Louise Bédard

Montreal-based choreographer Louise Bédard is known for her poetic and intense choreographic vocabulary. Moved by the beauty and fragility of individuals, the choreographer is inspired by the depth and complexity of human relationships. Award-winner of the 1996 Prix d'Auteur des 5es Rencontre chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (Bagnolet, France) for her group piece "Dans les fougères foulées du regard" , Louise Bédard is a prolific and accomplished choreographer having created over twenty dance work to date. In 1997, she received the Chalmers National Dance Award in Canada, for the same work as well as for her solo "Cartes postales de Chimère" (1996). This award, which is the highest recognition in dance in the country, honoured her outstanding contribution to creativity and performance in Canada. Since the foundation of her company in 1990, Louise Bédard has toured extensively in Canada, the United States and Europe. The most significant pieces of her repertoire includes the triptyque "Les métamorphoses clandestines" (1991), "Vierge Noire" (1993) and "Dans les fougères foulées du regard" (1996), as well as the duo "À l'ombre" (1989), the solos "Braise Blanche" (1990) and "Cartes postales de Chimère" (1996) and the company's most recent group piece "URBANIA BOX, je n'imagine rien" (1999) presented on a Canadian tour recently. The duo "Te souvient-il?", a Louise Bédard Danse and Sylvain Émard Danse co-production is a piece choreographed and performed by Louise Bédard and Sylvain Émard. It premiered at Théâtre La Chapelle in Montreal in March 2000, and was then presented at the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa later in June. In April 2000, Louise Bédard embarked on her next creation "Elles", which commenced during a residency at the Centre culturel Aragon, in Tremblay-en-France, in France. Louise Bédard joined forces with the remarkable dancer Sophie Corriveau for "Elles". The creative process of this new piece has been spread out over a series of residencies outside Montreal, beginning in France, pursued at the Centennial Theatre, in Lennoxville, Quebec, in August, 2000, and continued in Hermosillo, Mexico, under the auspices of the Producciones La Lagríma, in January, 2001. In November and December 2001, Louise Bédard undertook residencies in Tlaxcala, Mexico, and at the Centro Cultural Helenico in Mexico City. "Elles" was premiered at the Théâtre La Chapelle in Montreal in November 2002. In 2003 she developed "La femme ovale", her latest solo choreography.
To date at PACT