Box: la femme au carton (2011, acquired 2014)
The third work of master Quebecois choreographer Paul-Andre Fortier entered the repertoire of Peggy Baker Dance Projects in 2014, appearing on the he:she concert program. Paul-André writes:
The first time I used the “box” was during a research period for the creation of the solo loin, très loin with Peggy Baker. I abandoned the idea of a box, only to bring it back a few years later for my solo 1X60 (2006) in Japan. Afterwards, in 2011, I reused this idea, this time choreographing an entire solo with a box. I then gave this solo to Peggy, who danced it superbly in Toronto. It is poignant to think that this concept, after several transformations, has returned to its source. The box would take nearly a dozen years to find its way back to Peggy.
Peggy writes: For a rehearsal early in 2000 while we were working on loin, très loin, Paul-André brought in a rather large cardboard box (or did he simply find it in the studio?) and instructed me to manipulate it in various ways – holding it against my torso and closing and opening the flaps, orienting the box vertically or horizontally, holding it above, below, or beside me while rotating slowly… We were working in a studio with windows high on the walls and dazzling winter sunshine was slanting down onto the floor in shafts. The next day Paul-André let the box go (it never reappeared) and worked instead with the shafts of light – which became a central design element in the completed dance.
A decade later, Paul-André once again picked up a cardboard packing box to use as part of 1x60 – a site specific work for a garden in Japan – before going on to create a dance for the theatre; a spare and exceedingly detailed dance, requiring patience, care, and even dedication titled Box: le homme au carton.
In 2014, in an incredible act of love and generosity – and knowing how much I would appreciate the depth of the experience as an interpreter – Paul-André offered his dance to me. I learned Box in tandem with his creative assistant, the wise and warm Ginelle Chagnon, both of us up on our feet; Paul-André seeing the dance from the outside for the first time, and Ginelle seeing it from the inside for the first time. The sound design by Alain Thibault included long interludes of silence contained within a single uninterrupted track of 25 minutes, and in each extended lull time slowed down a little more until finally it seemed to disappear completely.
I am profoundly honoured to have been invited to inhabit this late solo by one of the dance world’s greatest solo creator/performers.
“… a trippy interaction with a simple cardboard box that assumes totemic power from her slow moving attention … a universe of narrative possibilities…” Kathleen Smith, NOW Magazine
“The box, variously manipulated to expose a cross-pattern on its base, becomes an emblem of retrieved memories, even a portal into the dancer’s inner consciousness. Baker gives a thoughtfully intense performance, proving that even as the dancing body ages its innate intelligence continues to grow.” Michael Crabb, The Toronto Star
