Harbourfront World Stage – Dave St-Pierre’s La Pornographie des âmes

by Paula Citron
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La Pornographie des âmes
Dave St-Pierre
Harbourfront World Stage
Fleck Dance Theatre until Wednesday
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In his press kit, Montreal choreographer Dave St-Pierre is referred to as Pina Bausch’s pornographic son. His kaleidoscope of shifting stage pictures collectively make a strong statement about the human condition — only in St-Pierre’s case, it is with nudity and other vulgar pursuits.

St-Pierre has also been called the enfant terrible of Montreal dance. He is certainly provocative, and more to the point, willing to stage theatrical taboos. In his 2004 La Pornographie des âmes (Bare Naked Souls), anything goes. The collective content of the piece comprises of 26 scenes that give insight into the good, the bad and the ugly.

St-Pierre’s bare naked souls — if one applies this term to his company — are certainly courageous in making themselves vulnerable. Their commitment as performers is extremely strong. In the abstract, the bare naked souls they enact are a metaphor for life, both the whimsical and the bleak.

La Pornographie des âmes continues at the Fleck Dance Theatre until Saturday.