COMPAGNIE
MARIE CHOUINARD
LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 8:00PM
Tonight’s performance is made possible through the Estate of Dolly Gray-Bussard
24 PRELUDES BY CHOPIN – DESCRIPTION
Using the 24 Preludes in Frédéric Chopin’s opus 28 as her source of inspiration, Marie Chouinard has choreographed this piece with a spirit that reflects her great facility in dealing with the demands of a classical form, musical in this instance. In this jubilant yet solemn work, the dance melds with the music for an energetic, stirring and resolutely contemporary whole.
Playing with the very structure of these preludes written for the piano, Marie Chouinard has created a pure, lavish piece. Guided by intuition and the melodic force of these free form musical pieces, she has fashioned a composite dance consisting of solos, duos, trios and group movements that marry gentleness with strength, and subtlety with rawness. 24 Preludes by Chopin is a choreographic work constructed of dynamic alternations that are constantly in touch with the music and the feelings it evokes, such as chastity, passion, introspection, ardour or rebellion. They are transposed by Marie Chouinard into states of agitation and practiced movement, a vast terrain of forbidden games sculpted by light.
THE RITE OF SPRING- DESCRIPTION
In Marie Chouinard’s work, The Rite of Spring occupies a special position. In choosing to reexamine this powerful hymn to life, she has created her first choreography based on a musical score. Igor Stravinsky’s. The Rite of Spring explores a New World and marks the entry of dance into modernity. In this avant-garde work, Marie Chouinard again finds an original pulsation that is essential to her movement. Far from contradicting the rhythm of her dance, the cadence and force of the music inspire, accompany and energize her, forming both the echo and the musical counterpoint of an organic, vigorous and vivid choreography.
For Marie Chouinard, all forms are the movement through space of a specific vital energy. Unlike previous choreographers working with Stravinsky’s piece, she constructed her Rite around solos, seeking to awaken in strong, clear movements the intimate mystery of each dancer.
“There is no story in my Rite“, she explains, “no development, no cause and effect. Only synchronicity. It is as if I were dealing with the very moment after the instant life first appeared. The performance is the unfolding of that moment. I have the feeling that before that moment there was an extraordinary burst of light, a flash of lightning.”
MARIE CHOUINARD
Marie Chouinard was born in Quebec. At the age of 16, her life was transformed after spending 4 months alone in Percé. As a choreographer, she traveled the world over as soloist for 12 years before founding the COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 1990. Her works with their avant-guard signature are nonetheless enduring and appear in the repertoires of major international ballet companies.
Marie Chouinard is a director (films, applications, virtual reality works), an author (Zéro Douze, Chantiers des extases), a visual artist (photographs, drawings, installations), and she also creates choreographies for site-specific installations, for the screen, and in real-time for the web.
She was named an Officière des Arts et des Lettres in France. She has received some thirty of the most prestigious awards and honors. She founded the Prix de la Danse de Montréal in 2011 and was director of dance at the Venice Biennale from 2017 to 2020. Marie Chouinard is preparing a solo exhibition for the reopening of the Musée d’art contemporain in Montreal.
DANCERS
Carol Prieur started her career with Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. She has worked with the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault. Grants permitted her to pursue her studies in New York, Europe and India where she was initiated into Kalarypayattu, an Indian martial art form. Since she became a member of COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 1995, three solos have been created for her: Humanitas, Étude Poignante, and Mouvements. She received an Award for Best Performance in Marie Chouinard’s film, Cantique no. 1, at the Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film and Video Award in Toronto. In 2010, Carol was named Dancer of the Year by the magazine TANZ. In 2014, she is the first recipient for the Prix de la Danse de Montréal – INTERPRÈTE. In 2020, she celebrates her twenty-fifth anniversary as a performer with the Company.
Valeria Galluccio studied ballet with Annalisa Cernese in Italy. For three years, as part of the Venice Biennale, she danced the works of Ismaël Ivo as main performer before joining, in 2011, COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD. In 2015, she is named as best Italian dancer abroad by the magazine Danza&Danza. In 2017, she is awarded the Positano Prize for “Dancer of the Year on the International Scene”. In 2019, she received the new Premio Nazionale Sfera Award of Oro per la Danza, as ‘Italian Dance Personality on the International Stage in Ballet and Contemporary Dance’ as part of the Sfera Danza festival.
Motrya Kozbur is a graduate in contemporary dance from the Boston Conservatory. She worked as a seamstress for costume designer Naomi Luppescu in New York City, and danced for several years with LeeSaar The Company before joining COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2017. She is one of the two performers in the live film event JARDIN DE SCULPTURES ÉPHÉMÈRES by Marie Chouinard.
Paige Culley is a dance artist originally from the West Kootenays, BC. A graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Culley has worked and performed as a soloist with Daina Ashbee, the Compagnie Marie Chouinard (2011-2016), and Le Carré des Lombes. Culley produced, choreographed and performed her research project “Shapes” and has participated in works of film, performance and opera with artists including Albéric Aurtenèche, Kìzis, Robin Poitras, Tedd Robinson, and Doris Uhlich. Culley is the recipient of the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant for contemporary dance, the danceWEB scholarship at ImPulsTanz, and the “Découverte” award of the Prix de la Danse de Montréal. She returned to the Compagnie Marie Chouinard in 2020.
