riopelle grandeur nature
Production: Les 7 doigts de la main
Co-production: Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation
With the support of: Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec and Tourisme Montréal
Presented in collaboration with: LA TOHU
Presented as part of: Montréal en Lumière
With the support of Solotech
Invited by Les 7 Doigts de la main, Mirari created the visual content and immersive environment projected in the show Riopelle Grandeur Nature, which offers a poetic overview of the painter’s career and his relationship with nature.
The performance takes place in an immersive setup consisting of six screens forming a 360-degree image box around the audience. Acrobats perform at the center of the setup, in front of an audience arranged in a bi-frontal configuration. The size of the setup, accommodating only 150 spectators, makes the experience very enveloping and allows for close proximity to the circus artists. This space, both intimate and grandiose, also allows for diving into the paintings, traveling through Riopelle’s universe, and creating moments of immersion in nature.
The cohesion between video projections, lighting, scenography, and the sound environment enables a truly multi-sensory experience that has a strong emotional impact on the audience.
Concept
Conceptualization, artistic direction, and creative direction: Samuel Tétreault
Direction: Samuel Tétreault assisted by Isabelle Chassé
In collaboration with the artists on stage: Claire Hopson, Saali Kuata, Arthur Morel Van Hyfte, Guillaume Paquin, Camille Tremblay
Author and dramaturgy consultant: Marie-Christine Lê-Huu
Consultant on Jean Paul Riopelle’s work: Yseult Riopelle
Aerial choreography consultants: Guillaume Paquin and Arthur Morel Van Hyfte
Video design and artistic director – Mirari: Thomas Payette
Co-design – Mirari: Mathieu Doyon
Set design: Olivier Landreville
Assistant set designer and props: Charlotte Castel
Costume design: Camille Thibault-Bédard
Musical and sound design: Colin Gagné
Sound engineering: Jérôme Guilleaume
Lighting design: Étienne Boucher
Assistant lighting design and programming: Bruno Moranville
Narrative voices: Annick Bergeron
Acrobatic coach: Francisco Cruz
Operations
Artistic coordination and stage management: France Godin
Stage management, props, and costumes: Michelle Winter
Head rigger: Max Jouanneau
Rigger: Matthieu Banville
Sound engineer: Jérôme Guilleaume
Video operator: Vincent Ladouceur
Lighting operator: Mathis Lebel
Production
Production manager: Emanuelle Kirouac
Production assistant: Zoé Kolic
Technical director: Victor Lamontagne
Technical director assistant: Elianne Désilets-Dubé
Project manager for works and archives: Isabelle Domens
Rigging and acrobatic equipment project consultant and manager: Denis Horth
Technical coordinator for studios: Mathis Lebel
Studio rigger: Matthieu Banville
Set construction: Yoann Royer, Joel Saint Clair, and Opus Design
Props and patina assistant: Erika Lefebvre
Video and Multimedia
Video design and artistic director – Mirari: Thomas Payette
Co-design – Mirari: Mathieu Doyon
Video project management – Mirari: Caroline Turcot
Animation design – Mirari: Louis Roy
Director of photography and 360 images: Dominic St-Amant
Video project manager – Mirari: Béatrice Germain
3D animation director for the work “Pangnirtung”: Vincent Ladouceur
Multimedia device integration: Supply and Demand
Project manager – Supply and Demand: Émile Grégoire
Video integrator – Supply and Demand: Louis-Pierre Morin
Interactive content designer – Supply and Demand: Raphaël Dupont
Video integrator: Francis Corbeil and Mélisandre Bouchard-Berger
Music
Music and sound effects composed and produced in collaboration by Colin Gagné, with Charlotte Qamaniq (Co-composition “Jeux de ficelles”), Raphaël Cruz (Composition “Testament du hibou”) and Jérôme Guilleaume (Co-design of sound effects “Icebergs”)
Drums: Jonathan Gagné
Vocals (Jeux de ficelles): Charlotte Qamaniq
Vocals (Iceberg, Serica): Mykalle Bielinski
Clarinet: Jean-Sébastien Leblanc
Double bass: Mathieu Roberge
Piano (Testament du hibou): Spike Wilner
Trumpet: Lex French
Violin and Viola: Guido del Fabbro
Cello: Sheila Hannigan
Understudy artists: Simon Lemire and Valérie Doucet.
Acknowledgements
Yseult Riopelle for her valuable and extraordinary collaboration over the three years of the project’s realization,
as well as to Huguette Vachon, Manon Gauthier, Michel Tétreault, Galerie Simon Blais, Guillaume Saladin, Betsy Etidloie, Olivier Laprise, Jean-Pierre Guité, Annie-Kim Dery, l’école nationale de crique, Fred Gérard, Irena Purschke, and Dr. John Langton Tyman for his permission to use the audio recordings of Cultures in Context (Transition Jeux de ficelles).
