Photo : © Sarah Chelot
bang bang is an ordeal. It involves a repetition of jumps and athletic motifs, counted in 11, demanding exceptional concentration and physical commitment from the performers. Gradually, this demand reveals their combativeness, their resilience, but also the flaws of the human performer. This two-person version adds the idea of experiencing the ordeal together, combining each performer’s strengths and weaknesses. The rigor of execution meets the sweat. Over the course of 50 minutes, the performers’ identities dissolve. Continuing to jump becomes at once absurd, poetic, and political.
Manuel Roque is a contemporary dance choreographer and performer based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). His creations explore the interplay of sensitive, somatic, athletic, poetic, and political spaces. bang bang (a solo created in 2017 and transformed into a duet in 2024) won both the Performer Award and the Choreographic Work Award at the Prix de la Danse de Montréal in 2017. His next creation, Sweet Rodeo, will open the euro-scene Festival in Leipzig, Germany, in November 2026. His interest in the moving body is informed by notions of integrity, curiosity, and meditative attention. In his pieces, rigor coexists with gentleness, musicality unfolds with a profound sense of nuance, and the generosity of physical commitment is rooted in kindness toward oneself and others.
Photo : © Courtoisie de l’artiste
Choreography: Manuel Roque
Performers: Nils Levazeux, Manuel Roque
Rehearsal direction and artistic consultation: Lucie Vigneault
Costumes and set design: Marilène Bastien
Soundtrack: Manuel Roque,
Production: Cie Manuel Roque
Co-production: FestivalTransAmériques (FTA)
Development: DLD
With the support of La Fabrik (Potsdam, Germany), Maison de la culture Frontenac (Montreal, Canada), Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique (Montreal, Canada), Théatre Hector Charland (L’Assomption, Canada), Les Subsistances (Lyon, France), L’Agora de la danse (Montreal, Canada), Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Conseil des arts de Montréal.
