Kidd Pivot

Assembly Hall

A dance theatre hybrid that promises the company’s signature wit and invention. Fuelling Kidd Pivot’s work is a fascination with story and the role of language as an animating force.

Synopsis

A group of medieval re-enactors have come together for an Annual General Meeting in their local community hall. As the Board of Directors, they oversee an event called "Quest Fest" that has fallen on hard times: membership is dwindling, debt is mounting, and the hall is falling apart. Unless something drastic happens, this venerable order's directors will face dissolution. As the meeting progresses, the line between real and re-enactment begins to blur, ancient forces are awoken, and it soon becomes clear that there is much more at stake here than a mock medieval tournament.

From the team that brought you the ground-breaking, award-winning productions of Betroffenheit and Revisor, comes Kidd Pivot’s latest offering: a dance theatre hybrid that promises the company’s signature wit and invention. Fuelling Kidd Pivot’s work is a fascination with story and the role of language as an animating force.

Good evening everyone,

Time flies! Welcome to this astonishing show, the perfect way to close out this first part of the season together. We're about to discover the latest creation of a company that is truly unique in the world of Canadian dance, a gem shining brightly on the international scene. We're of course talking about Kidd Pivot!

Together, we will immerse ourselves in Assembly Hall, an unsettling artistic universe where reality and fantasy intertwine. A powerful and surprising choreography, faithful to the bold, unique, and instantly recognizable signature of the great creator Crystal Pite and playwright Jonathon Young. A daring hybrid of dance and theater, as only they know how to do so well.

Crystal Pite is a true poet of dance, who sets words in motion with such skill that their comprehension becomes superfluous in the face of the power of the body expressing itself. All of this is sublimated by the refined and expressive gestures of the company's 8 virtuoso dancers, undeniably at the peak of their art.

We've already had the privilege of seeing Crystal Pite at work, whether with Kidd Pivot or through her works for prestigious companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris, or the National Ballet of Canada.

This week, it is with great pleasure that we welcome her back.

Enjoy this evening of dance!

— Pierre Des Marais, Artistic and Executive Director

Territorial Acknowledgement

Danse Danse acknowledges that we are gathered on the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanien’keha:ka Nation. We honour the continued presence of Indigenous peoples on the Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal) territory, which has long served as a meeting place for exchanges between nations. With respect for the links to the past, present and future, we thank the Indigenous peoples for reminding us of the importance of living in harmony with ourselves, with each other and with nature, and we are grateful for the opportunity to present works of living art at Tiohtiá:ke.

Sometimes these things begin with a concrete premise or proposition, but we were starting from scratch. It was early spring, and we were meeting over coffee one bright morning for the first conversation about our next project. Neither of us knew what the other was thinking and both had come with only the faintest inkling about what terrain we might want to explore next.

By the end of that meeting though, a group of individuals had assembled in our imagination. They were gathered around the remnants of an old story - a story, it seemed to us then, that they were caring for and keeping alive. Were they Historians? Folklorists? Conservators? How had this story drawn them into its orbit? What was the connection? Perhaps these people needed this story as much as the story needed them. Or perhaps the story itself was secondary to that age-old human need to congregate; to participate in a communal activity; to be recognized and feel a sense of belonging. Then Spring became Summer, and Summer, Fall. Then Winter came and before we knew it, a year had passed.

A quick scan through our various exchanges over the course of that year reveals something of the meandering route we took to arrive at Assembly Hall. Although many signposts were left along the way, with headings written in bold above paragraphs of what seemed essential information at the time, the truth is, many of the paths we so eagerly blazed are now overgrown. Here are some examples from the trail:

The Shirt of St. Louis. The Lund Astronomical Clock. An Automated Display of Two-dimensional Figures. A Collection of Fragile Artifacts. An Unexpected Reunion, by Johann Peter Hebel.

“The spirits that I summoned I now cannot rid myself of again.” — Goethe.

The Quest to Fail, the Medieval Presence in Modernist Literature, by Jonathan Ullyot.

From Ritual to Romance, by Jessie Weston. Perceval, by Chrétien De Troyes.

The Chapel Perilous. The Harrowing of Hell. The Hour of Recollection.

