Rhodnie Désir Photo by Kevin Calixte
When we think of the kind of Verbatim Theatre pioneered by Anna Deavere Smith we tend to think about plays that are grounded very much in words- the words that real people have chosen to tell their truth, and the actors having the capacity to capture the exact tone, accent, and speech pattern of someone who has given some sort of testimony. But what about creating a verbatim performance piece through dance? This is what Rhodnie Désir is exploring through her stunning piece BOW’T TRAIL Rétrospek. Audiences here in Kjipuktuk/Halifax had the opportunity to see one version of the multi-part series at the Sir James Dunn Theatre on September 26th and 27th as a co-production between Live Art Dance and the Prismatic Arts Festival.
Since 2015 Désir has been travelling and learning about “Afro-descendent” cultures in the Americas, including Haiti, Martinique, Brazil, Halifax, Mexico, and New Orleans, collecting stories, histories, and testimonies from over 130 people that have informed this dance piece. Désir has become a knowledge keeper through having these thoughtful conversations and being in the position to hear and receive such a plurality of perspectives, experiences, and local histories. In the creation of this work BOW’T TRAIL Rétrospek Désir channels all that she now knows about the history of this particular land, and the communities who have lived here, into the choreography to bring these stories to life through dance.
The result was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Désir was accompanied by two incredible musicians, Engone Endong and Jahsun, who were at least in part improvising along with her as she moved. The piece is rooted in “African and African descendant rhythmic languages,” providing a sort of shared heartbeat or an umbilical cord-like tether between the African continent and the lands, like Mi’kma’ki, where those of African ancestry were taken, transplanted, and where, over time, a new community and unique cultural identity and experience evolved, sprouted, and bloomed.
At first when I was watching the piece I was trying hard to almost translate the movement back into spoken language, but this proved impossible. I don’t think you can figure out what those who were interviewed said with any specificity by attempting to analyze Désir’s movements, gestures, and symbolism, but I did get a very powerful overall sense of displacement, of fear, and sorrow, of being trapped, and of a frenetic will to survive, to overcome barriers and obstacles.
Désir’s body moves in ways that are truly unexpected, riveting, and evocative. There is no attempt made to beautify or to polish out the rawness; you very much feel the honesty and the authenticity of the testimony being honoured and represented in the way that Désir moves about the space and interacts with the few props and set pieces that she has.
Projections by Manuel Chantre are also used in the piece to complement Désir’s movement. Sometimes the projection informs how we read the piece, for example, when the backdrop is of the ocean, and sometimes the projections are more intimately connected with the community and the folks who shared with Désir, and in this way collaborated with her on the piece.
In the Talk Back after the show Désir said that it was likely that these two audiences in Halifax were the only ones who will ever see this exact iteration of this piece, as she will only perform the show developed with community in Halifax in Halifax, citing how the transplantational nature of touring in this context can be viewed as an allegory for colonialism. This story lives and is rooted in this space, and thus has an intrinsic relationship with the people here, and that becomes integral, as well, to the piece. I found this idea to be so fascinating, and, indeed, those of us who were lucky enough to see Désir perform while she was here experienced an event that she will never seek to replicate elsewhere. At the same time, I think it will continue to reverberate in the hearts and the minds of those who did see long into the future.
This production of Rhodnie Désir Créations’ BOW’T TRAIL Rétrospek presented by Live Art Dance and the Prismatic Arts Festival has closed in Halifax, but Prismatic continues until October 5th, 2025. . For more information about their programming please visit this website.
