Nuit Blanche 2012: An Unforgettable All-Nighter!

Oh Scotiabank Nuit Blanche! I love it. Love to share my work in that context: thousands of people out all night seeking an interaction with art; people walking in without buying a ticket, arriving when they like, choosing a vantage point, switching places to watch from a different angle or perspective, staying as long as they please, discovering, interpreting and appreciating the art on their own terms.

Audience members visit Night Garden at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. Photo by Makoto Hirata.

This was my third creation for Nuit Blanche and by far the most complicated: four casts of a 20 minute trio switching off for 12 hours straight / 7pm to 7am / a set comprised of 12 luminous sculptures by Larry Hahn, around and through which the dancers needed to navigate / a transfigured theatre, the main floor seating retracted under the balcony to create an intimate performing space viewable from all sides / a multitude of perspectives on floor level and from the balcony and boxes above…

The dancers had just 15 hours of rehearsal to get inside of the complex and subtle world of Night Garden and needed to sustain themselves over a 12-hour performance cycle. The cast ranged in age from early twenties to mid forties, and the younger dancers made the very most of learning from the masterful artists with whom they rehearsed and performed. Each cast had a distinct character, and many viewers stayed to take in several cycles of the dance, so that the choreography began to reveal itself to them as a stable structure supporting highly unique, individual performances.

Our dancers rehearsing for Night Garden at Canada’s National Ballet School. Photo by Makoto Hirata.

Many of our audience sent us photos of their perspective on the performance, including talented young photography students from Canada’s National Ballet School. I look forward to sharing these photos once they are compiled for an online record of this unforgettable evening!

Peggy