Choreography: Victor Quijada
Original casting: Jean Bui, Paco Ziel, Brontë Poiré-Prest, Rion Taylor, Daniela Jezerinac, Jessica Muszynski,
Jovick Pavajeau-Orostegui, Emma Lynn Mackay-Ronacher, Cindy Mateus, Wyeth Walker, Sierra Kellman, Zao Dinel, Mackenzie Corrales
Artistic Coordination: Rion Taylor
Performers’ representative: Brontë Poiré-Prest
Lighting Design: Jon Cleveland
Costume Design: Cloé Alain-Gendreau
Musical Direction, Co-Composer: Jasper Gahunia
Musician: William Lamoureux
Composers: Chilly Gonzales, Kid Koala (original creations), Vlooper & KenLo Craqnuques (original creations and repertoire tracks)
Chilly Gonzales: Music from album Solo Piano III performed by Chilly Gonzales Written by Jason "Chilly Gonzales" Beck (SACEM)
Published by Gentle Threat Ltd (SACEM)
Courtesy of Gentle Threat Ltd
Dramaturgy: Mathieu Leroux
Technical Direction: Marcin Bunar
Head Machinist: Philippe Lafrance Scenography Consulting: Pierre-Étienne Locas Production and Tour Manager: Diana Catalina Cárdenas Executive Director: Fannie Bellefeuille
Director of Communications: Salomé Boniface
Promotional materials (photo and video): Arnaud Vaillancourt, Sasha Onyshchenko, Marie-Noële Pilon, Damian Siqueiros
RUBBERBAND's new creation, Reckless Underdog, takes the company's work of the past twenty years further than ever before. Bigger than ever, the show features 12 dancers who come together in a three-act choreography. Each part offers a unique proposition; three distinct universes, in terms of stage space, aesthetic choices and music.
The first, inspired by classical ballet, takes place in a circumscribed and luminous environment where the rules of pas de deux are redefined. The second, more experimental, distorts certain theatrical codes within a colored space and confronts the bodies with an abstract and minimal approach to movement. The last one deconstructs the practice of the break cypher, in a dark, oppressive, but festive atmosphere.
For Victor Quijada, Artistic Director and Choreographer, a new era is opening for the company. Reckless Underdog promises to take us on a lyrical and figurative dissection of movement, boldly exploring the limits of time and space.
Since 2002, Victor Quijada and RUBBERBAND have not only redefined the codes of breaking within an institutional context and enlivened the Quebec dance scene, but have opened the way for new creators fascinated by this dance form. Armed with a technique he conceived for dancers, the RUBBERBAND Method –an electrifying vocabulary combining the energy of hip-hop, the refinement of classical ballet, and the angularquality of contemporary dance – and some 40 creations and collaborations in Canada and abroad behind him,Victor Quijada has always continued to evolve and innovate throughout his prolific career.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, the child of Mexican parents, Victor first danced in the b-boying circles and hip-hop clubs of his native city. He performed with RudyPerez from 1994 to 1996, then moved to New York City to join THARP!. After spending three years with that company and following a stint with Ballets Tech, in 2000 he came to Montreal to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
In 2002, he founded RUBBERBAND, throwing himself into deconstructing the choreographic principles he had learned by blending them with the raw ideology of his street dance origins. His creations – numerous short works and 15 full-length productions – are distinguished by apowerful theatricality, the energy of improvisation, and certain codes of film language, the whole sculpted with an incomparable precision of movement.
For several years now, Victor has taught the RUBBERBAND Method throughout the world in workshops and internships for many dance companies, dance schools, and universities, as well as on a yearly basis in RUBBERBAND’s workshop for professional dancers, the Summer and Winter Intensive in Montreal. As guest choreographer, he has created new works for dance and circus companies; notably in return commissions for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Scottish Dance Theatre.
Besides his stage productions, Victor has been involved in almost a dozen dance films, as director, choreographer, or dramaturge. His short film, Hasta La Próxima, was a finalist at the American Choreography Awards in 2004. He also choreographed the music videos Man I Used to Be by kos, La garde by Alexandre Désilets, and Elton John’s Blue Wonderful. His Gravity of Center –The Movie won Best Experimental Short at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival of 2012, among other awards, and was shown at several exhibitions and national and international festivals.
In the area of peer recognition, Victor Quijada was artist-in-residence at Usine C (2004 and 2006) and at Place des Arts (2007-2011), and has won many awards, including Britain’s National Dance Award for Outstanding Modern Repertory (2003), the Bonnie Bird North American Award (2003, U.K.), the Peter Darrell Choreography Award (2003, U.K.), the International Touring Award of the Canadian Dance Alliance (2012), and two awards from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA (Choreography Fellowship, 2010; Work in Progress Residency, 2016).
In December 2017, Victor Quijada received the award for Cultural Diversity at the Prix de la danse de Montréal and was, in 2019, one of the finalists for the 34th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal as well as among the four finalists for the 2019 Charles-Biddle Prize , instigated by Culture pour tous and the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation and Inclusion (MIFI). In 2024, Victor has been named Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for his choreographic work, a prestigious recognition for all his achievements.
For the creation of the music, RUBBERBAND’s artistic director and choreographer Victor Quijada has called upon artists who have inspired him for years. All of them have a strong connection to Montreal. Vlooper and Kenlo Craqnuques of Alaclair Ensemble and Kid Koala have created original pieces for Reckless Underdog, and Chilly Gonzales gave us access to his repertoire, remixed by Jasper Gahunia, a long-time collaborator of RUBBERBAND.