Clémentine Schindler trained with l’École supérieure de ballet du Québec and was a member of the Jeune Ballet du Québec. She has danced with Le Carré des Lombes, Sinha Danse, Fleuve Espace Danse and Cas Public. She joined COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2016. She is one of the two performers in the live film event JARDIN DE SCULPTURES ÉPHÉMÈRES by Marie Chouinard.
Luigi Luna trained at the Balletto di Siena in Italy. Pursuing his interest in contemporary dance, he attended the advanced course of the Compagnia Zappalà Danza and was a member of the company’s young troupe. In 2017, he participated in the Venice Biennale College Dance programme, performing works by William Forsythe and Benoît Lachambre. He joined COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2018
Jossua Collin Dufour first evolved in urban dance with Rockwell Family. In 2014, they graduated from the Ecole de danse contemporaine de Montréal. They has danced for Destins Croisés and collaborated with choreographers including Nico Archambault, Andrew Skeels, Sebastien Provencher, Wynn Holmes and Anne Plamondon. They joined the COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2019.
Adrian W. S. Batt graduated from the École supérieure de ballet du Québec, after starting his career at the Dance East School and completing two internships at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. His work as a performer was rewarded with a scholarship of excellence given by the Jeune scène d’affaires of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. He joins COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2019.
Celeste Robbins studied contemporary dance and theatre at Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts. She recently graduated from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a Bachelors of the Fine Arts in contemporary dance performance. She has performed in a Netflix Original Series titled “Dancing Queen’ which premiered in October of 2018. She joins COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2019.
Michael Baboolal holds a BFA in dance from Ryerson University in Toronto (2018). While pursuing his studies, he worked alongside many emerging artists as well as established company including Cirque du Soleil, Guillaume Côté and Hanna Kiel. In 2018, he participated in the Springboard Dance Montreal program, performing works by Slowdanger and Batsheva Dance Company. He joins COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2020.
Rose Gagnol, originally from France, obtained in 2015 her baccalaureate option contemporary dance at the Lycée Beaussier, in La Seyne sur Mer. She then began her higher education in dance at the OFF JAZZ establishment in Nice. There, she acquired the E.A.T (Technical Aptitude Examination) in contemporary dance. A 2021 graduate from the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM), Rose obtained a training support grant from Circuit-Est. She joined the COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD in 2021.
CONTRIBUTORS
Axel Morgenthaler – Lighting
A native of Bern, Switzerland, and since 1991 a Montrealer by adoption, Axel Morgenthaler has worked in Europe with the Swiss architect Roman Dobrovodsky, the painter Sol Lewitt and the Italian actor Massimo Rocchi. Morgenthaler splits his time working for several dance, music and theatre companies in Québec, Europe and the U.S., including La La La Human Steps, Christian Mattis and O Vertigo. To his long list of credits has been added his participation in numerous multimedia projects.
Liz Vandal – Costumes
Liz Vandal began her career in 1990 as a fashion designer, quickly establishing a solid reputation. She is a costume designer, make-up artist and hairstylist, and her work in film, theatre and dance provides opportunities to fully explore her creativity. She has worked with the likes of La La La Human Steps and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Liz Vandal has designed the costumes for more then ten works in COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD’s repertoire.
Jacques-Lee Pelletier – Make-up
In an article in 1985 on his living sculptures, Germany’s Mode Trend magazine termed Jacques-Lee Pelletier an avant-garde make-up artist, a fashion designer, a philosopher and a poet of beauty. In addition to teaching at the National Theatre School of Canada, Jacques-Lee Pelletier works with top directors and specialists in theatre, dance, photography, video, advertising, hairdressing and television. He has been one of Marie Chouinard’s collaborators since 1987.
COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD
Executive and Artistic Director: Marie Chouinard, Managing Director and Production Manager : Jérémie Boucher, Controller: Monika Gruszka, Production Coordinator: Félix Lefebvre, Tour Manager : Martin Coutu, Technical Director: Jimmy Lakatos Administration Coordinator : Cyril Fonseca, Rehearsal Director: Tony Chong, Kimberly de Jong, Isabelle Poirier, Amy Shulman, Lucie Vigneault and Carol Prieur. International Development Manager : Julie George Representation: Julie George (Europe), Cathy Pruzan Artist Representative (United States), Pilar de Yzaguirre, YSARCA S.L. (Spain), Paul Tanguay (Asia), and Agence Mickaël Spinnhirny (Canada).
Board of Directors
President: François Taschereau
Vice-président : Marie Chouinard
Treasurer : Pascal Bossé
Secretary: Josette Murdock
Administrators: Sophie Banford, Valérie Dufour, Florence Girod and Stéphanie Cardinal