Last weekend was a busy time in Toronto, what with Pride and all. The Pride festivities were so overwhelming that visitors and locals alike can be forgiven for overlooking other amazing events, like Le Grand Continental dance extravaganza as part of the Luminato Festival. Le Grand Continental is a 30 minute line dance inspired production choreographed by Montreal’s Sylvain Émard. It was performed 4 times over the course of the weekend.
Why, you may ask, has it taken me so long to post something about it? The reason is that I went to 3 of the 4 performances and shot more than 1700 images. Since I’m not a for-profit media outlet, I have no assistant or intern to help me sort through all those images. I have to do it all myself. Plus, there was the Pride Parade on Sunday with another 1000 images. It’s all so overwhelming … in a good way.
For the second performance, on Saturday afternoon, I arrived a half hour early so I could get a good seat. There was no need. It was pouring rain and I could have any seat in the house. The promotional material said the show would go on, rain or shine, and they were true to their word. The only hitch is that the rain washed away the chalk markings on the pavement, so there was a delay while they rechalked everything.
I had heard about Le Grand Continental through a friend, Mary Barr, who auditioned (and was accepted) as one of the dancers. Mary is an amateur with no particular dance experience. That’s part of the point of the show. It’s participatory. That’s not to say anybody could join in. In fact, something like 2000 people auditioned but just 200 ended up performing. Nevertheless, that 200 included everyone from children to a 92-year-old woman. Mary, shown below, falls somewhere in between.
Part way through the performance, everyone falls to the ground. Children rush onto the stage, touching each of the grown-ups. When they’re sure all the grown-ups are unconscious, they have a little dance party of their own … until a stern-looking grown-up glares at them as if to say: What are you kids up to? But he breaks down with a smile and joins in the dancing. Soon, the unconscious grown-ups begin to twitch, like zombies coming to life, and the dance resumes.
There is a moment later in the routine when the music slows and the dancers lean against one another – a serene pause in the midst of frenetic motion.
When the choreographed part of the dance was over, the audience was drawn into the group and everybody joined in.
