Climate change is arguably the most urgent challenge of our time. Even as the world burns and environmental disasters multiply, we continue with business as usual – dining out, partying, and seeking entertainment. We are essentially dancing through life, ignoring the crisis.
In his show Burn Baby Burn, Côté Danse choreographer Guillaume Côté, through ballet, contemporary dance and fire imagery, calls out our lack of climate action.
“The show,” starts Guillaume, “is essentially an incredibly physical celebration of dance using some symbolism of fire and everything that comes with it, so engaging the fire, the power of it, the passion of it… And within this symbolism, I wanted to have an element of awareness towards our denial of the climate change situation that we are in.”
“So I thought ‘let’s play with this idea of fire,’” continues Guillaume, “first, because in itself, human fire, passion, can be this really beautiful thing, which fuels all of us and which we hold within us. It can be a huge driving force, but also, if it’s not tamed, can also take control and consume you, and eventually come to your demise.”
The show starts slowly, and gradually, the rhythm picks up, giving the impression of a huge disco party that takes control of the dancers and the crowd. Only at the very end do we see a shift.
“Things switch suddenly into a different sort of lighting,” explains Guillaume, “a different space with smoke and these ashes raining from the sky. And these little kids who were playing in the schoolyard, they essentially just stop dancing, they completely stop for five minutes and look into space, looking at what they’ve done, which is they danced their hearts out and they forgot about everything that is actually important, which is the issue at hand, which is the control of this fire, and this idea, don’t let it get out of hand.”
“So basically, the show, in a very simple way, is meant to fully take you into an amazing ugly dance. The message comes very late in the show, but at the same time, it comes in a way that’s quite genuine, the twist giving it this element of denial that we are doing this, and going on with our lives, including watching this show and putting on this show, ironically, not good for climate change.”
Guillaume found inspiration from his 8-year-old son. “I was walking with him one day when we were talking about his eco-anxiety and he confronted me and said, ‘why don’t you do anything about the situation with your art,’ and I didn’t have a good answer for him.”
Costumes and props include clouds and red tassels for fire, but the true magic seems to be the lighting. “The lighting is really quite spectacular in the piece. There’s a beautiful way that Simon Rossiter uses this little LED, which provides a way for people to appear out of nowhere and to disappear into a void.”
Burn Baby Burn is Guillaume Côté’s 3rd show with his production company Côté Danse. Previously, he danced with the National Ballet of Canada for 26 years, giving him a strong ballet background. This show however mixes ballet with contemporary. “I have dancers who come from hip-hop, breakdance, contemporary dance and classical dance with circus. I make these sequences that are quite poetic with the help these dancers who all come with their own unique vocabulary that they have in themselves.”
While the show has an important message, Burn Baby Burn is a fun show. “I want the crowds to take away some really incredible dancers who are living passion and love, and force and power. I want them to see the power of what dance can do, which is, unbelievable power to make you want to jump out of your seat and dance along!”
Burn Baby Burn is playing November 25-29 at Théâtre Maisonneuve. Find tickets and more information HERE.
