What impact did the Italian experience, in Torino and Genova, have on the creative process? The project included a true three-year on-site creative atelier, shared with local communities of artists and residents through workshops, meetings, and filming in symbolic locations. In what ways did the Italian context influence the form and essence of “Landed”?
“Landed” unfolded over three years as a deeply immersive, site-based creative process. Through workshops, gatherings, and filming in resonant, symbolic locations, we cultivated meaningful relationships with local artists and residents in both Genova and Torino. This sustained engagement was not peripheral—it was central to shaping both the form and the essence of the film. Our partner organizations, COORPI and Augenblick, were instrumental in creating the conditions for this co-creative process. They curated the call for artists and crew and managed complex logistics with grace and attentiveness. Their deep alignment with our artistic and relational values allowed for trust, openness, and genuine exchange to flourish. The choreographic phrasing, vocal motif, and cinematic approach were born in response to the specific qualities of the land, and the participants—their presence, their ideas, their lived experiences. The creative process unfolded in real time, adapting fluidly to the energy and discoveries that emerged through each encounter. The choice of filming locations played a foundational narrative role. Through the filmmaker’s lens, spaces revealed themselves as layered geographies of movement and transformation—traces of the past reimagined in the present. The landscapes were not mere backdrops, but characters: the way performers traversed, lingered, and interacted with them deepened the film’s exploration of journey, displacement, and arrival across urban, natural, and post-industrial terrains.
Working with a remarkable Italian crew led by cinematographer Marzio Mirabella helped ground the visual language in each setting. Navigating the ancient urban fabric of Genova posed both a challenge and an inspiration, as we followed the performers ascending from the port through narrow passageways etched with history. In contrast, the final sequence—filmed in Parco Dora, a vast post-industrial site in Torino now transformed into a green public space—reflected a shift toward regeneration and hope. The site itself, a symbol of ecological renewal, aligned with our growing commitment to connecting dance film to environmental and social questions. Musically, the project was enriched by the contributions of Italian composers Giorgio Li Calzi and Stefano Risso, whose collaboration began through a serendipitous meeting at the Torino Jazz Festival. Their sonic textures added new layers to the film’s soundscape, woven together with the musical direction of longtime Montreal collaborator Jean Fréchette. The result is a rich, cross-cultural musical conversation that supports and expands the emotional contours of the film. Ultimately, the Italian context didn’t just influence “Landed”—it became embedded in its DNA. The landscapes, the communities, the collaborators: each left an imprint, contributing to a work that is at once site-specific and, we hope, universally resonant.
In “Landed”, themes of loss, hope, belonging, and memory emerge. How are these elements reflected in the relationship between landscape, movement, and sound in the film?
From the very beginning, the threads of loss, hope, belonging, and memory have woven themselves through every stage of “Landed”’s creation, quietly guiding our artistic choices and intentions. These themes breathe through the film’s core, shaping the movement, sound, and landscape into a living tapestry. Loss is explored vocally through soft humming and melodic fragments carried while walking—embodying a quiet, reflection in motion. Gestures were researched and developed to hold memory in the body—each movement layered with lived experience. The choreography often invites reflection, with pauses, repetition, and directional shifts that mirror emotional turning points.
The rhythms themselves respond intimately to the unique textures and pulses of each landscape, the sound reverberating with the spirit of place. Together, movement, sound, and environment converge into a shared space where individual and collective memories meet—offering moments of belonging, resilience, and hope.
And is there an image or sequence that best captures this tension?
Early in the film, at the port of Genova, the visual presence of water, shifting clouds, and the distant horizon establishes a somber and contemplative backdrop for the ensemble of performers—both dancers and musicians. They are palpably grounded in sensations of loss and memory, yet simultaneously infused with a budding sense of hope. As the performers move together, embarking on their journey through the varied landscapes—winding streets, rugged pathways, and mountain terrains—each setting carries with it layers of memory and emotional resonance. This movement through space becomes a metaphor for passage and transformation. The film culminates in a powerful moment of belonging at Parco Dora in Torino, where performers and community members converge. This final scene embodies a place of connection, reflection, and renewal—offering a visual and emotional resolution to the tension between loss and hope that permeates the entire work.
The interweaving of percussive dance, singing, music, and visual storytelling defines your pioneering work. After more than 10 years of collaboration and a number of awards, what inspired you to continue experimenting with this format in Italy today, and where do you see the project heading in the coming years?
We arrived in Italy with a profound sense that the world was slowly reawakening after the long pause of COVID. We sensed a collective desire for reconnection, as we were met with remarkable warmth and openness from the communities we engaged with. The workshops, in particular, generated powerful shared experiences and a strong collective energy. It felt as though our work was entering a new phase—one where the form began to open itself to new narratives and voices. “Landed” reflects this evolution. The film brings together the many elements that emerged during the process: the distinct movement languages of each dancer, the layered musical compositions by Giorgio Li Calzi, Stefano Risso, and Lapsus Lumine, and the evocative presence of Chandra Candiani’s poetry. Each of these elements shaped a richer, more porous form of storytelling that deepened the interplay between sound, body, image, and space. Looking ahead, we remain open to where the work will lead us. Our commitment is to continue with care—following what resonates, what we have the energy and capacity to realize—while always holding space for artistic depth, time to reflect, and the possibility of meaningful connection. We see the project not as a conclusion, but as an opening—one that invites further collaboration and new ways of bringing communities into the creative process.
