La route d'Altamont / Gabrielle Roy

La route d’Altamont is one of those quiet but profound books. It is fashioned as a book of memories, but it is a philosophical work centered around a theme dear to Roy’s nomadic heart: journey. Every character in this four-story cycle has le mal du départ.

Notre-Dame de Paris in Sherbrooke (QC), October 2018 (English)

One may try to resist the charms of Notre-Dame de Paris, but when the musical is approaching a geographically acceptable point, the invisible bugle calls, and time, money and even perhaps company come out of nowhere, and all of a sudden here you are sitting in the audience and your face is blue with the gleam from the stage light, and the show is about to begin ...

"Нотр-Дам де Пари" в Шербруке (Канада), октябрь 2018 (по-русски)

Можно сколько угодно сопротивляться чарам «Нотр-Дам де Пари», но когда мюзикл приближается в географически приемлемую точку, невидимая труба зовет, и находится время, деньги и даже, возможно, компания, и неожиданно для себя ты уже сидишь в зрительном зале и на лице твоем лежит синяя тень от сценического света, и спектакль вот-вот начнётся...

Histoire du Manitoba français : de Gabrielle Roy à Daniel Lavoie (1916-1968) / Jacqueline Blay (Saint-Boniface, Man. : Éditions des Plaines, 2016)

This book is volume 3 of the series on the history of the French Manitoba published by Les Éditions du Blé / Les Éditions des Plaines and it covers 1916-1968, the period defined by existence of the Association d’éducation des Canadiens français du Manitoba (Manitoba French-Canadian education association), the organization that made possible teaching French language in Manitoba’s schools during those 50+ years when it was prohibited by the provincial government, thus saving the culture from becoming extinct.

Mes longs voyages (show) : Daniel Lavoie's live show, Canada, February 2017

If you go see Daniel Lavoie's new live show Mes longs voyages and are familiar with his eponymous and unabashedly dark album (released in 2016), you are in for a surprise. Because oh, what a magician that Daniel Lavoie is! Hop-la and all the blood, sweat and tears of the album turn into champagne! Effervescent and luminous, Daniel Lavoie sings, dances, switches (or ditches) instruments, talks, laughs, grimaces, savors his time in the limelight, as if trying to put behind him all the troubles that followed him in 2016 (and inspired the album) as fast as he can, and he effortlessly pulls the audience into his happy vortex. And as for that guy on the promo photos - the one who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders – one wonders what he has to do with this show…

L'Énigme du retour / Dany Laferrière (2009, Grasset)

I found Dany Laferrière's  L'Énigme du retour fascinating. What caught my attention from the beginning was its form. I  am not sure it's truly a "novel" ("roman"), I thought it was more of a long poetic essay. The combination of free verse and prose is enchanting. The subject was also very new for me, as I know so little about Haiti. And as any good book would do, this book made that previously obscure to me country somewhat closer. What made this book especially captivating were the common points I have with the author. The narrator's complex relationship with his own past, national identity and time in general are all issues that I can relate to.

Notre-Dame de Paris, le spectacle musical (Paris, December 2016)

When I come to theater I am after some magic. What exactly do I mean by magic? Well, a well-made solid production (or any art work for that matter) usually fits the formula: 1+1=2, while the one with magic in it is more like 1+1=6¿#dh7. In the new production of Notre-Dame de Paris the musical (NDDP) I found exactly this kind of magic in Victor Hugo's story, Riccardo Cocciante's music, Hiba Tawaji's Esmeralda and Daniel Lavoie's Frollo.

Mes longs voyages (album) / Daniel Lavoie (2016, Spectra Musique)

By now I have listened to Daniel Lavoie’s new album Mes longs voyages (MLV) many times, and have found that it not only offers the listener some truly beautiful music, but is at the same time a poetic and philosophical statement of striking sincerity and poignancy. Clearly designed as an attempt to draw up a "balance sheet" of life's journey, it exposes the idea of finality and acceptance while at the same time offering a true declaration of love for fragile human beings and for life itself.

Hommage à Piaf (Piaf a 100 ans...Vive la Môme!) : Victoriaville, November 11.

Photo source: http://spectramusique.com/artistes/spectacles.aspx?idA=89

The Piaf a 100 ans show is truly enjoyable, incredibly satisfying without being cheesy (I admit I was a little bit apprehensive before going to see it). What a great idea it was not to have an actual Piaf character, which would be a fail whichever way you might attempt to do this. Instead there were bits of Piaf in all characters on stage, as well as - eventually - in every audience member, which in my mind is the best kind of tribute to her.

Finutilité / Daniel Lavoie (Les Éditions des Plaines, 2011)

The easy charm of finutilité

If you have never heard Daniel Lavoie read in concert some of his poems/poetic essays before they became  Finutilité - you are in for a wonderful ride. And if you are the lucky one who has  - then you have probably already bought the book!

Finutilité easily charms the reader with the author's poetic vision, his ability to see and to connect images in a truly original way, his honesty and his unique poetic intonation.

La licorne captive live at Festival Classica, May 29 2015, Saint-Lambert (Quebec)

 

Daniel Lavoie sings La Licorne Captive, Festival Classica, St-Lambert, May 29 2015

La licorne captive at the Festival Classica in St-Lambert on May 29 was an event as beautiful as it was rare. After all that was indeed the only chance to date to see this show in North America (the Europeans had already had several opportunities to see it in France). I've been under the spell of the original album (Le chant du monde, 2014) for over a year now (here is why), and finally the fortune smiled on me, so last Friday I found myself inside a very full house in the Catholic Church of St-Lambert, located on one of the quiet streets of this nice suburb of Montreal. Voilà, La licorne captive in Quebec.

Needles and Opium / Robert Lepage - Ex Machina

First things first : the production is stunning, and the word “production” is important here. The technology does get in the way of perception at times, but I am still giving Lepage tons of credit for audacity and vision and for the poignant sense of loneliness that every one of his plays transmits. Way to go and it’s my goal to see more of his works.

La Licorne Captive - Un projet musical de Laurent Guardo / Daniel Lavoie (2014, Chant du Monde)

[For an audience video from the official album presentation skip to Bonus 1].

La Licorne Captive (The CaptiveUnicorn) is an album that's sensual and darkly beautiful, with haunting melodies, and even more haunting poetic images. Its musical energy is quite strong, it sucks you in, takes you on a Dantean journey (or a sexy horror movie trip), throws you into catharsis, cures you with images of purity and love, and at the end leaves you with a poignant feeling which remains with you and is most beautiful.