“Absence is the form God’s presence takes in this world.” — Simone Weil.

The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. A History of the Elks.

The Society for Creative Anachronism.

“There is no death.” — Guy W. Ballard.

Roberts’ Rules of Order. Ten Laws for Great Governance. A Bunch of Amateurs by Kim Hopkins.

A small community hall used by a variety of different groups.

Was there a more obvious, more direct route to get here? It may have been more efficient to avoid the forest and stay on the road. Then again, if we’d taken a different route, with a different group of people, this particular hall might never have been found. Despite its many mysteries, Assembly Hall emerged from familiar memories. It’s as though we spent some of our childhood here attending recitals, or fundraisers, or ceremonies, or pageants, or potlucks. It was built by a group of people who came together on a common quest; A group of people who sat together, hour after hour, conjuring it, sketching it, speaking it into existence, listening for how it sounded, and for what it might say. A group of people who struggled to maintain and restore it when it seemed on the verge of falling apart; A group of people who believed in it and fought for it at each twist and turn. A group of people who, through the passing of seasons, filled this little hall with life. 

Welcome. We’re grateful you’re here.

— Jonathon and Crystal

Produced by Kidd Pivot

Choreographed and Directed by Crystal Pite.
Written and Directed by Jonathon Young.

Composition and Sound Design Owen Belton, Alessandro Juliani and Meg Roe.
Scenic Design Jay Gower Taylor.
Costume Design Nancy Bryant.
Lighting Design Tom Visser.
Video Design Cybèle Young
Show Control and Sound Programmer Eric Chad.
Assistant to the Creators Eric Beauchesne.

Additional Music Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, TH. 55 - I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso - Allegro con spirito performed by Alice Sara Ott · Münchner Philharmoniker · Thomas Hengelbrock ℗ 2010 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin.

Performers Brandon Alley, Livona Ellis, Rakeem Hardy, Gregory Lau, Doug Letheren, Rena Narumi, Renée Sigouin, Lea Vedd.

Voice Director Meg Roe.
Voices Ryan Beil, Marci T. House, Alessandro Juliani, Meg Roe, Gabrielle Rose, Amanda Sum, Vincent Tong, Jonathon Young.

Production Manager / Technical Director Jeff Harrison.
Stage Manager Yvonne Yip.
Audio and Show Control Operators ilvs Strauss, Eric Chad.
Wardrobe Supervisor Donnie Tejani.
Set Construction Great Northern Way Scene Shop.
Scenic Artists Charlie Easton, Barry Kootchin, Sharon Sloan, Patrick Spavor.

Prop Builders Monica Emme, Jay Gower Taylor, Heather Young, Jen Hiebert
Aluminum Armour Rob Valentine & Valentine Armouries.
Cutter Janet Dundas.
Costume Assistants and Builders Alaia Hamer, Nicola Ryal, Alice Devonshire.
Stitchers Tracey Gauvin, Eloise Pons, Jayme Cline.
Dyer and Builder Tessa Armstrong.
Rehearsal Assistant Nasiv Kaur Sall.
French Translator Magali Stoll.
Surtitles Anika Vervecken.

Executive Producer Jim Smith.
Producer Francesca Piscopo.

World Premiere October 26, 2023 at Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver, Canada

Kidd Pivot would like to thank Artemis Gordon, Barry Kootchin, Charlie Easton, Kevin Macdonald, Niko Taylor, Arts Umbrella, Ballet BC, The Dance Centre, Studio 58, Ostrom Climate, and the generous financial contributions from the Friends of Kidd Pivot.

Co-produced by Edinburgh International Festival (Edinburgh, UK), Sadler’s Wells (London, UK), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris, France), Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara (Trento, Italy), National Arts Centre (Ottawa, Canada), Seattle Theatre Group (Seattle, US), Canadian Stage (Toronto, Canada), DanceHouse (Vancouver, Canada), Danse Danse (Montreal, Canada), Le Diamant (Quebec, Canada), Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver, Canada).

A special thanks to the Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation, and Bonnie Mah for their generous support.

Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.

Kidd Pivot benefits from the support of BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of its projects.

Kidd Pivot gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia, British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver, and countless individual and business supporters.