Décharge Massive

MUSIC COMPOSER REIKI | MASSAGE HOME FRANCIS
ST-GERMAIN

FRANCIS ST-GERMAIN

PERFORMANCE PIECE FOR VOICE, BODY AND TEXT

Credits
Text & Physical performance - Francis St-Germain

Collaborators for Duo and Quartet Versions
Physical performance - Marc-André Bolduc, Andro Manzoni, Elena Perales Andreu & Carmen Kleykens Vidal

Anger is a raw and universal force, yet society demands its suppression, framing it as shameful, primitive, or dangerous. Décharge Massive (Massive Load) confronts this repression head-on, stripping anger of its conditioning and allowing it to manifest in its most unfiltered form. Created by Francis St-Germain, this performance piece merges voice, body, and text into an act of endurance and revelation. What begins as controlled tension unravels into an overwhelming, physical embodiment of rage.

Originally conceived as a three-hour solo performance, Décharge Massive has since evolved into multi-performer iterations. At its core, the work is built on a framework of constraints: performers are placed in vulnerable, discomforting conditions, forcing anger to emerge organically rather than as a theatrical performative affect.

To sustain a prolonged state of anger, performers are subjected to external and internal restrictions that destabilize both the body and mind. They stand, for instance, in cold environments, dressed only in underwear, with a bag over their head. Lemons are consumed whole, through the bag while the acid burns the mouth, further aggravating the senses. Meanwhile, a collection of 34 texts, written in varied typographies, is read in disorienting ways—vowels and consonants separated, phrases inverted, pages torn. This breakdown of language and form generates a state of cognitive friction, pushing the performer into raw immediacy.

The performance functions as a mathematical equation of emotion: just as the structures of reality are bound by numbers, anger is an inescapable human constant. Should it begin to fade, it is the performer’s duty to escalate the tension—tightening the body, accelerating the voice, pushing discomfort further until anger is fully embodied.

2015 – Solo

Premiered in Montreal as a three-hour uninterrupted solo, this first iteration was part of a multidisciplinary event featuring musicians, visual artists, and physical performers. During the performance, audience members were invited to contribute texts, which were later integrated into the work. These writings, alongside Francis’ own compositions, formed the 34-text collection that continues to shape the piece.

2016 – Duo

Reconfigured for two performers (Francis St-Germain and Marc-André Bolduc), this ten-minute version, presented at Université de Montréal, introduced a more structured, time-based form that heightened the musicality of the work, while retaining strong aspects of physical performance.

2020 – Quartet

Décharge Massive became part of 65M, a fourty-five-minute installation-performance responding to patriarchal violence in Spain. Developed with Carmen Kleykens Vidal, Andro Manzoni, and Elena Perales Andreu, this version, presented at the Noorus Gallery (Tartu Interdistsiplinaar Festival, Estonia), explored anger not only as an individual experience but as a collective force of resistance. The four voices—sometimes in unison, sometimes fragmented—blurred the line between personal outcry and societal upheaval.

Duration: 10 minutes – 3 hours

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REIKI | MASSAGE

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