la pornographie des ames - Dave St. Pierre

I knew when I saw the disclaimers warning of explicit language & nudity that this performace was going to be interesting. I knew when I read the reviews about it being a performance that plays with your emotions, it would be worth seeing. I didn't expect that to be true. I didn't expect that I would be laughing one minute and wanting to scream the next. Through the constant nudity, the horrors and the laughter I never expected this. 


Eighteen performers walking back and forth across the stage. Walking. Jogging. Running. All of the movement is a lot for the eyes to handle. All of a sudden you realize that one of them took off their pants. Another their shirt. And with a second glance you see that they are all gradually removing their clothes layer by layer and working up to a full out sprint back and forth across the stage. They stop. Motionless. Turning towards the crowd you stare as they face you, naked. 

What happens next is bizarre. Gradually one by one the performers begin to shake, crippling their bodies as if having a seizure. Shaking. Muscle spasms. Twitching. This continues for 5-10 minutes until all of them are lying crippled on the floor... shaking. Muscle spasms, Twitching. Naked.

I never thought I would sit in silence through an entire Bjork song and watch a woman die who had just been brutally stabbed. I never thought that knowing it was a performance would mean nothing with regards to the emotion I felt.

I never thought I would sit for 5 minutes in complete and total darkness listening to a woman get raped and beaten. I never thought it would feel so real... or that I would feel like an idiot just sitting there listening.


I never thought I would sit and watch an obese woman perform a naked ballet routine and feel proud.

I felt a lot during this performance that I didn't anticipate feeling so deeply. I was humoured, shocked, horrified & saddened. The performance was indeed filled with emotion... and the performers conveyed that emotion with an ease that was almost creepy. Bravo. 

Thank you Dave St. Pierre.