LUCY M. MAY| Anima / Darkroom (Working title)
This season, Montréal-based choreographer Lucy M. May will begin co-creating a solo for and with Vladimir “7Starr” Laurore, a Canadian Krump pioneer. A street dance originating in Los Angeles in the 90s, Krump is known for its highly intense and detailed gesture, storytelling, and raw expression. Inspired by 7Starr’s acuity and invention, by her experiences as a rookie Krumper, and the dance’s complex dialogical scores and structures, Lucy invited 7Starr to engage with her on this new project. With their collaborators—dramaturg Ellen Furey, lighting designer Jon Cleveland, composers Patrick Conan and Marion “Big Rulez” Arinloye, and artistic advisor Alexandra “Spicey” Landé—Lucy and 7Starr will explore the thought and anima that inhabit him in sessions and battles. “Liveness” and “hype” are two cathartic energies that fill and connect Krumpers in their rounds. These animate substances drive a creative refusal of oppression; open dancers to vulnerability, communion and power; and drastically affect the environments where Krump comes to life. Using the analogy of a photographic darkroom and the ontology of the black box, the team will explore apparitions and transformations, and engage with the human efforts to listen and be heard, to bear witness and be seen.
Lucy M. May is a contemporary dance artist and writer based in Montréal. She is attracted to the porousness of collaboration and the vastness of dancing. Currently, Lucy is creating performances that ask how geo- and bio-social environments thread their way through human movement (Vivarium; Esemplastic Landing). Between 2009 and 2016, Lucy was a member of Compagnie Marie Chouinard. Independently, she has performed for Margie Gillis, Susanna Hood, Ariane Boulet, Alejandro De Leon, and choreographers based in her natal province of New Brunswick. Lucy dances to wonder after what binds micro to macro, macro to micro. She is a graduate of LADMMI (École de danse contemporaine de Montréal) and Rotterdamse Dancacademie in Holland, and began studying Krump in 2016. She was recently invited to Ja “Grouch” Britton Johnson’s Krump “fam.”
Vladimir ”7Starr” Laurore is a Canadian Krump pioneer. He co-founded the first Krump crew in Canada in 2005 and the Montreal Krump Alliance—a non-profit organization that specializes in promoting Krump culture across Canada, and also created Gutta Zone, the first and biggest Krump event in the country. He has been a guest competitor/judge on both national and international platforms such as The International Illest Battle in Paris, The ARK in Las Vegas, European Buck Session in Germany, The Phitted Talk in the USA, and Royal Rumble in Switzerland. He has worked with Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Eloize, and Moment Factory, also appearing on TV and in movies. 7Starr is recognized for his community involvement in underprivileged schools, charity organizations, and community centres. In 2017, he received the Victor Martyn Lynch Staunton award from the Canada Council for the Arts for outstanding artistic achievement.
Credits
Co-creator, Choreographer, Productor: Lucy M. May
Co-createur, Performer: Vladimir 7Starr Laurore
Dramaturgy, outside eye: Ellen Furey
Compositor, Musicien: Patrick Conan
Lighting design and technical direction : Jon Cleveland
Artistic advisor: Alexandra “Spicey” Landé
Music production: Marion Arinloye (Big Rulez) – Krump