Racines: A show for little ones from which even adults will leave more grown up
The ultimate season of NAC French Theatre Associate Artistic Director, Youth Programming, Mélanie Dumont, begins in gentleness in a week!
October 1, 2024 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre (NAC) French Theatre’s new season of Youth programming opens with a sensory and poetic reverie by La Minoterie and Petits bonheurs, intended for children aged 18 months and older. Racines (Roots) is an invitation in a shimmering space, a forest of emotions where one can hear, as if by magic, a child’s inner voice, their desire for both closeness and separation.
Step by step, a child learns to exist on their own. This magnificent piece by Elie Marchand gives voice to the maelstrom of sensations experienced during these key moments. On stage, the dazzling Léa Noblet Di Ziranaldi takes the voice-over and gleefully turns it into riveting physical play. The work billows with sounds and shimmers, and plunges us into a state of reverie.
Racines is, above all, an early childhood theatrical proposition that isn’t afraid to use its words. The speech is in constant dialogue with the body, substance, stunning soundtrack–all transmuted through an alchemy possible thanks to the performer’s multiple talents.
Alongside this production is taking place the free installation of light and sound Les eaux (The Waters), in the NAC Salon. Under a comfortable translucent canopy showing projections of the seaside and children playing, you’ll hear words bubbling up, a tingling joy and the tender voice of a parent telling their soon-to-be-born child that they’re waiting for them, that they already love them. This calming cocoon of sights and sounds will allow families let their dreams ebb and flow with the tides, while reconnecting to the magical substance that connects all living things: water.
PRE-SHOW ACTIVITY
Because the experience of going to the theatre begins long before you step into the performance hall, families are welcome to arrive 45 minutes before the start of the performance to warm up their imaginations. Around the Fountain by the Studio, families are welcome to enjoy a cozy reading corner, engage in a drawing activity, set in a seaside, and meet Marie-Ève Fontaine, one of NAC French Theatre’s artists in residence.
PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Racines
Azrieli Studio, October 12 (Saturday) and 13 (Sunday), at 11am and 3pm; duration: 30 minutes.
It may be possible for members of the media to attend the matinees (October 9-11), upon availability.
Intimate show in French for children from 18 months to 5 years old; tickets at $15 only.
Les eaux
NAC Salon, October 12 (Saturday) and 13 (Sunday), on-going from 11:30am to 4:30pm.
Free installation for children from 0 to 7 years old, as well as their families.
To purchase tickets for Racines, visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/35988 or call 1-844-985-2787 (ARTS); to obtain more information about Les eaux, click here: https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/37060. To find out what you need to know before accessing the building and facilities, click: https://nac-cna.ca/en/visit
Visit the https://nac-cna.ca/en/%20%20theatrefrancais to learn more about the NAC French Theatre.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNER
The National Arts Centre Foundation would like to thank Official Hotel Partner Ottawa Embassy Hotel & Suites.
ABOUT THE NAC
The National Arts Centre is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.
-30-
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sylvain Lavoie
Communications Strategist, French Theatre
National Arts Centre
343-588-0743