Godspeed You! Black Emperor, also known as GY!BE, and Holy Body Tattoo are revisiting their hit show, monumental, with two scheduled shows in Montreal. Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a post-rock, Canadian band that came about in 1994 in Quebec. GY!BE will work with Vancouver-based experimental dance group, Holy Body Tattoo, to create a unique performance that brings the audience along for a harshly realistic interpretation of the music.

The show will take place at Place des Arts in April of next year. Monumental first hit the stage in 2005, which was also the last time Holy Body Tattoo performed together. Now, ten years later, nine of the troupe’s dancers are making a comeback with the choreographed piece by Dana Gingras and Noam Gagnon. However, this time, they will be joined by eight musicians from GY!BE.

Place des Arts describes monumental as, “the artists inhabit an urban landscape forged from lighting and projections as they perform atop plinths of varying heights. Monumental is an expression of the unrelenting pace of modern society, the utter madness of present-day life. The near ghostly, introspective score by Montreal band GY!BE ties in perfectly with HBT’s message.”

In addition, Vancouver’s PuSh Festival describe the work as follows,“monumental, with nine dancers mounted on pedestals and the eight-piece band, is the expression of the madness of urban life—the repetition, the confinement, the alienation. Movement turns into metaphor, dance into poetry and sound into substance. The result is as violent, beautiful and cathartic as art can get. For fans of the band, lovers of contemporary dance, or anyone open to the most radical possibilities of human creativity, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that can’t be missed. ”

See below for dates for the monumental performance; full Godspeed tour dates are listed

GY!BE Tour
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01/28: Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
01/29: Seattle, WA – Neumos
01/30: Seattle, WA – Neumos
01/31: Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
02/01: Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
02/03: Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
02/04: Los Angeles, CA – Immanuel Presbyterian Church
02/05: San Pedro, CA – Warner Grand Theatre
02/06: Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom
02/08: Englewood, CA – Gothic Theatre
02/10: Omaha, NE – The Slowdown
02/11: Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
02/12: Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
02/13: Chicago, IL – Rockefeller Chapel
02/14: Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
03/06: Adelaide, AU – Thebarton Theatre
03/07: Melbourne, AU – Melbourne Recital Centre
03/08: Sydney, AU – Spectrum Now Festival
03/16: Tokyo, JP – Shibuya Duo
03/17: Tokyo, JP – Shibuya Duo
04/11: Montral, QC – Place des Arts
04/12: Montreal, QC – Place des Arts
04/15: Quebec City, QC – Grand Theatre de Quebec