FTA wins Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal

>> by Naomi Brand
The Festival TransAmériques (FTA) has won the twenty-eighth Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal for its work in increasing the visibility of contemporary theatre arts and dance worldwide. The jury recognized Marie-Hélène Falcon, the Festival’s executive and artistic director, for her achievements over the past thirty years. As winner of the Grand Prix, FTA will receive a bursary of $25,000. Among the finalists was BJM - Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, which received $5,000. The prize recognizes the excellence and achievements of Montréal's artistic organizations within nine arts disciplines: circus arts, visual arts, digital arts, film and video, dance, literature, music, theatre, and new artistic practices.

Canadian awarded Prix de Lausanne 2013

Caroline Gravel and Danny Desjardins in Catherine Gaudet's Je suis un autre / Photo by Louise Leblanc

>> by Jaimée Horn
This year, event coordinators welcomed nearly 1400 people to the twenty-sixth Prix RIDEAU, held in Québec from February 17th through 21st. Among those recognized was Jacques Poulin Denis, choreographer, dancer, actor and composer, who received the PRIX RADARTS/RIDEAU, an invitation to present his work at the next FrancoFête in Acadia. Also celebrating were Cas Public's Director of Development Marc-Antoine Arrieta, recipient of the PRIX BIS-LA SCÈNE; and choreographer Catherine Gaudet. Gaudet received the PRIX LOJIQ MONDE, a $2000 award for her piece Je suis un autre. Every year Les Prix RIDEAU honour professionals from the performing arts, recognizing those who work tirelessly to make creative work accessible in our communities.

Cirque du Soleil lays off 400 employees

Artists of Cirque du Soleil in Amaluna / Photo by Laurence Labat

>> by Andrew Guilbert
Cirque du Soleil recently announced it would lay off 400 employees due to a variety of economic factors putting pressure on the usually robust entertainment giant. Most of those jobs will be cut at company headquarters in Montréal, home to roughly forty percent of Cirque’s 5,000-employee worldwide workforce. In a statement, Cirque spokesperson Renée-Claude Menard acknowledged that the company was dealing with rising production costs, but denied that the Cirque was in any deep financial trouble. “The Cirque is not in crisis, let’s get that straight,” said Menard. “We had a record year in terms of tickets sold. We sold more than 14 million tickets this year. We had a record year for total revenue, with more than $1 billion.” In spite of the record sales, Menard agreed that times were hard. “The organization at the moment is not profitable.” She said that for each cent the Loonie gains over the U.S. dollar the company’s profits are negatively affected by nearly $3 million. Cirque du Soleil currently has nineteen shows touring worldwide and is working on a new show set to open in Las Vegas in May.

Les Grands Ballets makes history in Oman

>> by Cynthia Brett
On November 12th and 13th, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal was the first Canadian company to perform at Oman's Royal Opera House Muscat since its inauguration in 2011. In a triple-bill titled "Soiree Stravinsky" the company performed Stijn Celis' Sacre and Noce, set to Stravinsky masterpieces, as well as Anima to music by Chopin and Scarlatti. This marks the second time Les Grands has visited the Middle East. The roughly 1000-seat opera house was commissioned personally by the state's Sultan, and is therefore operated by the monarchy. After the final performance, Artistic Director Gradmir Pankov, Executive Director Alain Dancyger, President Constance V. Pathy and Stijn Celis attended a reception held in their honour, where a representative of culture from the Sultan's entourage expressed gratitude for the company's participation in their vision to present more contemporary works.

CINARS press launch

>> by Andrew Guilbert

On October 23rd, CINARS announced the lineup for the 15th Biennale of the International Exchange of the Performing Arts during a press conference at the Monument-National theatre in Montréal. The event, running from November 12th to 18th, will feature twenty-three mainstage shows with 150 performances, as well as seventy-seven “off-CINARS” performances in fields such as dance, music and theatre. Notable in the dance-focussed programming are choreographer Virginie Brunelle, whose company will kickoff the event on November 13th with a performance of Complexe des genres, and Hélène Blackburn’s Cas Public performing Gold. Dance from around the world will also be featured, such as Finland’s K & C Kekäläinen and Company and South Korea’s Choe Contemporary Dance Company. The Biennale also serves as a networking hub for artists of all stripes. The event’s main exhibition hall will feature more than 120 booths providing participants with an opportunity to meet like-minded patrons and colleagues and share their love of the performing arts. CINARS, in participation with the La Vitrine ticket counter, is offering 4000 free passes for the general public to attend any of the twenty-three official shows at the event. Tickets can be reserved online and picked up at La Vitrine’s Montréal Counter at 2 St. Catherine Street East. For more information, go to: cinars.org.

