9.2

Performance presented as part of the Festival international du Domaine Forget de Charlevoix.

Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony when he was almost completely deaf. Cai Glover is hard of hearing. On stage, he chooses to dance without his hearing aid—with intensity and passion. What do our senses—or their absence—reveal about how we inhabit the world? And above all, how do they guide us beyond our differences?

In 2016, Hélène Blackburn created 9, a landmark work in Cas Public’s repertoire. Inspired by the unique journey of Cai Glover—a hard-of-hearing dancer who performed with the company for over a decade—the choreographer embarked on a deep reflection with him about perception, language, and difference. As the true muse of the project, Cai was never merely a subject, but a full creative partner in a process built on mutual listening. Together, they laid the foundations for a piece in which inclusion isn’t declared—it’s lived, in a continuous dialogue, a shared path toward the universal.

Eight years later, 9.2 marks a new chapter in this journey. Now passed on to Cai Glover—who becomes co-choreographer—this re-creation preserves the essence of the original while bringing a renewed perspective, shaped by experience, maturity, and a deeply personal understanding of its themes. Blackburn and Glover revisit the choreographic score with precision and poetry, sculpting a space where sensory reference points dissolve, where light plays with perception, and where every movement becomes a voice.

In this physical and visceral reinterpretation, Beethoven’s Ninth—also reimagined—intertwines with Cas Public’s contemporary dance vocabulary. 9.2 invites audiences of all ages to cross the threshold of silence, to transform absence into an anchor point, and to recognize in every body, in every life path, a language full of possibility.