JOIE DE VIVRE
Jo Strømgren
Imagine a man, quiet as a withered leaf, his life seemingly as ordinary as dust settling on a windowsill. A grandfather, unassuming, his days woven with routine, his voice a whisper in the hum of existence. But on the threshold of death, his silence shatters. A confession unfurls like an ancient scroll: he was never just a simple man. He was a ghost in history, a shadow in the corridors of power—a CIA agent since 1945. The truth, hidden beneath the surface of his life, spills out at last. And in the hush of his departure, the search begins. Below our feet, in the darkness of his basement, secrets lie in wait—an arsenal of weapons, untouched for decades.
Drawing from true events in choreographer Jo Strømgren’s life, this story became the foundation for Joie de vivre—a dynamic exploration of the extraordinary secrets hidden within us all. Beneath the fabric of the mundane, beneath polite smiles and quiet habits, stories pulse, waiting to be unearthed. Joie de vivre is Jo Strømgren’s ode to these unseen narratives, a dance that pulls back the curtain on the wonders concealed in plain sight.
In this 60-minute journey, Strømgren pays tribute to the anonymous, to those whose lives ripple with depth yet pass unnoticed. Here, simplicity is an art. In a world clouded by digital noise, Joie de vivre seeks the poetry in an untouched moment, in a life lived free from spectacle yet rich with meaning.
What makes this creation truly unique is its unexpected companion: a vast sheet of paper. Not merely a backdrop, this element breathes, bends, and unfolds—becoming a silent dancer, a shapeshifter of meaning, a vessel for metaphor. In Strømgren’s hands, this humble material transforms, evoking the fragile beauty of existence, the layers of our stories waiting to be revealed.
With over three decades of experience, Jo Strømgren weaves his signature blend of theatricality and Nordic wit into a work of profound emotional depth. Combined with the boundless artistry of our dancers, this piece becomes an invitation—one that calls us back to the essential, to the raw joy of being.
More than anything, Joie de vivre is a hymn to life itself, a reminder to embrace the hidden wonders within and around us. It asks us to dance with our own truth and revel in the sheer, unspoken magic of existence.
"Do you wish there was more to life when you close your eyes at night? Well, maybe there is. When truth is dying, imagination is the new living. We cling to pictures as proof of our existence, both towards ourselves and others. And it is convincing and rather satisfying for a while. But such relics of frozen moments soon fade to oblivion like autumn leaves. A paradox, since we fear everything that ends. By nature, we prefer spring, when things start, where every seed is a potential tree. Dreams, desires, hopes - the juiciest parts of life are everything that could happen but never did. And sometimes, those things that indeed happened but which we managed to keep secret. This is the juice that/gets us out of the bed in the morning. "Joie de vivre" is a tribute to invisible lives, and possibly with some suggestions on how to live them."
- Jo Strømgren
Choreographer and Stage Manager Jo Strømgren
Music TBA
Costumes Philippe Dubuc
Light Design Chantal Labonté
Accessories Alain Jenkins
Production Coordinator Louis Morisset
Technical Team Maxime Lambert, Claude Plante, Daniel Ranger
Video Louis-Martin Charest
Photography Raphaël Ouellet
Artists Gustavo Barros, Millie Brinck-Dubuc, Yosmell Calderon Mejias, Marcel Cavaliere, Astrid Dangeard, Kyle Davis, Shanna Irwin Calderon, Miu Kato, DaMond Lemonte Garner, Zack Preece, Madelaine Salhany, Silje Vereide
Apprentice Troy Atamanuk
Duration (without intermission) 60 minutes
Joie de vivre is a co-production of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, premiering at FASS 2025.
