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ESSENTIA is a riveting contemporary dance performance showing off the athleticism and skill of performers Janelle Hacault and Hilary Crist. ESSENTIA encompasses identity and spirituality, confronting reality head on. As Hacault put it, “the work wants to speak for itself and it’s our job to listen to it.”

After studying the Gaga Technique with the Batsheva Dancers and Ohad Naharin in Israel, Hacault and Crist aspired to create a touring show. Winning the lottery for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in 2015, as well the approval of several granting bodies, brought the show here to Stratford for the SpringWorks Festival.

ESSENTIA, the first time collaboration for Hacault and Crist, tackles the variability of identity and spirituality. ESSENTIA is made up of two duets. Crist choreographed The Hopeless Dream of Being. The piece, inspired by the 1966 film Persona by Ingmar Bergman, addresses persona as well as personality and how one can influence another even without the intention of doing so. Hacault’s Imprimatur, touched by the 2012 loss of her mother, looks at “essence and identity and how fluid it is.” In its’ entirety ESSENTIA looks at “who we really are,” Hacault said.

Hacault is looking forward to the pair’s remaining ESSENTIA performances for SpringWorks Festival as Factory163 lends a “beautiful, gritty feeling” to their performance. Hacault also added, “coming here what we really loved was how intimate it is.”

Check out ESSENTIA tonight May 14, at 8PM and tomorrow May 15 at 2PM. Both performances will be at Factory163.