Alanis Morissette explains her boisterous, uninhibited concert dance moves

TORONTO — Alanis Morissette knows her herky-jerky body movements in concert are unorthodox but says it’s because she has so much pent-up energy in her body that she “can barely hold it.”

“I always felt like I was a poodle inside the body of a black stallion,” the Ottawa native said earlier this week of performing live.

“Like, I’m an introvert in this wildly extroverted lifestyle.”

Morissette said the intimacy of the stage feels “in a strange way … like this tiny, little glittery fishbowl.”

And while she’s toned down the energy of her dance moves in recent years, she still lives for the “sacred moment” of performing live.

The “You Oughta Know” singer reflected on her stage presence while speaking about Mirvish’s production of “Jagged Little Pill,” which begins its month-long run at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto on Oct. 24.

The jukebox musical revolves around the struggles of a family, set to songs from Morissette’s 1995 debut album of the same name. Its Tony Award-winning book is by “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.

“Jagged Little Pill” is Morissette’s first stage production, though she said it has inspired her to pursue her own one-woman show that would “really get into the nuts and bolts and crannies” of her life.

“I have to tell that story,” she said from northern California, where she now lives. “And there has to be humour, music and movement.”

She added: “It might not happen tomorrow, but it’s something that has to be expressed.”

“I’m giving myself 10 years.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.

David Friend, The Canadian Press