 

Fortier's 30 days of dancing in Paris

 Paul-André Fortier performing his own work Solo 30x30 in Paris, France / Photo by Marion-Bonan

>> by Jaimée Horn
Montréal-based dance artist Paul-André Fortier recently wrapped up thirty days of performing his Solo 30x30 in Paris. Welcomed by the Théâtre National de Chaillot from September 21st through October 20th, Fortier performed on the Esplanade Trocadéro, with the Eiffel Tower as his backdrop. In a video by the Délégation générale du Québec à Paris, Fortier comments that he offered his daily performance as a gift to pedestrians who wished to observe, but, in doing so, he was also giving himself the gift of dancing for thirty consecutive days. The piece received warm accolades and has now been performed 450 times in multiple cities around the world.

Dancefilm rising

>> by Philip Szporer
A crowded fall festival season didn’t deter Cinédanse Montréal from muscling its way into the field with a four-day run in September, including screenings of more than thirty-five shorts, documentaries and special events. “It’s about time,” was a general reaction from festival-goers. The ambitious event drew a slew of international entries and guests, including ballet star Claude Bessy, famed Pina Bausch dancer Jo Ann Endicott, and director Mike Figgis, whose raw and brutal The Co(te)lette Film was the festival opener. 

Housed in the city’s 800-plus-seat golden-era movie palace Cinéma Impérial, Cinédanse Montréal is based on the model of its programming co-curator Cinedans, Amsterdam’s magnet for dance-media innovation. Saturday matinees drew a modest fifteen to twenty ticket-holders at each screening, while about a dozen people attended that day’s morning roundtable discussion, “Why Onscreen Dance? What to Do or Not to Do”.

Director Sylvain Bleau, former manager of such companies as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and LaLaLa Human Steps, proudly launched the biennial festival without a cent of public money. A late start in publicizing the new event caused problems at the box office, he acknowledged. Nonetheless, Bleau supports the idea that dance artists “need not limit themselves to the stage.”
Learn more >> cinedanse-mtl.com

Sylvain Emard's Le Grand Continental tours three US cities

Le Grand Continental at the River To River Festival, New York
Photo: Julieta Cervantes

>> by Naomi Brand
This summer Sylvain Émard's Le Grand Continental will be touring across the US with performances in New York, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon. The piece, which draws from line dancing and contemporary dance will be performed by up to 200 local, amateur dancers of all ages in each city, guided by a few professionals. Le Grand Continental was originally created and co-produced by the Festival TransAmerique in 2009. Two years later a Mexican version of the work was presented in Mexico City. Founded in 1990, Sylvain Émard Danse is a Montréal-based company.

Ken Roy (1963-2012)

Ken Roy

>> by Jacqueline Hansen
On January 28th, 2012, Canada lost one of its premier contemporary dancers, Ken Roy, after a year-long battle with cancer. The forty-eight-year-old is being remembered by Canada’s dance community as a great dancer, an artist and a friend, and for his intensity, passion and generosity. Originally from Nova Scotia, Roy began his career with Le Groupe de la Place Royale in Ottawa. He went on to perform in over thirty productions and six films dancing in the works of Jean-Pierre Perreault, Louise Bédard, Daniel Léveillé and Sylvain Émard, among others. Roy shared his experience and knowledge of contemporary dance as a teacher for nearly twenty years, including seven years at Concordia University. His colleagues and students at the university attempted to describe the mark Roy has left on them: “The impact Ken had on the people he met and the emptiness he leaves in our hearts goes beyond what can be communicated with words.” A tribute to Roy’s career will be held this spring, organized by members of the Montréal dance community.

