contributors
Alexis Bowles – lighting and notation
Alexis Bowles has been working on the COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD's choreographic notation projects since 2009. He is in charge of the technical aspects : lighting notation, sound, spacing, etc. Alexis assisted Marie Chouinard in creating the lights of the ballet Orpheus and Eurydice (2008). He has also worked with Daniele Finzi Pasca for Nebbia - Cirque Eloize (produced by Les Productions Nebbia) and Eric Lousteau Carrer for Le Sacre du printemps and L'homme de bois (produced by Copenhagen Opera House). He also creates and remixes electronical music pieces.
Luc Courchesne – costumes
Luc Courchesne holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s in visual science. He has been interested in interactive video since 1984 and, in collaboration with a group from MIT, made Elastic Movies, one of the first works in the genre. His installations and works have been shown in a dozen countries, notably at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. He has been a professor at the School of Industrial Design at the Université de Montréal since 1986. Has contributed to: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, CORPS CÉLESTES, Icônes and Cantique no 1 and Cantique no 3.
Louis Dufort – music
Louis Dufort is a Montreal composer. His productions are numerous and varied: fixed support, mixed with live processing, visual music and installations. He receives commissions from various ensembles and music organizations: ACREQ (Quebec association for electroacoustic creation and research), SMCQ (the Quebec Contemporary Music Society), RÉSEAUX, Chants libres, Codes d’Accès, ECM+ (Ensemble contemporain de Montréal), the Quasar Saxophone Quartet, the Quatuor Bozzini string quartet, The Users, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, ZKM (Germany), SIXTRUM and ICI Radio-Canada. He has been a regular creative collaborator with COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD since 1996. In parallel with his work as composer, Louis Dufort teaches composing at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and is artistic director of the AKOUSMA festival.
Benoît Lachambre – performer
From 1978 to 1990, Benoît Lachambre worked as choreographer, performer, improviser and teacher. In New York in the mid-’80’s, he began research in releasing, choreography and improvisation techniques with Stephanie Skura and Nina Martin. In 1990, he began teaching and leading workshops in research, improvisation and body consciousness. In the same period, he also danced for Marie Chouinard and Meg Stuart and performed throughout Europe. In 1996, he founded his own company par b.l.eux. Benoît Lachambre received the Jacqueline-Lemieux prize in 1998 from the Canada Council for the Arts. After the performance of his solo Délire Défait in Toronto, he received, in the dance categories, the 2001 Dora Mavor Moore Award, both for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding New Choreography. His most recent choreographic work is concerned with the dynamics of communication and perception expressed through a growing use of improvisation and performance art in dance. In 2003, he received the Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film and Video Award for Best Performance for his interpretation in Marie Chouinard’s film, Cantique no. 1, in Toronto.
Jimmy Lakatos – video
Fresh out of the visual arts milieu of the Université de Montréal, Jimmy Lakatos is a visual designer and video consultant in the corporate and art worlds. Some of his projects include the Communion du Corps Indice, Théâtre Ubu’s Urfaust, Michel Lemieux’s Orfeo and Harmonie 2000, the Théâtre de la Dame de coeur, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and the ADISQ Gala. A co-founder of Artificiel.net, he has been working for several years to integrate video into the theatre, developing in particular the concept of video sculpture. He has contributed to: Cantique no. 1 and Soft virtuosity, still humid, on the edge.
Guillaume Lord – set design
Guillaume Lord has created sets for theatre, television, the circus (Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize), variety (Arturo Brachetti, Eros Ramazzotti), musical comedy (Don Juan) and dance (Shann Hounsell, Ginette Laurin, Jean Grand-Maître). He has designed sets for works such as Le temps et la chambre (Masque award for sets and the Prix Gascon-Roux), Art, La Grande Magia, and worked with Lorraine Pintal, Claude Poissant, André Brassard and Serge Denoncourt. Guillaume Lord has also designed exhibits for the Musée du Québec and art directed numerous films and documentaries. Has contributed to : GYMNOPÉDIES and THE GOLDEN MEAN (LIVE)
Alain Lortie – lighting
Alain Lortie’s personal style is well known. His colours and above all his great sensitivity to the work of other artists have earned him fruitful collaborations with many big names in song, music, dance and theatre. Self-taught, he is constantly developing on a technical and artistic level and has won a number of awards for his talented work. Alain Lortie is also a consultant and designer for many architectural projects and numerous cultural events and festivals. Has contributed to : GYMNOPÉDIES, PRELUDE TO THE AFTERNOON OF A FAUN and LES TROUS DU CIEL.
Louis Montpetit – costumes
Louis Montpetit studied science and electro-acoustic music and has simultaneously pursued numerous creative paths, leading him from costume design to structural topography. He is equally interested in illustration and composition. His images have illustrated the covers of numerous books and magazines. He has composed music for several works of choreography as well as soundtracks for films and videos. He also works with computer-generated illustration and designs multidisciplinary CD-Roms. Has contributed to: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.
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. Has contributed to: Chorale,Étude no. 1, Le Cri du monde, 24 Preludes by Chopin and Des feux dans la nuit.
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.
Rober Racine – music
Rober Racine studied literature, art history and film at the Université de Montréal. His works have been presented in numerous galleries and museums in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan. He exhibited his works at the Sydney Biennial in Australia (1990), the Venice Biennial (1990), and at Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1992). In 2001, the National Gallery of Canada mounted a retrospective of his works. He has published the following novels: Le Mal de Vienne (1992), Là-bas, tout près (1997) and L’Ombre de la terre (2002); a short narrative: Le Dictionnaire (1998), and a dramatic text: Le Cœur de Mattingly. In 1999, he was awarded two prestigious Canadian awards: the Prix Ozias Leduc and the Prix Louis Comtois for the body of his work. Rober Racine has collaborated with Marie Chouinard since 1978. Has contributed to: Des feux dans la nuit and The Rite of Spring.
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, the Cirque du Soleil and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Liz Vandal has designed the costumes for eleven works in Compagnie Marie Chouinard’s repertoire : GYMNOPÉDIES, THE GOLDEN MEAN (LIVE), morning glories :)-(: , Orpheus and Eurydice, bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS, Chorale, Étude no 1, Le Cri du monde, 24 Preludes by Chopin, Des feux dans la nuit and The Rite of Spring.