Rehearsals are on for the Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montréal’s performance of Stabat Mater and Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, but the marketing campaign for the production is causing a stir.
Montreal’s transit authority, the STM, won’t allow the poster for the show to be displayed on public transit.
The music of Stabat Mater depicts the suffering felt by the Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she watches her son die on the cross.
Grands Ballet Canadiens artistic director Ivan Cavallari tried to depict that suffering in the poster for the show.
On it, a woman in white has blood dripping from her dress and a nail in her foot to represent the crucifixion of Christ.
“Obviously, there is more than just the religious context. We have all lost someone in our lives, we can all relate to that feeling. That is what the picture is about, missing someone,” Cavallari said.
It is his first project as artistic director with the ballet company.
When they put in the request with the STM on Aug. 24, he wasn’t expecting such a quick and definitive ‘no’ the very next day.
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Officials at the STM issued a statement explaining their decision.
“It was determined that the poster could incite violence, because of the blood and the nail in the woman’s foot,” the statement reads.
“The STM transports a large number of people of all ages every day. We have to be sensitive to that reality.”
The transit authority also gave the company the opportunity to change the ad campaign, but officials at the Grands Ballet say they’ve already been running the campaign with other partners since February and hadn’t had any complaints.
They also said it was too late — weeks before the show opens — to re-do the ad campaign just for the STM.
The performances of Stabat Mater and Beethoven’s 7th Symphony run from Oct. 11 to 28 at Place des Arts.