UAQUE

Andrea Peña, Edward Burtynsky & Alexander Shelley

2024-09-10 20:00 2024-09-11 23:00 60 Canada/Eastern 🎟 NAC: UAQUE

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/36049

In-person event

Come early and join us for a pre-show talk at 6:45 PM hosted by Caroline Ohrt, Executive Producer of NAC Dance, featuring choreographer Andrea Peña, photographer Edward Burtynsky, and NAC Orchestra Music Director Alexander Shelley.
----- An NAC Dance and NAC Orchestra co-commission  Andrea Peña & Artists
Edward Burtynsky, photographer
Alexander Shelley, music director and conductor
With the NAC Orchestra The SPHERE festival opens...

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Southam Hall,1 Elgin Street,Ottawa,Canada
September 10 - 11, 2024
September 10 - 11, 2024

≈ 1 hour and 15 minutes · No intermission

Last updated: September 6, 2024

Welcome to SPHERE 2024!

SPHERE celebrates the near-endless artistic and intellectual inspiration that our natural world awakens in us. Through the eyes, ears, and bodies of artists, and in this city at the confluence of rivers, we will explore the symbiosis between our creativity and the surroundings that catalyze it. We will reflect on our fragile relationship with Mother Earth and how the confluence of art, science, and ethics will inform the coming chapters in our shared history. As a wave of brilliant and visionary artists from across genres and generations sweeps into Canada’s National Arts Centre, we warmly invite you to join them and us on this journey of multi-disciplinary discovery and artistic dialogue.

Welcome to SPHERE 2024!

A Note from Caroline Ohrt, Executive Producer, NAC Dance

Dear audiences,

When Alexander Shelley and Nelson McDougall came knocking on my door, mere moments after I was hired as the new Executive Producer of NAC Dance, and wanted to talk to me about a collaboration with visual artist Edward Burtynsky, I was instantly hooked on the idea! I have always been a great admirer of Edward Burtynsky, and the idea of working with Alexander and the NAC Orchestra was on the top of my wish list.

The 2024 SPHERE festival’s focus on rivers and our relationship to the Earth is undeniably an essential one. Choreographer Andrea Peña quickly came to mind as a natural and perfect fit to complete the artistic triumvirate. Andrea has a 360-degree view of creation, a strong sensibility towards the visual arts, a bold and engaged view on the world and a refined mind to be able to tackle such a subject. Throughout UAQUE’s fascinating creative process, one that has required sensitivity and generosity in equal measure, Andrea has risen to the occasion.

I am extremely proud to be working at the NAC where it is possible to stage such strong and committed artistic voices, and where audiences are willing and eager to receive them. Thank you.

I bow to all the artists involved in this project. Have a wonderful evening!

A Note from Andrea Peña, Artistic Director and Choreographer

With the humility taught to me by my indigenous grandfather, this work we present is an offering on behalf of the designers, performers, and talented creators at large. It is meant to move you in whatever form this may be—there is no right or wrong interpretation. This work aims to create a moment of stillness in space and time for collective imagination, a moment to sit together and receive each other’s human essence. In the wake of our times, centred around the immediacy of the Anthropocene, we are reminded of our responsibility to each other, to ourselves, and to all non-human creatures, urging us to surrender our individualistic tendencies. 

Coming from Colombia, a landscape different from my Montreal home, this work also touches on the notion of complexity as a significant virtue and portal to our embodiment of a possible future. Complexity as a place that is undefined, pluriversal, containing multiple universes in coexistence. Complexity as a strength towards our human capacity. As the next generation, I imagine the future from a place of possibility, change, and radical vulnerability. To me, this is our contemporary punk: to be vulnerable. 

Thank you to each member of the audience for receiving this work and experiencing the universe crafted by a family and community of artists. And to this talented creative family, I am deeply grateful to each one of you for believing in this vision and bringing it to life. 

A Note from Edward Burtynsky, Photographer

Multidisciplinary projects have always captivated me, and UAQUE was particularly intriguing. The seamless integration of modern dance, music, and my still and motion images to depict the human story of our relationship with the earth and nature felt like an exciting evolution of storytelling. I have always believed in showing rather than telling, allowing the viewer to engage without being directed on what to think. This approach has been a hallmark of my exhibitions, books, and films.

