The Metabolism of Silence- Bodies Carrying Exhibit Programming

Description by Eve Garnier and Jacynthe Desjardins

In a movement-based workshop, we propose an exploration of relational possibilities and their bodily expression, anchored in silence(s). Here, silence is not a rupture but a dynamic space of exchange between individuals sharing the same space-time.

The connection between narrator and audience is a key part of any narrative formed during an interview or performance. Beyond words, what do we, as receivers, perceive? Building trust and sharing authority requires thoughtful attention to how we receive stories. The body is not just a passive receiver but an active participant with its own agency.

The workshop will develop two distinct approaches: one in pairs and the other in groups.

In the first part, participants will engage in storytelling through movement in pairs, examining how narration emerges when bodies remain in constant motion. Can movement generate alternative cognitive pathways? We will seek to identify forms of silence that extend beyond the mere absence of words. We will explore the role of the receivers when also in motion; how they interact with the narrator’s entanglement with spatial relationship, the unfolding story, and gesture. What, then, is the nature of silence in this context?

The second part will focus on a group conversation without words, engaging with the often-unconscious dimensions of interaction. Participants will observe, sense otherness, and be perceived by others. What do we see, project, or have projected onto us? How do we perceive “the other” within a group, within space, and within time? What is the nature of this silence?

About the speakers

Eve Garnier is a Franco-Polish dance artist and researcher, born and trained in France, it was, however, in Scandinavia and Canada that Eve built a career in dance as a performer, assistant to creation and teacher. Centered around the relational and experimental potential of the living body in movement, her artistic and pedagogical reflections are nourished by artists from varied generations and aesthetics. Eve is a Part-time professor at UQAM, where she teaches technique and interpretation classes. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in the INDI program at Concordia University.

Jacynthe Desjardins est une artiste en danse établie à Tiohtià :ke/ Mooniyang/ Montréal, Jacynthe Desjardins complète un baccalauréat en danse contemporaine à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM, 2021) où elle aura eu l’occasion de travailler avec de nombreux chorégraphes et artistes de la scène, dont Frédérick Gravel, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, Danièle Desnoyers et poursuit depuis un parcours en tant qu’interprète et chercheuse. Aussi titulaire d’un diplôme en lutherie de l’école-atelier Bruand, Jacynthe s’intéresse au lien entre la musique et la matière. Ses interrogations se tournent vers ce dialogue liminal entre corps sonore et corps matière. À travers sa pratique du mouvement, elle navigue cet échange constant entre physicalité, sons et vibrations. S’ajoute aussi un intérêt grandissant pour les arts martiaux ainsi qu’envers l’importance de notre héritage culturel en danse.