Behind the name Chilly Gonzales is eclectic Canadian musician Jason Beck. He was born in Montreal in 1972 and lived successively in Berlin, Paris, and Cologne. Pianist, singer, and producer for various artists, his many projects span pop, musicals, rap, and electro. The albums Solo Piano I, Solo Piano II, and Solo Piano III were occasions to re-centre on his first love, the piano. The list of notable collaborations with artists such as Feist, Peaches, Daft Punk, Drake, and Jarvis Cocker continues to grow. Chilly Gonzales holds the Guinness Record for the longest solo concert, playing for 27 hours between May 16 and 18, 2009.
Formed in 2010, Alaclair Ensemble, a “post-rigodon” band hailing from a fantasized Lower Canada, is currently made up of Eman, KNLO, Robert Nelson, Claude Bégin, and Vlooper. After releasing a first album, 4,99 (2010), the group won Revelation of the Year and Best hip-hop Album at the GAMIQ Awards with Les maigres blancs d’Amérique du Noir (2013) and Toute est impossible (2014). In 2017, the album Les Frères Cueilleurs received three Félix awards at the ADISQ Gala in addition to five Lucien prizes at the GAMIQ Awards. These successes led to tours in Quebec and Europe. Alaclair Ensemble released Le sens des paroles in 2018 and America, Vol. 2. in 2019, among others.
Eric San, aka Kid Koala, was born in Vancouver in 1975 and discovered turntablism in his adolescence. By age 15, he was rated one of the world’s most gifted DJs and technicians, and has since become a reference on the Canadian music scene. Training relentlessly and gaining fame among scratch DJs, in 1997, he was the first North American musician to sign with the British label, Ninja Tune. His first album, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (2000), is considered a classic of the genre. He began working with Dan the Automator and Gorillaz, then released Some of My Best Friends Are DJs in 2003, and Your Mom’s Favourite DJ in 2006. In 2012, the album 12 bit Blues re-visits the blues using hip-hop instruments and effects. Montreal has been
Jasper Gahunia is a DJ, producer, songwriter, musician, and teacher. He began his ground-breaking musical career as a specialized DJ, competing in Toronto-area DMC competitions in the mid 1990s, winning the competition title three times, and becoming the Canadian DMC Champion in 1998. During this competitive run, he also shared the International Turntablist Federation (ITF) Western Hemisphere Team title with his crew, Turnstylez, and became ITF World Beat Juggling Champ a year later. Jasper has graced stages worldwide as a DJ and keyboardist with Nelly Furtado and k-os. He taught the first-ever “Scratch from Scratch: DJ Fundamentals” course at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, the institution from which he obtained his classical music degree in piano. He has created the musical scores for many of RUBBERBAND's stage productions and commissions, over the years.
Photos (from left to right, top to bottom) © 1) David Wong (Victor Quijada) 2) Marie-Noële Pilon 3) Dajana Lothert
Founded in Montreal in 2002 by Victor Quijada, RUBBERBAND quickly captivated audiences and critics with three creations presented at Espace Tangente over two seasons. At the same time, the company participates in mixed programs and organizes events in various venues in Montreal that highlight more confidential pieces. Tender Loving Care and Hasta la Próxima share a place in Le Devoir's top five dance productions, while Elastic Perspective begins a series of over 100 performances in 2003 after winning the Prix RIDEAU at the Festival Vue sur la Relève. RUBBERBAND then obtained a residency at Usine C for the 2003-2004 season, where the piece Slicing Static was born. This creation was named Best Dance Production in 2004 by Hour (now Cult MTL).
In 2005, Anne Plamondon joined Victor Quijada as Artistic Director. A second residency at Usine C was granted to the company in 2006, followed by another four-year residency at Place des Arts. During this period, four new pieces were created with the support of multiple partners: Punto Ciego and AV Input/Output in 2008, Loan Sharking in 2009 and Gravity of Center in 2011.
In 2013, Quijada created Empiric Quotient, a show for six performers trained in the RUBBERBAND Method. In 2016, the company created Vic's Mix, a condensed version of the best moments of the choreographer's work. During the festivities for the 375th anniversary of Montreal (2017), the members of the company were joined by some thirty students from the École supérieure de ballet du Québec and the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal to take over the Esplanade of Place des Arts with the multidisciplinary performance City Thread
In 2018, for the first time in RUBBERBAND, Victor Quijada called upon a large ensemble by directing ten dancers on the huge stage of Théâtre Maisonneuve with Ever So Slightly, presented by Danse Danse. In 2019, RUBBERBAND was a finalist for the Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal for its production Ever So Slightly.
The year 2020 marks Victor Quijada's return to the stage as a dancer in Trenzado, a piece that addresses the theme of being everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Created in 2022, Reckless Underdog, takes the company's achievements of the last twenty years to new heights. Twelve dancers make up the cast of this larger-than-life three-act choreography with music by Jasper Gahunia, Kid Koala, Vlooper from Alaclair Ensemble and Chilly Gonzales.
RUBBERBAND’ newest creation, Second Chances, invites Quijada and the audience to delve deep inside themselves, reflecting on origin, belonging and displacement, between universal questions and intimate, personal thoughts.
Photos (from left to right) © 1) Bill Hebert (Victor Quijada) 2) Marie-Noële Pilon (Amara Barner)
