When Dana Gingras and Noam Gagnon of The Holy Body Tattoo dance the tango, the stage is set like a sultry, smoky 1930s bordello. But to Gagnon, it feels more like he’s sitting in a pressure cooker.
“Tango is a language of secrets that you never fully understand,” says Gagnon. “We’re using it to express relationships . . . the push and pull. We go to the limit.”
It’s a tango of tension, then, that’s at the core of The Holy Body Tattoo’s “Circa,” a duet created and performed by the Vancouver-based dancers. Originally choreographed in early 2000, “Circa” is being restaged to incorporate live musical accompaniment by the London underground band The Tiger Lillies.
The sensually charged “Circa” marks somewhat of an evolution for the duo. Since they formed The Holy Body Tattoo in 1993, Gagnon and Gingras have been known to create provocative pieces grounded in intense floor work, like the technology-themed “Our Brief Encounter,” which they brought to Chicago two years ago. “Circa,” with its traditional South American dance in step with live music, reflects a new approach.
The appearance of The Tiger Lillies is perhaps the most anticipated multimedia twist. For “Circa,” the Lillies will perform original material, plus two classic standards, “Send in the Clowns” and “I Could’ve Danced All Night.” (The band was seen in Chicago performing its out-of-kilter brand of cabaret in the play “Shockheaded Peter” last fall.)
Don’t expect a literal representation of the tango in “Circa”; this is choreography of the more cerebral kind. “We used to put our bodies to extremes by physically pushing the limits,” says Gagnon. “Now, we’re going as far emotionally. We’ve created a different world.”
Gingras agrees that behind the ever-quick steps, burlesque environs and shadowy stage lighting, there’s an infinitely complex emotional universe. The relationship game that is “Circa” is not just about dance. It’s about deconstructing romance. “We’re taking [tango] as a metaphor,” she says. “It’s a negotiation of boundaries . . . a power struggle. On the outside, romance looks perfect. And then we strip it all back . . . talk about forgiveness, redemption through love, persevering and finding light,” says Gingras.
The Holy Body Tattoo’s quest to find light is aided, in fact, by The City of Light. A film featuring images of contemporary Paris by Grammy Award-nominated filmmaker William Morrison is included in the piece. The footage of monuments and street scenes is presented to further fuel the romanticism, according to Gingras.
In turn nostalgic and erotic, The Holy Body Tattoo’s formula of music, film and ever-sultry tango will resonate a bit differently with everyone, according to Gingras. “What people see has to do with their own experiences,” she says. “It’s an intimate framework.”
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“Circa” is performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. Tickets $20. 312-344-8300.
