Satire and Subversion in Kidd Pivot’s Absorbing Take on Gogol in Dance/Theatre Hybrid
–Revisor–
Vancouver’s own Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young use farce to explore hyper-relevant themes of politics and moral bankruptcy
Vancouver, BC – Back by popular demand, DanceHouse is thrilled to present Kidd Pivot’s internationally-acclaimed dance/theatre hybrid Revisor, on stage March 30 to April 2, 2022 at 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Choreographed and directed by Kidd Pivot Artistic Director Crystal Pite and written by Electric Company Theatre Co-Founder and playwright Jonathon Young, Revisor is a “nightmarish, beautiful, mind-blowing journey” (Telegraph) that takes inspiration from Nikolai Gogol’s scabrous pantomime of power and politics. A wildly imaginative work of artistic and intellectual heft, Revisor is a tale of petty bureaucracy, mistaken identity, and mixed motives that teeters between farce, melodrama and spoof. The inventive articulation of Pite’s choreography for eight dancers embodies the eviscerating wit of Young’s script, recorded by some of Canada’s finest actors.
“DanceHouse is thrilled to welcome back Revisor – the riveting work by audience favourites and award-winning Betroffenheit creators Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young,” says Jim Smith, Artistic and Executive Director of DanceHouse. “At its world premiere in 2019 in Vancouver, Revisor enjoyed overwhelming success and a sold-out run. This presentation is particularly significant as it marks the official relaunch of Kidd Pivot’s international tour, cut short in the spring of 2020 when the world shut down.”
The title of the work is inspired by an article Young read years ago about Russian theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold’s 1926 non-realist production of Nikolai Gogol’s farce, Revizor (known in English as The Government Inspector published in 1836). Pite and Young’s central character is a revisor – someone who is responsible for the revision of legal texts – in a plot that reinvents theatrical devices with anarchic absurdity.
Each masters of their craft – Pite with the language of the body and Young with the spoken word – the co-creators use larger-than-life characters, subversive satirical tropes, and absurdist humour to tease out perceptive truths about politics, corruption, and our shared human foibles. The end result is a funhouse mirror, a horror show, a comedy that is no longer funny. More than just an excoriating takedown of human venality, the 90-minute work pulls apart the very foundations of the creative impulse, itself a form of obsessive control. As the architecture of farce falls away, what emerges is the raw truth of the body.
“The process with Revisor is a kind of feedback loop, similar to working with original music. Sometimes the text acts as a way of underscoring the physical: it is both musical and meaningful,” explains Pite. “Similarly to a musical score, the choreography can move analogously with the rhythm of the text and reflect its message, or it can be at odds with it, creating tension between what we’re hearing and what we’re seeing.”
Prior to Revisor, Pite and Young collaborated on the creation of the international sensation Betroffenheit. Following its premiere in 2015, the acclaimed production embarked on multiple world tours, was the recipient of the 2017 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, was adapted for film by the BBC, and was named the number one dance production of the 21st century by The Guardian newspaper.
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created more than 50 works for companies including The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater I, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and, most recently, she was named a 2022 Governor General Performing Arts award recipient, recognizing her outstanding body of work and enduring contribution to the performing arts in Canada. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater I, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells in London. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University. In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot in Vancouver.
Canadian theatre artist Jonathon Young is playwright-in-residence at Kidd Pivot and a core artist of Electric Company Theatre, of which he is co-founder, where he has created and performed in over 20 original productions: Tear the Curtain! (Arts Club Theatre, Canadian Stage), No Exit (American Conservatory Theatre), Betroffenheit (international tour). He has worked as an actor on stages across Canada: Knives in Hens (Coalmine Theatre), The Full Light of Day (Electric Company/ Luminato Festival), All But Gone (Necessary Angel, Toronto), The Great Gatsby (Theatre Calgary), Hamlet (Bard on the Beach, Vancouver). In addition to Betroffenheit and Revisor, Jonathon collaborated with Crystal Pite on two productions for Nederlands Dans Theater (Parade and The Statement). Jonathon is the recipient of an Olivier Award and the UK National Dance Award.
Kidd Pivot’s phenomenal dancers – Brandon Alley, Jennifer Florentino, Gregory Lau, Doug Letheren, Rena Narumi, Ella Rothschild, Renee Sigouin, Jermaine Spivey, Rakeem Hardy and Vivian Ruiz – will lend their considerable talents to Revisor, coupled with the production team behind many of the company’s works: original music and sound design by Owen Belton, Alessandro Juliani, and Meg Roe; Scenic Design and Reflective Light Concept by Jay Gower Taylor; lighting design by Tom Visser; and costume design by Nancy Bryant.
Following the Vancouver performances, Revisor will embark on an international tour to France, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Holland and Spain in Spring 2022.
For tickets and further information, visit: dancehouse.ca
Revisor is co-produced by Sadler’s Wells (London, UK), Théâtre de la Ville/La Villette (Paris, France), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Banff, Canada), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (North Carolina, US), Canadian Stage (Toronto, Canada), Seattle Theatre Group (Seattle, US), and The Hamber Foundation (British Columbia, Canada).
Revisor is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter Program. With this $35M investment, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Revisor is a co-production of The CanDance Network Creation Fund, Danse Danse, National Arts Centre, DanceHouse and Dance Victoria, and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Kidd Pivot benefits from the support of BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of its projects.
Kidd Pivot gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia, British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver, and countless individual and business supporters.
Eponymous gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Kidd Pivot would like to thank: John Murphy, Mark Chavez, Artemis Gordon, Arts Umbrella, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, UBC Theatre, Michael Slobodian, Malcolm Dow, Offsetters, and the generous financial contributions from the Friends of Kidd Pivot.
About DanceHouse (dancehouse.ca)
DanceHouse connects Vancouver audiences and the local arts community to the international world of dance by presenting exceptional companies that are recognized for their excellence, innovation, and international reputation. Since 2008, DanceHouse has presented vibrant and inspiring companies from Canada and around the world. In addition to the performances on stage, DanceHouse offers a suite of engagement opportunities and a chance for the general public and local artistic community to engage with the presented artists and their work.
About Kidd Pivot (kiddpivot.org)
Integrating movement, original music, text, and rich visual design, Kidd Pivot’s performance work is assembled with recklessness and rigour, balancing sharp exactitude with irreverence and risk. Under the direction of internationally renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, the company’s distinct choreographic language – a breadth of movement fusing classical elements and the complexity and freedom of structured improvisation – is marked by a strong theatrical sensibility and a keen sense of wit and invention.
Kidd Pivot tours extensively around the world with productions that have included Revisor (2019), Betroffenheit (2015), The Tempest Replica (2011), The You Show (2010), Dark Matters (2009), Lost Action (2006), and Double Story (2004), created with Richard Siegal. Kidd Pivot received the 2006 Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, and was resident company at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, with the support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, in Frankfurt, Germany from 2010 – 2012.
LISTING INFORMATION
DanceHouse presents Kidd Pivot: Revisor
Dates: March 30 to April 2, 2022 at 8pm
Ticket Prices: From $35
Address: Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St.
Box Office: tickets.dancehouse.ca or call 604.801.6225 Website: dancehouse.ca