BOW’T TRAIL Retrospek
Rhodnie Désir Créations
Presented by dance Immersion with support from DanceWorks
April 4-5, 2025 in Toronto
Prior to the performances, DanceWorks is presenting a free Conference Discussion by Rhodnie Désir titled Rethinking The World: A Duty of Remembrance on April 1, 2025. Click here or scroll down to learn more!
Since 2015, Rhodnie Désir has been exploring the Americas in search of Afro-descendant cultures, including Martinique, Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Halifax and New Orleans. The choreographer, driven by a desire and a need to transcend her origins, has been immersing herself in the African cultures and rhythms of the peoples who were taken to these lands. The resulting performance piece, BOW’T TRAIL Retrospek, is a conversation between the present and the past, channeled through the body of Rhodnie Désir, in which more than 140 testimonies collected on lands of the Americas still reside. In this award-winning interdisciplinary work, Désir transcends polyrhythmic and majestic textures and sonorities while her body is mysteriously enveloped by video projections and plural memories connecting the audience to the universe of her travels. She is accompanied on stage by two maestros: Engone Endong and Jahsun.
The piece is one-hour in length with no intermission. The performances are followed by an artist talk 30 minutes (approx) in length.
This presentations follows dance Immersion’s 2023 Toronto presentation of the studio excerpt of this work.
Tickets: $35 including taxes. Tickets are non-refundable.
Dates and Times
Friday, April 4, 2025 at 11:00am & 8:00pm
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 8:00pm
Additional Details
The Harbourfront Centre Theatre is located at 231 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON.
Artist biographies and full credits can be found on dance Immersion’s website.
Rethinking The World: A Duty of Remembrance
Conference Discussion with Rhodnie Désir
To celebrate the invaluable contributions and rich heritage of Black communities, choreographer, documentalist and artistic director Rhodnie Désir invites you on a journey that blends geography, anthropology, history, and artistry—an exploration into the heart of Afro-descendant history in the Americas. Since 2015, Rhodnie has traveled across the Americas, seeking to uncover the diverse cultures of Afro-descendant communities and retracing their stories, inspired by her own ancestral roots. Driven by a deep desire to connect with and transcend her origins, Rhodnie created the groundbreaking international project BOW’T TRAIL, which has taken her to destinations such as Martinique, Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Halifax, and New Orleans.
This unique choreographic and documentary project fuses art, knowledge, and history, offering a fresh perspective on the intangible heritage of Black communities through dance. Drawing on more than 140 vibrant testimonies from historians, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, variant searchers, citizens, and musicians in five languages, Rhodnie's work sheds light on these communities in a realistic and empowering way.
This conference discussion will delve into various aspects of the artist’s work, including:
Developing choreographic practices, such as the choreo-documentary approach
The re-creation of her work BOW’T on 7 lands of the Americas, knowledge and video sharing
The power of intergenerational collaboration and the preservation of collective memory
Tuesday April 1, 2025 from 1-2:30pm
YWCA Toronto (Nancy’s Auditorium), 87 Elm St, Toronto
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YWCA Toronto is located at 87 Elm St. This entrance can be accessed via the ramp or stairs (5 steps). Nancy’s Auditorium has a few options for folks using mobility aids: there is a platform at the back row for seating, or one of the venue's staff can show you to the floor level using the elevator in the reception hall. The bathrooms are also accessible using this elevator. The venue is a scent-free, mask-friendly environment with hand sanitizer available in both the auditorium and reception hall.
