Image by David Wong

Je ne vais pas inonder la mer (I Will Not Flood the Ocean) is a work choreographed and performed by Sonia Bustos, herself marked by the weight of mourning her mother and grandmother, and drawing from research into identity, her personal history, and maternal lineage.

An exercise in evocation through movement, the choreography is accompanied by four live musicians, an immersive set, and the smells and tastes of home. In the performance space, memory-bearing objects accompany the narrative of the project. It is a danced elegy that seeks to share emotional experience through an amplified presence of the five senses.

Throughout, music plays an important role in transitions between the remembered and the present. The initial quadraphonic recorded soundscape is gradually traded for traditional live Canto Cardenche (a polyphonic a cappella choir) and Son Jarocho (a ternary rhythm).

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Je ne vais pas inonder la mer is presented in alignment with Xilopango.

Witness the captivating Latin American female choreographic voices of Irma Villafuerte (El Salvador/TO) and Sonia Bustos (México/MTL). Rooted in feminist perspectives, ancestral memory, and the cultural history and vitality of their respective lands, this unique pairing of performances immerses audiences in evocative soundscapes that move the earth beneath your feet. Through embodied rituals that invite you to unravel, lament, and release, Villafuerte’s Xilopango and Bustos’ Je ne vais pas inonder la mer explore themes of grief and matrilineal loss across generations. — Dedra McDermott, Co-Executive Artistic Producer, DanceWorks

Choreographer and performer: Sonia Bustos
Live musicians: Eloisa Reséndiz, Kali Niño, Yanin Alvarado and Sergio Barrenechea
Quadraphonic programming and musical composition: Aurélien Tomasi
Artistic advisor: Angélique Willkie
Rehearsal director: Neil Sochasky
Dramaturg: Ilya Krouglikov
Outside eye: Sarah Dell’Ava
Musical composition: Maxime Éthier
Olfactory consultant: Dana El Masri
Lighting and technical director: Catherine FP
Project Coordination: Constance Aubry

Curated by Dedra McDermott