Chronicles of a Simple Life

“the tragedy that destroyed a full generation in
dance”

“I created [Chronicles] because a person very close to me died of AIDS, and because of our closeness and the look it forced me to have on the tragedy that destroyed a full generation in dance, and all arts. Seeing this person I loved so much go through the horrible times – we forget that there was no cure then, [the medical field and the public were] so discriminatory, and the disease, the suffering, was terrible. It was horrendous. I wanted to honour the life and courage of this person and, through this person, the millions of people who went through it, who suffered not just the disease, but also the look of society on them. We forget now how it was truly, truly a plague. I wanted to honour their courage. The absolute courage. My friend was so generous in his turmoil. It was incredible. Chronicles came from that. It was no effort – the piece just came out of me. After it was done, I felt a connection to him through it. A true connection, not just thinking of him.” – Serge Bennathan

Choreography Serge Bennathan

Music, Arne Eigenfeldt

Scenery Nancy Bryant

The original cast included: Julia Aplin, Marie-Josée Chartier, Learie
McNicholls, Jackie Nell, Julia Sasso, Gary Tai, Gerry Trentham, and Carolyn Woods.

(Later casts included Shannon Cooney, Ken Cunningham and Hope Terry.)

First performance: Toronto, Premiere Dance Theatre, January 26, 1993; Dancemakers