Le Bateau

1988

About

Le Bateau can be described as a futuristic harlequinade, a fantasy in black and white with a set that becomes, in turn, bridge, cliff, stage or screen. The costumes – by Susan Berganzi – evoke the world of dreams.

- From First Night Proposal, 1989

The People

Choreographer: Karen Jamieson

Performers: Virginia Corcoran, Kay Huang, Hiromoto Ida, Catherine Lubinsky, Francis Nash, Carrie Nimmo, Janice Ungaro, and Cindy Varney

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

Musical Performance: Melinda Coffey

Sculptor and Set Design: Larry Cohen

Lighting Design: Ken Alexander

Reviews

“Le Bateau, set to music by J.S. Bach performed by Melinda Coffee, is amusing, challenging and entertaining. The set, designed by sculptor Larry Cohen, is a huge rectangular frame situated between two long boxes that the dancers can work behind, in front, on top and inside of. Dancers pop up unexpectedly, hang upside down, disappear, and it’s great fun.”

- Renee Doruyter
The Province, May 8, 1988

“Jamieson allows her sense of humor more latitude in Le Bateau…with dancers popping up in unlikely places, and determinedly shifting pieces of scenery back and forth.
Le Bateau suffers from a few uneven moments – no doubt the result of its complex architecture – but it represents, nonetheless, the extraordinarily subtle and intelligent new course Karen Jamieson is now charting.”

- Michael Scott
“Dancer Jamieson charts new course”
The Vancouver Sun, May 9, 1988

“Le Bateau, the finale of a strong program by the Karen Jamieson Dance Company running at the Arcadian Hall until May 14, may sound European, especially with a Bach accompaniment well played by Melinda Coffey. But from the first image, this is an exploration of west coast native art, as seen by a dancemaker with a deep interest in anthropology.

The boat of the title appears to be a Haida war canoe; certainly the intertwining, sinuous figures of the first few minutes strongly recall the imagery of modern-day Haida artists like Bill Reid and Robert Davidson. Set designer Larry Cohen has created a simple but imaginative set that emphasizes the compression of Haida art; a large white frame contains most of the action, turning three-dimensional movement into silhouettes or friezes, while behind and in front of the frame are two heavy monoliths, square columns that are treated alternately as bridges, totem poles, stages and bleachers.

The brilliance of Le Bateau lies in its ability to show the magical, ‘human’ qualities of animals and birds of legend in a playful context that makes such creative transformation seem a natural impulse. And that transformation, Jamieson seems to be saying, is at the very heart of myth and play.”

- Stephen Godfrey
The Globe and Mail, May 12, 1988

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