Event Category: performance

II. FTG is a series of music video-style tableaux presented as dance duets, in which various styles draw inspiration from the poetic power of French-language rap and the dazzling energy of Afrobeat. Several performers feature among the visual references that feed into the creation of the two performers’ multiple alter egos. In this choreographic, visual, and auditory space, assigned gender roles and images are subverted and blurred by the performers so that their own shared language emerges from their sensitivity and individuality, allowing them to express their feelings and connect with one another.

Talkback with the artist following the January 23rd performance
Hosted by Jaleesa Coligny

II. FTG est une production

Anxiety delves into the history, personal stories, and current realities of Indigenous and racialized communities. Led by Simik Komaksiutiksak, artists Cheyenne LeGrande, Courtney Taticek, Chrystal Tam, and Katie Couchie use dance to draw attention to the transformative power of collaboration— its capacity for healing through trust and creativity. In doing so, this performance becomes a safe space for reflection and dialogue, ultimately employing improvisational movement as a vehicle to explore intergenerational trauma. Because the body holds onto memory, anxiety can manifest as unique mannerisms. To address it is to forge new paths, offering an opportunity to question, reflect, and engage with important sociological issues.

Talkback following the January 31st performance moderated by Camille Larivée

box office

Content warning
Colonial violence + High volume

PUBLIC+

→ Audiodescription for visually impaired and semi-vision-impaired spectators
Friday, January 31st — 7:30 p.m.
Audiodescription involves orally and live describing of the visual and sensory elements of a choreographic work, so that it can be transmitted, shared and experienced.

→ Pre-show get-togethers in ASL and LSQ
Friday, January 31st — 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Pre-show get-togethers are offered in ASL and LSQ with MAI’s Deaf cultural mediators, Dominique Ireland and Caroline Hould. The meeting provides an opportunity to discuss the show’s themes, the artists’ backgrounds and the performance’s soundtrack.

→ Anxiety After Party
Saturday, February 1st — Following the 7:30 p.m. performance
Anxiety’s team warmly invites spectators, friends, family and other members of their communities to join in this evening of celebration with DJ Pøptrt!

→ Mumiq:Indigenous Artisans’ Market
Friday, January 31st + Saturday, February 1st — 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
MAI gallery
Come and meet Indigenous artisans before attending Anxiety’s performances on Friday and Saturday!
*Free admission, artwork for sale on site.

Guests gather around a decadent,  lavishly decorated table.  Behind the small talk, the most existential of questions wait to be asked: “Am I  a Twink or a Daddy? What will I leave behind if I don’t have children? And what does it mean to be queer in a world where we understand global destruction as a sobering reality instead of adventure-fuelled escapism, a Hollywood blockbuster, best enjoyed with popcorn?”

A HOLE IS A HOLE IS A HOLE IS is a tragicomic exploration of self-perception and societal norms. Sappho Ton Bogataj, Christopher Ramm, and Marco Merenda invite you to their immersive family get-together.  Decades after coming out, they reassess their journeys through the lens of Audre Lorde’s “biomythography,” narrativizing their biographies into epic myth. Choreographies, confessions, and vows blend together on the symbolic table.

The existential crisis doesn’t end when the lights fade out. Stick around in the gallery for a post-show hangout with the performers, grab a drink from the bar, and continue the conversation about chosen families, queer timelines, and other beautifully unanswerable questions.

box office

Content Warning
Strobe effects + High volume + Mentions of sexual assault