Under the choreography and artistic direction of Andrea Peña and her talented team, UAQUE continues this important work, evoking deep emotions about the world we have created and the one we are yet to encounter. I am excited to see how our collaboration will inspire audiences, provoking thought and reflection through the powerful language of art. I eagerly anticipate opening night, where our collective vision will come to life.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS

Thank you to our visionary donors Earle O’Born and Janice O’Born, C.M., O.Ont. for their generous support of SPHERE.

About UAQUE

Uaque (relative, neighbour, friend) in Colombian indigenous Muisca language

UAQUE unveils a narrative woven between the scars of our industrialized world and the interconnectedness of human existence with the landscapes we’ve shaped.

UAQUE is an interdisciplinary collaboration that intersects the radical choreographic universe of Andrea Peña & Artists with the evocative landscapes of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky to reflect on the Anthropocene Epoch within a performative event. The seminal landscapes of Burtynsky, which capture the environmental catastrophes of human industrialization on the earth, are woven visually into this transgressive performance to question our interconnected relationship with the landscapes we have scarred. 

Accompanied live by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in dialogue with electronic music composer Eƨƨe Ran, ten performers are juxtaposed against the magnitude of Burtynsky’s images that viscerally reflect onto the audience our globalized effects on the land. The performers, stripped bare, embody both meditative and resilient states through the vulnerability of their own flesh, as they welcome us into nuanced reflections, a place of communion between humanity and the earth. 

UAQUE is an interwoven symphony of multiple artistic disciplines—a visceral call to action and provocation for collective transformation. The work does not offer a definitive solution to the scale of our epoch, but rather prompts us, through Peña’s indigenous Colombian heritage, to reconsider union and unity, levelling the human and nonhuman form. UAQUE challenges the myth of human superiority, laying bare the consequences of our separation from the natural world by searching for a state of union, as referenced by the title meaning “kin, relative, neighbour, friend” in Peña’s ancestral indigenous Muisca language. 

As we confront the devastating consequences of our actions, UAQUE proposes a transformative reflection in perspective—a recognition of our intrinsic connection to the earth as a collective ritual.

Music

UAQUE
An NAC Dance and NAC Orchestra co-commission 
World premiere

EƧƧE RAN Untitled (2024)

ARVO PÄRT Symphony No. 4, “Los Angeles”*
I. Con sublimità
II. Affannoso
III. Deciso

ARVO PÄRT Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten

KEIKO DEVAUX Excerpt from Listening Underwater

GYÖRGY LIGETI Ramifications** 

GIACOMO PUCCINI Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums) for string orchestra

KNUT NYSTEDT “Immortal Bach” – “Komm, süßer Tod” (Come, sweet death)

There will be no intermission.

* Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, Canadian and U.S. agent for Universal Edition Vienna, publisher and copyright owner.

** Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, sole Canadian and U.S. agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany, publisher and copyright owner.

Artists

  • andrea-pena
    Artistic Director and Choreographer Andrea Peña
  • ezgif-3-5d71243a56-cropped
    Photographer Edward Burtynsky
  • dscf9130-curtis-perry-2-cropped
    Music Director and Conductor Alexander Shelley
  • bio-orchestra
    Featuring NAC Orchestra
  • Featuring Andrea Peña & Artists
  • portrait-felix-esse-ran-1
    Electronic Music Composer Eƨƨe Ran
  • portrait-bobby-leon-by-andre-volk
    Projection Design Bobby León

Credits

NAC Orchestra

First Violins
Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster)
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster)
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster)
Jeremy Mastrangelo
Carissa Klopoushak
Jeffrey Dyrda
Manuela Milani
**Marjolaine Lambert
*Andréa Armijo Fortin
*Martine Dubé
*Oleg Chelpanov
*Renée London
*Heather Schnarr

Second Violins
Emily Kruspe (principal)
Emily Westell
Frédéric Moisan
Leah Roseman
Jessy Kim
Mark Friedman
Edvard Skerjanc
Winston Webber
Karoly Sziladi
*Erica Miller

Violas
Jethro Marks (principal)
David Marks (associate principal)
David Goldblatt (assistant principal)
David Thies-Thompson
Paul Casey
**Tovin Allers
*Sonya Probst
*Pamela Fay
*Emily Kistemaker

