Québécoise pianist Jean-Michel Blais collaborated with filmmaker Adrian Villagomez to create a spirited music video for the musician’s track, “passepied.” The short film follows a young man’s fanatical love affair with the passepied, a lively dance adopted by the French and English aristocracy in the sixteenth century. The visuals shift feverishly between the young man’s grey, urban reality and his decadent Baroque fantasy world.

“Inspired by Debussy, I wanted to see how a passepied would work today,” says Blais, whose latest album, aubades, sees the musician transition from pianist to composer for the first time. “Using this historic dance form, which originated in Brittany and then was popularized in Baroque courts, I wanted to declassify classical music—democratize it for new listeners. Adrian's docufiction represents this swing of the pendulum, making classical music accessible again to the modern viewer and listener.”

Passepied is a well-choreographed visual extension of Blais’ contrapuntal orchestration. Villagomez reflects the sprightly conversations between the piano, strings and woodwind in the friction that grows between the young man and his friend—focussing on a growing delirium that moves in rubato with the music.

“I chose a hip hop dancer to perform this classical dance of which he had no familiarity,” says the director. “This creates an interesting ambiguity when you watch him execute the dance. Our actor had the will to learn the steps to perfection. It works very well with the direction of the story: to escape his daily reality through an odd and unexpected new passion.

“The documentary process ensured that we were able to develop the scenario according to what presented itself to us; new encounters along the way as well as the social and personal context of each of our two actors.”

This dance film is as much about self-discovery as it is about self-expression. Blais wrote this album of uplifting neoclassical serenades during the pandemic and after a breakup. His willingness to take a new direction in his music, to venture into uncharted territory, marries well with the Passepied actor who throws himself wholeheartedly into learning a new style of dance. If this project ever had a didactic edge, it would be to seek out new encounters, even if it takes you to uncommon places.

“This reflects my own journey, a country boy traveling back in time through something seemingly “uncool” and as old-fashioned as classical music. The perfect analogy to anyone's odd dream to be pursued without getting caught into it.”