Hidden Paradise

Our tax havens are targeted in this razor-sharp play

In 2015 the Canadian economist Alain Deneault declared on the radio : “Waiting for a bus at -20 degrees is the consequence of tax avoidance”. A bizarre statement but if you examine it, you soon notice how comprehensive the redistribution of money is. BUDA resident Alix Dufresne found that companies in Canada contribute only 10% of taxes due. They prefer hiding their billions of dollars in tax havens. With Deneault's statement in mind choreographer/dancer Dufresne and dancer Marc Béland broach an ultra- topical but confronting theme on stage. How does our tax evasion and that of others influence daily life ? Hidden Paradise is both documentary theatre and dance as well as journalistic fiction. 

Dufresne : “In this performance we work with absurd elements and repetition around the fact that tax havens are a known item with which we are seldom directly confronted : consequently we keep ignoring them and even contribute to them without realising it.”

Alix Dufresne is a young Canadian choreographer who has created a polyvalent oeuvre in recent years. Between dance and theatre, the physical and the political, Dufresne aims at a sensuous and conscious approach that encourages the conversations between bodies. She starts from the conviction that political and social themes interest the public when they are presented appropriately. From this reality she wants to stimulate discussions that go from current problems to the lost paradise of youth.

Marc Béland has played the stage for more than thirty years. He is known for his great artistic sensitivity, his rigorous work ethic and his boundless generosity. He was a member of La La La Human Steps of the legendary Edouard Lock from 1984 until 1989 and has since created a lot of unforgettable characters on the stages of Québec. Also as a director he has built up an impressive career. With Dufresne, Béland also made the performance Dancers in 2017.

Watch the trailer