What happens when you combine ice-skating with contemporary dance? Nina Levy spoke to Alexandre Hamel, of Canadian contemporary ice-skating company Le Patin Libre, to find out.
Nina Levy: Ice skating is, traditionally all about competition and glitzy shows… so how did Le Patin Libre come to exist?
Alexandre Hamel: The project started with a bunch of slightly rebellious figure skaters who wanted to keep skating, but who were also seeking an alternative to the “On Ice” show business, in which I include the Olympics.
Our first gigs were on frozen ponds, for the small local winter carnivals that are a lively tradition in Québec. We were young and it smelt like teen spirit. In fact, we played that song a lot in our beginnings! So, it was all rock soundtracks, acrobatics, funny numbers and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. The traditional figure skating system didn't like to see a bunch of high level skaters stray away from their business. Docile figure skaters are their primary resource, after all... So, we were barred from some ice rinks and described as a bad influence on kids. We were also quite vocal about the underbelly of figure skating; such as hyper-sexualisation, lots of money made with unpaid performers, excessive training methods, questionable coaches.
In 2011, we were given lots of ice time by a private ice rink owner in France. It allowed us to venture into choreographic experiments that were much more advanced and intelligent than our beginnings on frozen ponds. We started to understand that we wanted contemporary skating focused on what can make it interesting and unique: glide [the name for the moment when an ice-skater travels on the ice in a held pose, such as an arabesque]. Glide was how skating could achieve its modernity... and then move beyond.
Then, we got support from big artistic institutions, and here we are in big art festivals with our latest show Vertical Influences.
NL: The of the five members of Le Patin Libre are also the choreographers. Tell me about your choreographic process – how do you go about creating a new work?
AH: At first, it is very playful and exploratory. We try things, we do things that feel good. Then, some of us, one of us or all of us remark on something and we decide to invest more research into it. It might be a group formation, or the movements of a soloist, or a specific trajectory on the ice. After lots of attempts, when we can manipulate it very well, we go from research to creation. At that point, for Vertical Influences, a dramaturg(Ruth Little, from Australia) got involved to help us read different meanings for the choreography we were experimenting with. After, we choreograph it for real, with this new meaning in our mind. The show comes together.
All that time, Jasmin Boivin, who is also one of our skating choreographers and dancer, composes music. Sometimes, we bounce off his musical ideas. Other times, he follows the choreography we created. The music of the trailer of the 2016 Melbourne Festival [at which Le Patin Libre will perform Vertical Influences] is music that he composed in this process, for Vertical Influences...
This is an extract from an article in the Oct/Nov issue of Dance Australia. Buy Dance Australia at your favourite magazine retailer or subscribe here, or purchase an online copy via the Dance Australia app.
Le Patin Libre will perform Vertical Influences at the Melbourne Festival 15-22 October.