Candace Loubert (1947-2011)

Candace Loubert / Photo courtesy of LADMMI

>> by Samantha Mehra

Candace Loubert, co-founder of Les Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal Inc. (LADMMI), died on October 28th, 2011. Loubert co-founded LADMMI with Linda Rabin, initially under the name of the Linda Rabin Danse Moderne School, where she was the artistic director until 1996. Prior to this, Loubert enjoyed a career as a performer in Europe, as well as dancing for Montréal's Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for five years, putting to use her extensive training in ballet. She also danced in Linda Rabin's groundbreaking work The White Goddess (1977) alongside a group of other young dancers including Margie Gillis and Stephanie Ballard. While artistic director of and teacher at LADMMI, Loubert found time to pursue creative research specifically on body work, while also tackling her interest in masks and other diverse visual arts practices. Rabin said of Loubert: [translated] "Candace's exceptional gift was her extraordinary capacity to nurture and support creativity in an original and profound manner. Through body work and a range of artistic media – painting, drawing, clay sculpting and mask making – she created space for the imagination to flourish. Those who were fortunate enough to experience her teaching knew the depth of her supportive nature, understanding and compassion."

FTA names new co-executive and administrative director

>> by Samantha Mehra
Festival TransAmériques (FTA) recently announced the appointment of Christine Bouchard as co-executive and administrative director. Bouchard, who is replacing Caroline Lussier (now the head of the Dance Section at the Canada Council for the Arts), will share general management roles with Marie-Hélène Falcon, the festival's co-executive and artistic director. Bouchard's past experience includes serving as cultural programming director at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, as general manager of LADMMI school of contemporary dance, and as general manager of the Société de développement des arts et de la culture in Longueil, where she was also head of that city's arts and culture division.

Two new Canadian dance books hit the market

Lata Pada in her own work Revealed by Fire, 2001 / Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann

Chi Long in Marie Chouinard’s bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG _vARIATIONS, 2005 / Photo by Marie Chouinard

>> by Jaimée Horn
There are two new titles that dance lovers can start adding to their book collections this month, Compagnie_Marie_Chouinard_Company, and the soon-to-be-released Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance. Compagnie_Marie_Chouinard_Company is the first bilingual monograph of a Canadian contemporary dance company. Written by the choreographer herself as well as eight other close contributors, the book includes testimonials from the company’s dancers, and offers an intimate window into Chouinard’s creative universe. Visit www.mariechouinard.com to purchase a copy of the book, or to find out more information about the company. Finally, the release of Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance is forthcoming in September after eight years of hard work. Edited by Dena Davida, artistic co-director of Tangente in Montréal, the authors include fourteen Canadian contributors and fourteen contributors from around the world. Published in Canada but with an international perspective, this collection of essays explores the art of dance as cultural practice, revealing the significance of the art form in our contemporary society. Students and dancers take note – a paperback edition of Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance will also be released for a more moderate price.

International choreography competition returns to Saint-Sauveur

>> by Naomi Brand
After a six-year hiatus, the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur announces the return of its international choreography competition. The festival offers international programs in dance and music including a competition of original creations that showcases the works of emerging choreographers. The international choreography competition will be held in Saint-Sauveur Valley, a vacation resort located forty minutes north of Montréal, during the next Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur from July 28th through August 6th, 2011. Registration deadline for the competition is April 15th, 2011.
www.fass.ca

DSR is honoured with National Arts Centre award

>> by Jacqueline Hansen
La danse sur les routes du Québec’s (DSR) mission is to share dance, and on November 7th, 2010 it was recognized for its outstanding efforts with the 2010 National Arts Centre Award for Distinguished Contribution to Touring in the Performing Arts. The award is described as honouring “exceptional achievement in fostering the touring of live performing arts in Canada.” DSR Executive Director Paule Beaudry stated in a press release that between 20,000 and 30,000 people from across Québec annually come in contact with dance performances due to the work of DSR and its collaborators. The organization was founded in 1997.

Marc Boivin elected as new RQD president

>> by Brittany Duggan
Members of the Regroupement québecois de la danse (RQD) elected Marc Boivin as their new president on October 23rd and 24th at the association’s annual general meeting in Montréal. Boivin will replace Anik Bissonnette, RQD president since 2004, by continuing her work on the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec (2011-2021), a project scheduled to be released on April 29th, 2011 – International Dance Day. A teacher, choreographer and performer, Boivin sat on the Dance Committee of the Conseil des arts de Montréal between 2005 and 2010 and is currently the chair of the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault. “Now’s the time for us to come together; this is a turning point for our community. It is both an honour and a stimulating challenge to make the vision for dance in the Master Plan a reality”, remarked Boivin at a reception thanking Bissonnette for her six years of work with the RQD. Founded in 1984, the RQD’s mandate is to represent and defend the interests of dance professionals in Québec.

