Freedom in the Invitation: Lilith & Cie’s Invisible

Abstract

Lilith & Cie’s Invisible is a participatory durational dance piece that aims to “make the intelligence of the collective visible.” Invisible spans three consecutive days and features ten improvising dancers and a charming black dog. In May 2022 at Montreal’s OFFTA, the piece featured dancers Ariane Boulet, Rachel Harris, Emmanuel Jouthe, Abe Simon Mijnheer, Caroline Namts, Charlie Prince, Luce Lainé, Charles Brécard, Zoë Vos, and Silvia Sanchez. The following is an excerpt of a conversation between Invisible’s dramaturg Kathy Casey and choreographer Aurélie Pedron on how they structure the invitation to indirectly influence audience behaviour, balancing freedom with limits. Invisible is almost entirely guided by audience input, inviting participants to feed into the collaborative action and catalyze dancers through rearranging furniture and plants, DJing through our phones, changing the lighting, leafing through show records, or simply listening and witnessing in silence. In order to gently gesture toward both the expansiveness and limitations of this audience participation, Invisible begins when participants enter the show lobby and are presented with a board game and a deck of cards that offer a map and guide to the experience.