18 days: The countdown to DanceWeekend’19 continues with Larchaud Dance. They perform Sunday January 27th at 4:40pm.

Instagram: @larchaud

Can you tell us little bit about your company/collective/school?
Founded in 2004, Larchaud Dance Project combines dance, theatre, parkour and film to create site-specific and theatrical performance. Their work is known for incorporating elements of popular culture and delving into themes rooted in the human condition while exciting audiences with electric physicality and gravity-defying movement. Pioneers of this hybrid form of art experience, they are now recognized for their highly stylized partnering (a hybrid of contemporary technique and breakdance aesthetics), cutting edge choreography/concepts, ever- evolving site-specific performances, and vibrant workshops. Under the Artistic Direction of Jennifer Robichaud, this Toronto-based company guarantees to captivate audiences with high voltage athleticism, compelling presence, and a unique approach to performance art. Larchaud Dance Project is committed to creating art that pushes boundaries, engages all audiences, and exposes new audiences to performance through mainstream culture. The company produces work that questions the harsh realities of today’s world, engages youth, and acts as a vehicle for social change. We are consistently known for weaving a story through integrated arts, bridging the gaps between culture, class, and gender. Larchaud Dance Project is constantly looking for ways to explore aspects of new movement and concepts, to evolve with each process and project. Larchaud Dance Project produced their first production, Stript Bare, in June 2005. Since then the company has produced four full-length productions (Gridlock/15, Elegant Beast/12, Back to X/09, and CAUTION/07, all presented by DanceWorks CoWorks), and 2 touring youth productions for educational programming (Fossil/12, and Game Over/10). The company’s most recent work Gridlock was mounted four times in three years,(a two week run in 2015 and a school performance series with a week long public run in 2016 and 2017). Performance highlights for the company include Artscape Extravaganza/15, Body Brake/13, Illuminite/10, Dance Ontario Dance Weekend15/11/09, Beats, Breaks and Culture/09, Nuit Blanche/07/08, Junction Arts Festival/07/08, Toronto International Dance Festival, and the Shanghai International Fringe Festival/06.

What are showing at DanceWeekend’19?
CONTINGENCY is a precursor to our 2019/2020 premiere Exit Strategies. It is not an excerpt. It is not a trailer. It can’t be – Exit Strategies is site-specific, it’s immersive, it’s interactive, it’s an art experience rather than a performance. CONTINGENCY is rather a taste of what you may encounter, an unsettling, an uneasiness, a vulnerability… It is a future event or circumstance that cannot be predicted with certainty, usually causing chaos and forcing alternate decision-making. It is when what you believe is put to the test. Do you have your contingency plan?

Who are the performers/collaborators in this piece(s)?
Choreographers: Jennifer Robichaud & Jase Cozmic
Collaborators: Cody Berry, Taylor Bullock, Mateo Galindo Torres, Jamie Yakabow

Can you talk about your creative process? What inspires you?
**Answered by Larchaud AD Jennifer Robichaud
“It’s different every time. It’s scattered and wild, and there is no form or formula…any of our collaborators can attest to that. I always come up with an initial concept and/or movement quality, but it never stays on track once Jase Cozmic and the dancers enter the studio. We can produce an abundance of physical material very quickly, and then pare down. Alot of people would think we work in a way that is “backwards” – most of the time we make up movement sequences and partnering (Cozmic and I on our own and together), and then somehow I change, morph, link it all with sound, video, theme into something that truly resonates. It’s not a process for everyone, the dancers have learned to trust that it will all work out, but I can see how it can be frustrating or daunting to not “see” then final product along the way. We do have alot of FUN, we feed off the energy of the people we are with… sometimes we need a rehearsal director to reign in our focus. I think we are forever evolving, and our approach, style, and aesthetic are always different from project to project. Site- specific work has become a huge part of the company’s identity, and I continue to do extensive research on human behaviour, the effects of art on individuals, communites/cultural groups, and societal trends/world interests.”

Please share your experience performing in a previous DanceWeekend and/or tell us what you are looking forward to at DanceWeekend’19?
Larchaud last performed site-specifically for DanceWeekend on the staircases and in the lobby of the Fleck Theatre, when we premiered our work Pass On The Left in 2015. We are extremely excited to be a part of DanceWeekend’19, not only because it’s a fabulous event that exposes dance to all audiences and we get to see all of our amazing colleagues, BUT it is also going to be the first time we have produced work/ performed on a stage in 7 years! The last time we were in a theatre was for Larchaud’s 2012 production of Elegant Beast… guess we’re getting that “seven year itch.”

What is one surprising or interesting fact about your company/collective/school?
Most people ask what LARCHAUD means… It is the amalgamation of the co-founders last names Nicole Bemister LARdino and Jennifer RobiCHAUD. The ladies started the company on a whim in 2004, even moving in together to a live/work loft to make it all work. Nicole left Larchaud Dance in 2006 to pursue a different career path, and Jennifer ultimately kept the name. Shortly after Jase Cozmic became an integral part of the company. Jenn and Cozmic, the duo that have become the “face” of the company, continue to be a choreographic force dedicated to the evolution of movement and the art of performance.

Do you have any up-coming performances/events you would like to share?
Larchaud Dance Project will premiere their newest site-specific work Exit Strategies: The Larchaud Escape Room experience in the 2019/2020 season. Check out our Instagram @larchaud for updates!

Photo by TJ Kennedy