Helen Simard is a Montréal-based choreographer, rehearsal director, and dance researcher. After working with Solid State Breakdance for twelve years, an artist collective that combined street and contemporary dance, she switched gears in 2012 to lead her own artistic projects. Her current choreographic research explores the codes and aesthetics of rock music, creating lively, interactive, performances that challenge the conventions of stage dance forms: her most recent work, REQUIEM POP, premiered at Agora de la danse in April 2019. She is currently writing her first play, when your baby dies. Helen holds a BFA (2000) and MA (2014) in contemporary dance.
With a resumé that boasts workshops and speaking engagements, battling and performing around the world with his crew ILLAbilities, Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli’s rise could be seen as nothing short of meteoric. Helen Simard spoke with Patuelli about his career and what’s next on his roster.
In her latest work, choreographer Andrea Peña uses “sameness,” or repetition, as a catalyst for change, highlighting the transformative nature of the body as it oscillates between a site of resilience and vulnerability.
Posted November 12, 2019Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund have a contagious, fast-paced energy and have always approached their art with a fierce passion. As co-founders of Tentacle Tribe, the Montréal-based pair have had a long creative partnership. They talk candidly about their work together and what’s next.
2019 might be the year that the Montréal stage dance community finally catches on to what’s going on in our city’s street dance scene.
Posted March 1, 2019Traditional black box theatres allow audiences and performers anonymity from each other. How does domestic performance put these relationships at the forefront of the work?
A special three-part feature on dance in Canada
In their new work, Make Banana Cry, Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson tease and out the tensions between identities and stereotypes in the layers and performance of Asian-ness in western society.
Posted April 19, 2017They work under many titles, but rehearsal directors and dance dramaturges provide essential support to the creative, technical and administrative work of choreographers and dance artists. Four practitioners who have worked in this position discuss how they understand their role and what they bring to the creative process.
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