Louise Lecavalier

Louise Lecavalier worked with Édouard Lock and La La La Human Steps from 1981 to 1999, a period of exceptional intensity punctuated by works that have since become mythical —Oranges, Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel, Human Sex, New Demons, Infante, 2, and Salt — along with scintillating collaborations (David Bowie, Frank Zappa). Her extreme dance, filled with a fiery energy, caught the imagination of a whole generation. Since that time she has continued to explore with her company, Fou Glorieux, in solos and duets, the power and vulnerability of the body and the intensity of human struggles and aspirations. After fruitful collaborations with artists Tedd Robinson (Lula and the Sailor, Cobalt rouge), Benoît Lachambre (“I” Is Memory, Is You Me), Crystal Pite (Lone Epic) and Nigel Charnock (Children), she created her first choreographic work, So Blue, in 2012, which is currently touring in Europe, North America and Brazil. An Officer of the Order of Canada, Lecavalier is the first Canadian to have received a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award and the first winner of the Prix de la danse de Montréal. She is also a recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers National Dance Award, the Prix du Syndicat français de la critique and the 2013 Léonide Massine Prize for contemporary dancer of the year. In March 2014, Lecavalier and her company won two very prestigious awards. The company received the 29th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal, and the performer was among the winners of the illustrious 2014 Governor General Performing Arts Award (GGPAA) for lifetime artistic achievement, Canada’s highest distinction in the performing arts. In March 2015, Lecavalier was named a Companion of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, among 35 personalities honoured for their contribution to the resonance of Quebec’s culture.