Cirque du Soleil reaches 8,000th performance with Mystère

>> by Brittany Duggan
On October 18th, Cirque du Soleil celebrated the 8,000th performance of what has become one of the company’s hallmark shows, Mystère. Housed in the 1,629-seat Mystère Theatre at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (where the production has been in permanent residency since its premiere in 1993), Mystère was the first Cirque du Soleil show to have a custom-built theatre to exact show specifications, and has since been seen by over twelve million people. Mystère “defines what Cirque du Soleil is all about: creativity, audacity and keeping the dream alive,” commented Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre in the company’s press release. To mark this long-running achievement, the company debuted new music by composer Benoît Jutras for the aerial highbar act. Other productions by the Québec-based organization in Las Vegas include “O” at the Bellagio, Zumanity at New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Kà at the MGM Grand, The Beatles’ Love at the Mirage, Criss Angel Believe at Luxor and Viva Elvis at the Aria Resort and Casino.

New dance TV show in Canada

>> by Brittany Duggan
Geneviève Guérard and Stéphane Bellavance / Photo by Barry Russell

Geneviève Guérard, former ballerina with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, has launched a new dance television program on ARTV called Voulez-vous danser? Each week, the show challenges one Québec celebrity to learn a specific style of dance alongside host Guérard. On August 20th, Guérard, previously a judge on Match des étoiles, held an event where dance teachers were dispersed in four of Montréal's Métro stations to teach the general public salsa, hip-hop, country and African dance in order to publicize the fall season of the show. Hélène Beausejour from ARTV’s marketing department was on site to distribute flyers explaining the event to Métro patrons. "I wish we could do this every Sunday," she said, "Everyone is smiling."
Voulez-vous danser? is scheduled to air Fridays at 7:30pm on ARTV.

Compagnie Marie Chouinard receives Arts Achievement Award

>> by Samantha Mehra
La Compagnie Marie Chouinard is the 2010 recipient of The Imperial Tobacco Canada Foundation's Arts Achievement Award. The award recognizes the company's originality, innovation, critical acclaim and continued growth. Established in 2009, the award was designed to acknowledge innovations and excellence among Canadian arts organizations. Recipients are awarded on a rotational basis among various arts disciplines, beginning with the visual arts in 2009, and dance in 2010. The recipient, who receives $75,000, is selected by three peer nominators who are experts in the required discipline. Other nominees this year included The National Ballet of Canada (Toronto), The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Winnipeg), and La La La Human Steps (Montréal).

Recent Awards in Dance: Édouard Lock and Helen Husak

>> by Samantha Mehra
Édouard Lock, founder of Montréal's La La La Human Steps, and Calgary-based dancer Helen Husak are recent recipients of Canadian awards in the arts. Lock was awarded one of two Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, which recognize outstanding lifetime achievement and contribution to Canadian culture. The Molson prize, worth $50,000, becomes the most recent in a long list of awards for Lock who has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec. In Alberta, Helen Husak received one of seven 2010 biennial emerging artist awards from the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation. The recipients of this year's awards represented a broad range of arts disciplines, including film, music, dance, theatre, visual arts, production and writing, and glass artists. The award acknowledged Husak as being one of Canada's leading contemporary dancers, and being instrumental in developing training programs for professional dancers in Calgary. In 2008, Husak was the recipient of the Enbridge Artist Award at the Mayor's Evening for Business and the Arts in Calgary.

LGBCM announces its "Nutcracker Market"

>> by Brittany Duggan
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is looking to new initiatives to increase revenues. Under the direction of Executive Director Alain Dancyger, the ballet has announced it will host an annual, non-profit Christmas market, the Nutcracker Market, from November 25th through December 5th. The event will sell one-of-a-kind items from local artists while promoting the ballet’s performances of The Nutcracker at Place des Arts later in December. "In the current political context, we have to completely rethink our business model and find ground-breaking, innovative solutions that involve all those who contribute to the city's development," Dancyger explained in a June 15th news release. "In creating this market, we're showing the tremendous versatility and flexibility that a major non-profit cultural organization must have to adapt to the new reality." The concept was inspired by the Houston Ballet’s Nutcracker Market, which is currently in its 30th year.