Review: LABOUR (DanceWorks and Parts + Labour)

It feels impossible to articulate the full weight of women’s work: the labour of the body, of care, of reproduction, of appearance, of emotional management, of keeping things and people going, often all at once. It is physical and psychological, visible and invisible, deeply personal and structurally expected. LABOUR finds a physical language to show some of that weight.

Opening DanceWorks’ 2026/27 season under the new artistic leadership of Jennifer Robichaud, Montréal-based co-choreographers Emily Gualtieri and David Albert-Toth of Parts + Labour explore this topic through a raw, sweaty, absurd, and relentlessly repetitive contemporary dance work.

For almost the entire 60-minute performance, five dancers two-step from side to side, one arm pulling across the body, within a tightly packed clump that continually morphs and shifts who occupies its edges. Together, they travel in a box-like pathway around the stage, moving from the front corner to the back, across, forward, and back again. They rarely break from this pattern, but the repetition never feels dull. Instead, it increasingly reads as obligation, routine, and survival.

Slowly, individual dancers begin to break from the group: to grab a snack, serve the audience a fruit board, eat fried chicken, care for a baby, crack open a Monster Energy drink, fix their hair, or strip away a layer of clothing, but they always return to the clump. In one particularly funny moment, a dancer attempts to remove their pants without ever stopping the two-step. It takes a few tries, but the movement continues throughout.

As the work progresses, this structure remains intact, but everything around it begins to unravel. Facial expressions become messier, props accumulate, costumes shift, and the dancers’ emotions become increasingly heightened. Yet each interruption eventually folds back into the same continual motion. They simply keep going.

This gradual unravelling is also reflected in Jonathan Saucier’s set and costume design, which keeps the palette mostly black and white at first, before small flashes of colour begin to emerge as the dancers strip down and dive into props. The dancers wear different black pieces, individualized to reflect their own personalities. 

That same black-and-white visual language carries into the set: a white stage with four black speakers on the ground acting like columns at its centre, their cords stretching up toward the ceiling. The dancers move around this central structure, pulling objects from the middle and gradually tossing clothing back into it as layers come off.

Within that visual world, the five performers remain its strongest presence. At the centre of LABOUR is a kickass group of five femme-identifying performers: Jossua Satinée, Brianna Lombardo, Maïka Giasson, Frédérique Rodier, and Lou-Anne Rousseau. They are funny, generous and completely committed. Each brings a distinct personality to the choreography while remaining inside its relentless structure. More than anything, they feel like people you need to know and want to be friends with.

Together, the performers, design, and choreography make the work’s central idea remarkably clear. The idea is relatable without ever feeling overly explained. It is humorous, absurd, physically demanding, and brilliant in its ability to communicate something that can be so difficult to put into words. There is nothing that I would change about this work.

By the end, the audience is quickly on its feet, cheering for this fantastic cast and choreography. It is a strong way to begin a new chapter for DanceWorks, and an exciting first glimpse of the company under Jennifer Robichaud’s artistic leadership. It also puts Parts + Labour firmly on my list of new favourite companies. This work is currently touring, and I highly recommend checking to see if it is coming to a city near you by clicking here.

LABOUR, presented by DanceWorks at the Theatre Centre (1115 Queen Street West, Toronto), ran from September 10th to September 12, 2026. For more information, check out PLdanse.com and DanceWorks.ca.

• Photo 1: Photo of Jossua Satinée in LABOUR. Photo by Bobby León.
• Photo 2: Photo of LABOUR with dancers Jossua Satinée, Brianna Lombardo, Maïka Giasson, Frédérique Rodier, Lou-Anne Rousseau. Photo by Bobby León.
• Photo 3: Photo of LABOUR with dancers Lou-Anne Rousseau, Maïka Giasson, Frédérique Rodier, Jossua Satinée, and Brianna Lombardo. Photo by Bobby León.

Written by Deanne Kearney | DeanneKearney.com @deannekearney