeling of imposture, fearing disrespect to a tradition I loved, but at the same time needing a lot of artistic freedom to create. Then I realized that the flamenco It was a vast territory and I could stand on the margins, exploring how to push the boundaries of this territory. I realized that this is as useful as preserving the center, because that is how any organism continues to evolve. I feel that this is why the flamenco It is so popular internationally, because some artists masterfully preserve the core of their tradition, while others work on opening up new directions for it, and some artists amaze us by mastering both directions in their own bodies.
«I struggled with a feeling of imposture, fearing disrespect to a tradition I loved, but at the same time needing a lot of artistic freedom to create. Then I realized that the flamenco "It was a vast territory and I could stand on the margins, exploring how to push the boundaries of this territory. I felt that this is as useful as preserving the center, because that is how any organism continues to evolve."
– What do you think of the current projection of art? flamenco in Canada?
– It's an exciting time for the flamenco in Canada. Over the years we have seen many artists struggle to bring this language to the contemporary scene, making the public realize how it can be a tool to express points of view on our current society. I had the opportunity to study and collaborate with Myriam Allard and Heidi Graja from La Otra Orilla, and they had a strong influence on my decision to take on the flamenco as an artistic territory when I started dancing. Her talent, rigor and artistic vision undoubtedly elevated the flamenco in stages that were previously unattainable. Rae Bowhay, an artist from Montreal, also had a strong impact on me when I started in the flamenco, as it constantly challenges and deepens the understanding of this language, taking it to unexpected places. I am also deeply moved by the artistic work of Rosanna Terraciano, a dancer from Calgary who takes a very personal and sensitive view of the language. flamencoI am excited to see more and more artists using it as a contemporary language, like Audrey Gaussiran, who is creating her own specific language in relation to digital media. Many other artists are keeping the scene alive. flamenco in Canada and gain recognition beyond its borders, which is highly inspiring.
– And the work of Rosario Ancer –Rosario Flamenco– leading this great festival?
– I am honoured to have the opportunity to be welcomed by Rosario Ancer at the festival. Carrying a festival on her back for over thirty years, managing creative residencies, teaching, performing, whilst also developing her own practice, makes this artist a very impressive and essential point of reference for the festival. flamenco in Canada. To my knowledge, it is the festival of flamenco is one of the most important in our country and has given visibility and recognition to many artists. So I am eager to meet her, discover more of her work and the community she has developed in Vancouver.
– Her multidisciplinary artistic career includes music, glass blowing, digital arts and a career as a painter. Definitely, artists flamencoThey are restless and sensitive souls.
– Yes, I think that flamenco definitely attracts intense and searching people. And, as I said before, its complexity and its demand make it a beautiful channel to channel all that energy. For me, the flamenco It is the strongest language to channel the musician, the visual artist, the dancer and the human being that I am.
«For me the flamenco It is a path rather than a goal to achieve. When I started dancing, I realized that the dancers I liked the most were the older ones who no longer had anything to prove and one of the reasons I chose this path was because it gave me time. In a world where everything must be done quickly, the flamenco He gave me a way to resist, time to convert.
– In your learning and evolution in flamenco music, have you ever had contact with Spain and its artists?
– Yes, I had the opportunity to study several times in Spain in my first years of flamenco practice. Then, my projects took me to other countries and the birth of my son made it a little more difficult to travel to Spain. Fortunately, we have a very vibrant flamenco community in Montreal and many Spanish artists come to give workshops, which gives us the opportunity to stay connected with this living practice. Last year, in the spring of 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in the Festival Flamenco from Jerez, and it was an incredibly nourishing experience. Returning to Spain after so many years made me realise that the roots I had developed on my own, in my independent practice, were very much alive and still connected to this territory. Connecting with the immense generosity of the artists and the flamenco community there made me feel back homeAs a living and evolving language, I believe it is essential to cyclically reconnect with the culture from which the language comes. flamencoThis allows us to deepen our understanding, love and respect for this art form, as well as reestablish our sense of anchorage in this territory.
– Would you like to take your show to Spain?
– Absolutely, I would be beyond honoured to have this opportunity! As an artist exploring the margins of such a powerful and culturally rooted art form, I am always conscious of the delicate stance I need to strike between respect for a tradition I was not raised in and the creative freedom I need. So, just as I am curious to see what will resonate with the Vancouver flamenco community, I would love to see how it would be perceived. Ebe in Spain and what exchanges would arise from this meeting.
