Modern Feats!

Yes, that's me! I loved his costume. Speaking of costumes, I need to find one.


Hey Friends,

Each spring, New Dance Studio puts on a big weekend of dance at the Portland Performing Arts Center in Portland, Maine. This year is no exception and it's your last chance for awhile to see Louis in Performance.

Modern Feats this year happens from June 1 - 4 with a different performance each evening!

Thursday June 1, it's three Louis pieces for the price of one. I will be performing two solos. The One Teaching, inspired by Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now and CIFUCANCATCHYOURSELF, a newer piece set to music by Robert Een. In addition, Journey of Souls, is a piece of my choreography danced by five amazing dancers from Bowdoin College. This group piece is inspired by the spirit world as expressed by Dr. Michael Newton in his book of the same name. Show time is 8 pm.

Saturday June 3, I will be performing two entirely different solos than I will on Thursday night. You can come both nights! Chakralleluia is a trip through the chakra system and Son is a storydance of a boy and his family. There are longer descriptions of all these pieces at the bottom of this posting. Show time is 8 pm.

Sunday June 4 @ 12:30, my New Dance Studio students ages 8 - 12 will be doing their new dance. The title for this piece has not yet been determined. The Pizza Dance, The Holeless Donuts and Cheezey Weasey Orthodontists Do the British Stomp are among the latest contenders. Personally, I like The Greatest Most Fantastic Show in All the Land; understated but nice. Mostly its just kids doing kid stuff and having fun.

Each show is $15. The program is filled out by amazing dancers from the Portland area and Bates, Bowdoin and USM. You can reserve tickets by calling New Dance Studio @ 207-780-0554. See you at the show!

Here are the longer descriptions of each of my pieces:


Journey of Souls
Choreographed by Louis Gervais
Music: Bird York and Virginia Rodriguez

Performed by Jill Grunnah, Lisa Hardej, Emily Hricko, Nina Shrayer, and Vaness Paloma
Inspired by the best selling classic book Journey of Souls by Dr. Michael Newton, this piece is trip to the spirit world. Atmospheric and beautiful, five women go beyond the veil of amnesia that covers us at birth to tell the stories of the lives they’ve lived and the lives yet to come. At once ethereal and sweeping, Journey of Souls is a peak into a higher reality that one day we all will know is real.

The One Teaching
Created and Performed by Louis Gervais

Inspired by Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. Three characters represent three different aspects of the egoic mind. Maurice, a thespian enthralled with playing the Elephant Man, is stressed by the possible futures. Georgie, an imateur Australian, is depressed by the absence of his mum. Tiffany, an adolescent, is creating problems for herself. Only the power of the present moment and the tools of t’ai chi, meditation and yoga, can save them from themselves.

Chakralleluia
Created and Performed by Louis Gervais
Music: Suara Parahiangan Group and Rufus Mainwright

The chakras are metaphysical vortices of energy originating in the ancient Indian system of healing, which positions them in seven major centers down the center line of the body, controlling the flow of subtle energies. In this musical solo, the chakras are engaged, examined and incorporated into the efforts toward enlightenment that is trademark of all Louis Gervais’ performance work.

Son
Created and performed by Louis Gervais

“If my family were planets, I would be the sun, Mama would be the earth and Buddy would be the planet where all the Teletubbies lives. Daddy would be all the planets and all the stars and all the spaces in between…maybe that’s why he’s so busy all the time.”

The title character Son, takes us on a tour of his non-traditional family from the perspective of a child. Whether gay marriage is legal or not where he lives does not matter. It is not a governmental sanction that makes his family. It is the love he feels for Mama, Daddy, and Buddy.

CIFUCANCATCHYOURSELF
Created and performed by Louis Gervais
Music by Robert Een

See if you can catch yourself stuck in the future or the past. See if you can catch yourself stuck in a rut or picking yourself to pieces. See if you can catch yourself being a victim. Can you go with the flow? Can you shut off the voice in your head?

