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José Navas

Compagnie Flak
AVES
Show
2024/2025
Montreal

Solitude and solo

Dancing his life on stage, choreographer and dancer José Navas opens his heart and soul as he shares memories of his late partner. A luminous and touching homage.

In a series of six autobiographical solos, Navas pays tribute to William Douglas (1953–1996). Felled by AIDS in the prime of life, Douglas was renowned for the architectural elegance and intelligence of his award-winning choreographic works. The culmination of their artistic relationship, While Waiting, choreographed by Douglas and performed by Navas, earned them a Bessie Award in New York in 1994. On a bare stage, Navas tells their story in fluid dance, calling up his memories to music of James Brown, Billie Holiday, Bach, PJ Harvey, Dorothy Moore, Satie, and birdsong from the Amazon rainforest. A liberating show; an understated and heartfelt ritual. Deeply moving.

Sasha Onyshchenko. Dancer José Navas.
Jeff Busby. Dancer José Navas.
Sasha Onyshchenko. Dancer José Navas.
Sasha Onyshchenko. Dancer José Navas.

Artists

Choreographer
José Navas

Founder and artistic director of Compagnie Flak since 1995, José Navas carries out his overall artistic approach in three distinct ways: he dances with intensity in solo shows charged with emotion, he constructs abstract and captivating group pieces, and he creates pieces of contemporary ballet with classicism and sensitivity.

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Credits

AVES

Choreographer and dancer José Navas.

Lighting Marc Parent.

Costumes José Navas.

Costume design Sonya Bayer, L'Atelier de couture Sonya B.

Technical Direction Marc Parent.

Production Compagnie Flak in coproduction with Theater im Pumpenhaus (Münster, Germany) and Danse Danse (Montreal).

Production Direction and Development Adrien Bussy.

Premiere De Schakel, Waregem (Belgium), October 26, 2022.

“A wonderfully moving experience. […] A truly exceptional night of dance.”
The Age,
Melbourne
Dancing with an accent
“I recognized when I arrived to Canada that I had an accent in my dancing, the same way as I roll my R’s possibly in French and in English” What is the accent like? “The way I move always had something more round or something more fluid in the connectivity. The moment that I started to abandon myself into that way of dancing, then I found my voice and instead of trying to erase it, I dance with that accent. And that actually made my career.” —Art Is My Country, CBC
Watch Jose Navas at Art is my Country
"In my current research, I try to return to the simplest, clearest, and purest way of creating movement to see if, from there, we’re able to speak of our contemporary selves."
José Navas
Love songs to Bill
This documentary traces the genesis of AVES, José Navas's tribute to William Douglas.
watch documentary
"If you take the movements as word, and take the time to construct, poems will emerge. After all, if you go to see art, it’s for that, isn’t it? To be able to leave the theatre and say to yourself: My life has changed, a little."
José Navas
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