José Navas celebrates love and resilience with AVES!
ose Navas - Aves - Credit Jeff Busby
Place des Arts hosted AVES, the latest choreographic gem from Compagnie Flak. After traveling the world, this intimate soloist returns to Montreal to offer you a unique artistic experience. Don’t miss this touching and luminous testimony!
José Navas, the visionary at the head of the Flak Company, constantly pushes the boundaries of dance and with AVES, he offers us a unique and unforgettable show. AVES is made up of six autobiographical solos, offering a deep dive into the soul on a stripped-down stage where sobriety is essential. AVES, a poignant choreographic solo, is a vibrant tribute to William Douglas, the life companion of choreographer José Navas. Having died of AIDS in 1996, Douglas was both a creative partner and deep love for Navas.
Navas explores the evolution of his feelings towards Douglas: his legacy, his transformed presence in the world. The musical selection is vast, ranging from classical to funk, blues and rock. Using Bach’s music, Navas examines Douglas’s formalist influence on his own artistic practice. He creates counter-shapes and hollows with his arms, framing his body with his own rapidly moving body. Responding to the hum and growl of an old P.J. Harvey ballad, the dancer shifts into another gear, delivering an aching sensuality. It suggests this feeling of loss which takes root in the body like a desire which is also a terrible pain. The last solo shows Navas as the bird he imagines his partner to be, freed from his suffering.
With moving sincerity, the choreographer celebrates the love he had for his companion Douglas. Navas invites us on an intimate journey where dance becomes the language of the soul. Navas offers us a universal show about love, loss and resilience. In a burst of life and memory, and delivers a poignant testimony through his body.
A kaleidoscope of emotions unfolds before our eyes when José Navas dances his life! I was moved and impressed by this beautiful, vulnerable tribute and recommend that you attend this performance in the Fifth Room this week.
AVES took place October 22 – 26 at Cinquième salle as part of the Danse Danse offerings. For more Danse Danse offerings, click HERE.