Once upon a time in Vienna...

Two Excellent Things

A friend sent me this brilliant screen saver. Feel free to squeeze his head through the bubbles, or drag him by his butt through them!!! Great way to relieve stress.... Have a try.... Apparently, this is the most popular screensaver in the US. If he gets stuck, just click and move him with your mouse. (or >>throw >>him).

Click on the link... and have fun...

Georgie!


AND I got a very nice mention from the Portland Press Herald for a recent performance at the University of Southern Maine. Click here.

The May Shows!

May 12 @ New Dance Studio, 63 Pleasant Street, Portland, ME, 7:30 p.m.
Louis' Salon - I've always wanted a salon... On the program will be: the first viewing of Journey of Souls featuring Modern Tech of Bowdoin College, the premiere of Hillbilly Goddess by Katenia Keller, my latest solos: Chakra Hallelujah and CIFUCANBHERENOW Plus special guests from Bates College! Plus some other fun! Only $10, $5 for kids! Email me at louisgervais@hotmail.com for a reservation. Space is limited.

May 13 @ Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, 8:00 p.m.
Modern Tech will host this showing in Studio 601 on the sixth floor of the Pickard Theatre building. Take the elevator! This is the only Bowdoin performance of Journey of Souls. Special guests from Bates will join us and I'll do a solo or two. We'll take a closer look at the Journey of Souls and the making of the dance. This performance is free! Here's a map of the Bowdoin College campus.

May 19 @ Bates College, Lewiston, ME, 8:00 p.m.
The lovely and gracious Carol Dilley, director of the Bates College Dance department will host this showing in the Marcy Plavin Studio Theatre in the Merrill Gym. If you haven't seen this newly improved space, it is way beautiful and big! Bowdoin students will perform their Journey of Souls, Bates students will perform amazing things. This performance is free! Bring your friends! Here are directions and a map.

May 27 @ The Belfast Dance Studio, Belfast, ME, 8:00 p.m.
Katenia Keller and I will share the evening in this lovely, enlightened seaside town. Take a drive, have dinner at D'Arby's and check us out! This will be our first shared show, just us two and I guarantee you'll be feeling great when you spill out into the early summer evening. Katenia will present The Hillbilly Goddess and I am doing something called "The Metaphysical Tryptic" which I don't know what that is yet, but it will be fun. The Belfast Dance Studio is located at 109 High Street in Belfast. Call Katenia at (207)382-6040 for reservations. Only $10!

The Hillbilly Goddess

Dear Friends,
Let me introduce you to a great love of my life: Katenia Keller, aka The Hillbilly Goddess. Katenia and I met teaching at a summer camp years ago now and immediately recognized our kindred spirits. Katenia has been creating dance in northernish Maine for decades. She choreographs mammoth shows with hundreds of kids for the Maine Dance Institute and over the years, she has created many glorious evenings of high frequency dancework with her own Flying Feet Dance Company. A North Carolina native, Katenia has a warm southern charm that is ready to make it's debut as the Hillbilly Goddess. Just to hear her utter "butter biscuits" is a transcendent experience!

Journey of Souls

Why are you here on Earth? Where will you go after death? What will happen to you when you get there? Many books have been written about past lives, but there has been very scant information about the ongoing existence of our souls as we await rebirth - until Journey of Souls was published in 1994. Now a best-selling classic, Journey of Souls summarizes Dr. Michael Newton's research and work with individuals whom he placed in a state of deep hypnosis during which they recalled their experiences between lives as eternal spirits. Go here to read more about the book and Dr. Newton's work.

Personally, I love thinking about that kind of stuff and this book is amazing. I was so inspired that I used concepts from the book to make a dance for a group of dancers at Bowdoin College. This dance, conveniently titled Journey of Souls, will be performed at 3 of the May shows: New Dance Studio, Bates and Bowdoin college.