Montreal-based choreographer Dana Gingras and her company Animals of Distinction will bring Frontera to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for its U.S. premiere on Nov. 8 and 9.
The large-scale production blends visceral choreography, live music and evocative visual design, presenting a stark and timely reflection on themes like freedom, climate change and surveillance, according to a press release.
Gingras's work is supported by live music from Montreal experimental-rock band Fly Pan Am, who perform an original score teeming with sharp guitar riffs, psychedelic flourishes and driving rhythms. The collaboration infuses the performance with a raw, urgent energy that underscores the intensity of the dancers’ movement.
The visual elements, crafted by the UK’s United Visual Artists, incorporate complex lighting and projections to construct an ever-shifting backdrop that envelopes the dancers, symbolizing the often blurred boundaries between the body and the world around it. Dancers navigate this dynamic space with fearless choreography, exploring what remains of human autonomy in an era shaped by corporate surveillance and mass migration.
Animals of Distinction, known for pushing the limits of multimedia performance, utilizes Frontera to interrogate the place of the “ungovernable body” within the confines of modern society. Under Gingras's vision, AOD has consistently crossed artistic boundaries, employing new technology to explore the evolving relationship between people and their environments.
Performances will be held at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House, located at 30 Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn, with tickets starting at $35.
