Restless Dance Theatre wins international award!

 

Restless, South Australia’s leading creator of dance theatre for dancers with and without disability, has been awarded the CINARS International Collaboration Award for the production Ècoute Pour Voir - Listen To See at the CINARS gala in Canada.

Ècoute Pour Voir - Listen To See is a choreographic concept developed by Emmanuel Jouthe and his company Danse Carpe Diem in collaboration with the dancers. This iteration is a co-creation with Maï(g)wenn et les Orteils and Restless Dance Theatre and a co-production of Restless Dance Theatre and Résonances.

Every two years in Montreal CINARS organises one of the most important international showcases and networking events, gathering more than 1900 professionals hailing from over 54 countries, including 433 show presenters, some of whom are the most influential in the industry. Restless Artistic Director Michelle Ryan and Creative Producer Roz Hervey attended CINARS in 2018 (a trip funded by the James & Dianna Ramsey Foundation). While there they saw the work Ècoute Pour Voir - Listen to See performed by the Maï(g)wenn et les Orteils, which, similarly to Restless, is a company which works with "different and marginalised professional artists". So moved were they by the performances that they made contact and a collaboration was born.

Initially the Australian seasons were to include four Canadian dancers from Maï(g)wenn et les Orteils and four Restless dancers, however due to the Covid pandemic travel wasn’t allowed. Still determined to collaborate on the work the companies forged ahead working over Zoom with an all Australian cast of eight Restless dancers. The work was presented at Womadelaide, Dream Big Festival and at Flinders Medical Centre.

Artistic Director Michelle Ryan said “We are thrilled that this international collaboration with Canadian artists has been recognised at CINARS. Roz and I first saw Ècoute Pour Voir- Listen to See at CINARS 2018 and were taken by the intimacy and the generosity of Maï(g)wenn et les Orteils dancers in this beautiful work by Emmanuel Jouthe. It has been an incredible journey collaborating internationally during a pandemic. We thank Yaëlle Azoulay, Resonances Producer for her incredible work behind the scenes and Emmanuel and Maïgwenn for their artistry.”

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