Cellos
Rachel Mercer (principal)
Julia MacLaine (assistant principal)
Leah Wyber
Timothy McCoy
Marc-André Riberdy
*Karen Kang

Double Basses
Sam Loeck (principal)
Max Cardilli (assistant principal)
Vincent Gendron
Marjolaine Fournier

Flutes
Joanna G’froerer (principal)
Stephanie Morin

Oboes
Charles Hamann (principal)
Anna Petersen

English Horn
Anna Petersen

Clarinets
Kimball Sykes (principal)
Sean Rice

Bassoons
Darren Hicks (principal)
Vincent Parizeau

Horns
Julie Fauteux (associate principal)
Lauren Anker
Louis-Pierre Bergeron
*Olivier Brisson

Trumpets
Karen Donnelly (principal)
Steven van Gulik

Trombones
*Harry Gonzalez (guest principal)
*Nate Fanning

Bass Trombone
Zachary Bond

Tuba
Chris Lee (principal)

Timpani
*Charles Lampert (guest principal)

Percussion
Jonathan Wade
Andrew Johnson
*Andrew Harris

Harp
*Angela Schwarzkopf (guest principal)

Principal Librarian
Nancy Elbeck

Assistant Librarian
Corey Rempel

Personnel Manager
Meiko Lydall

Assistant Personnel Manager
Ruth Rodriguez Rivera

Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Laurie Shannon

*Additional musicians
**On leave

UAQUE Creative Team

Artistic Direction
Andrea Peña

Choreography and Creative Concept
Andrea Peña & Artists

Music Director and Conductor
Alexander Shelley

Music
National Arts Centre Orchestra

Electronic Music Composer
Eƨƨe Ran

Photography and Video
Edward Burtynsky

Projection Design
Bobby León

Performers
Gabrielle Kachan
Jontae McCrory
Jo Laïny Trozzo-Mounet
Francois Richard
Rebecca Margolick
James Phillips
Myriam Arseneault
James Viveiros
Justin Calvadores

Lighting Design
Hugo Dalphond

Scenography
Jonathan Saucier

Producer (Andrea Peña & Artists)
Isabella Salas

Communications and Logistics
Polina Boltova

Technical Director
Vladimir Cara

Video Chief
Gabriel Ranon

Digital Asset Coordination and Consultation
Jim Panou

Production Consultant
Marcus Schubert

Promotional Photography
Jeanne Tétreault
Bobby León
Jonathan Auger
Rodolfo Rueda

Video Direction (Teaser)
Bobby León

Director of Photography, Promotional Video
Jonathan Auger

Documentary Video
Agustina Isidori

Special thanks to the staff of Edward Burtynsky Photography:
McKenzie Gray
Julia Johnson
Karen Machtinger
Jim Panou
Paul Sargeant
Marcus Schubert
Alanna Smith

Andrea Peña & Artists has received support from:
Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal, National Arts Centre

Production Team, Southam Hall

Head Carpenter
Jim Reynolds

Head Electrician
Shane Learmonth

Assistant Electrician
Fred Malpass

Property Master
Timothy Shannon

Head Sound Engineer
Daniel Holmes

Assistant Sound Engineer
Thomas Stubinski

Head Flyman
Ross Brayne

Head Projectionist
David Milliard

NAC Orchestra Team

Managing Director
Nelson McDougall

Senior Manager of Artistic Planning
Daphne Burt

Project Manager, Production
Alex Gazalé

Festival Manager (SPHERE)
David Gazaille

NAC Dance Team

Executive Producer
Caroline Ohrt

Senior Producer
Tina Legari

Special Projects Coordinator and Assistant to the Executive Producer
Mireille Nicholas

Company Manager
Sophie Anka

Education Associate and Teaching Artist
Siôned Watkins

Technical Director
Brian Britton

Communications Strategist
Alexandra Campeau

Marketing Strategist
Marie-Chantale Labbé-Jacques

The National Arts Centre Foundation would like to thank Mark Motors Group, Official Car of the NAC Orchestra, and Earle O’Born & Janice O’Born, C.M., O.Ont. The NAC Orchestra Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LLD (hc). We also thank the Official Hotel Partner of NAC Dance, The Lord Elgin Hotel. The role of the Executive Producer, Dance at the NAC is generously supported by an anonymous donor.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees