In collaboration with the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the Insectarium welcomed multidisciplinary artist Claudia Chan Tak for a six-month residency in 2024. Trained in visual arts and contemporary dance, she explored the land of her Malagasy ancestors through the lens of insects. That same spring, the Insectarium also filmed a work by Éliane Jacques, a graduating student from the École supérieure de ballet du Québec.
The nostalgia of the Malagasy butterfly
During her residency, Claudia Chan Tak set out to explore the land of her Malagasy ancestors through the lens of insects.
“Touching and observing insects up close transformed my understanding of the movement I wanted to explore in this performance; above all, I came to understand the gravity, weight, delicacy, instinct, reflexes, and vulnerability of insects.”
— Claudia Chan Tak
As luck would have it, several species unique to Madagascar were being raised at the Insectarium during her stay, offering a rare opportunity that awakened in Claudia a deep sense of pride and love for her roots. What began as a personal exploration evolved into a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother. The scenography of the performance is composed primarily of textiles handmade by her mother, following a cherished family tradition.
In fall 2024, Claudia, along with four dance performers and two musicians, presents La nostalgie du papillon malgache [The nostalgia of the Malagasy butterfly] at Espace Transmission, in the Plateau-Mont-Royal.
This short documentary takes you inside Claudia Chan Tak’s creative process:
The courtship dance of the jumping spider
Éliane Jacques drew inspiration from the jumping spider for this performance, created during a short creative residency in June 2023. At the time, she was completing her training at the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Her interest in the role of insects and arthropods in our lives, however, began several years earlier—when the idea for this choreography first took root.
“The courtship dance is a particularly fascinating aspect of jumping spider behavior. It actually has a lot in common with my life as a dancer. You see all kinds of leg, head, and arm movements, along with a rhythm that really resembles dance—and that can absolutely be recreated in choreography.”
— Éliane Jacques
During her residency, Éliane observed not only spiders, but also frog-legged beetles and orchid mantises to inspire her work. A video of Éliane performing her courtship dance was filmed in spring 2024, just before she joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
Watch Éliane’s performance in this short documentary: