Created for a handbalancer-dancer, this piece goes beyond acrobatic virtuosity to explore an introspective approach and a reflection on the nature of balance. In an imaginary huit clos at the heart of our individual and collective unconscious, this solo questions our needs for control and stability and our desires for abandonment and freedom. 

Left to himself, an individual regains consciousness within his spirit’s meanderings, looking for his bearings in the dark and cluttered space of forgotten memories, sad and happy thoughts, dreams, lies and truths. His balancing canes are his anchor points, parts of himself he must grab onto to find his way through the rubble. 

While conversing with his own ego, he lets himself be carried away in dizzying excesses, regains controls, stops and gets carried away again. Between stillness and movement, he slowly clears out the shadows, frees himself from them and opens inner spaces to let in the light and dance with it.  

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“As a handbalancer, I have been practicing the art of stillness for over 30 years. However, since the very beginning of my career I have been fascinated with dance – the art of movement. Dance is the necessary antithesis to my endless quest for perfect balance. A burning desire to move and exult through dancing has always stirred me. I continually explore the possibilities of dialogue between dance and handbalancing, developing a hybrid language merging these two disciplines.”
- Samuel Tétreault