Louise Bédard is a Canadian dancer, choreographer and teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

 who has been active on the contemporary dance

Contemporary dance

Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...

 scene since 1983.

Biography

Louise Bédard was born in Drummondville, Québec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. She embraced dance at a relatively late age, around 1979, developing her skills as a dancer by studying with numerous teachers in many parts of the world. She progressively took on choreography while interacting with choreographers like Jean-Pierre Perreault, Paul-André Fortier

Paul-André Fortier

Paul-André Fortier is a Canadian choreographer and dancer, living in Montreal.Paul-André Fortier’s career as a dancer started in 1973 with Groupe Nouvelle Aire in Montreal, where well-known choreographers of the same generation such as Edouard Lock, Ginette Laurin, or Daniel Léveillé were...

, Ginette Laurin, Jeanne Renaud, Sylvain Émard and many others.

Based in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, she has created most of her work through her own dance company called Louise Bédard Danse. She is also one the founding members of Circuit-Est Centre Chorégrahique and has been a guest professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal

Université du Québec à Montréal

The Université du Québec à Montréal is one of four universities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Basic facts:The UQAM is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québec , a public university system with other branches in Gatineau , Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and...

 Dance Department from 2006 to 2010.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards such as the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize in 1983, the prestigious Prix d'Auteur des Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis in 1996 and the Jean A. Chalmers National Dance Award in 1997. More recently, she and her company were nominated as the dance finalist for the 2005 Grand Prize of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal.

Artistic approach

Her choreographic approach is strongly influenced by her own style as a dancer.

Bédard's choreography converges with her performance style, at once meticulous and infinitely subtle. Every gesture is clearly defined, from the flicker of a cheek muscle to the flexing of a fingertip. Lighting designs and sets are constructed with the same care as her movement. The works are layered; their collective impact is poignantly emotional, a revelation of delicacy and intellect.

In many of her works, she has sought her inspiration in the works of various visual artists, notably Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist.- Early life :Modotti was born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini in Udine, Friuli, Italy...

, Hannah Höch

Hannah Höch

Hannah Höch was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage.-Biography:...

 and Marianna Gartner

Marianna Gartner

Marianna Gartner is a Canadian painter. Gartner was born in Winnipeg but moved to Calgary during her early childhood. She currently lives and works in Vancouver and Europe.-Commentary on her work:...

.

Solos

• Ex-Libris (2005)
• La Femme ovale (2003)
• Tragédie miniature (1999)
• Cascando (1999)
• Créature (1997)
• Cartes postales de Chimère (1996)
• Elle ne se montre qu'aux siens (1995)
• Manngärd (1992)
• Dix stations (1991)
• Quelque part (1990)
• Braise Blanche (1990)
• M'A (1989)

Duets

• Vivement dimanche (2004)
• Elles (2002)
• Te souvient-il? (2000)
• Salon des regards perdus (1992)
• À l'ombre (1989)
• Lapse (1989)

Ensemble works

• Enfin vous zestes (Finally You Are) (sextet, 2008)
• Ces silences parmi les autres (2007)
• Ce qu'il en reste (What remains) (sextet, 2005)
• Seven Ways to Tell Time (trio, 2005)
• Tanka (trio, 2000)
• Urbania Box, je n'imagine rien (sextet 1999)
• Esquisse à quatre mains pour quelques gestes inatendus (trio, 1997)
• Dans les fougères foulées du regard (sextet, 1995)
• Promenade avec Walser (sextet, 1994)
• Vierge Noire (quintet, 1993)
• Rive cour, rive jardin (quartet, 1990)
• Les Métamorphoses clandestines (quartet, 1991)
• F...électricité (trio, 1989)

Honours

• 1983 : Jacqueline Lemieux Prize
• 1996 : Prix d'Auteur - 5^e Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis
• 1997 : Jean A. Chalmers National Dance Award
• 2005 : Dance Finalist - Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal

Further reading

• Louise Bédard at The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
  
  

External links

• Louise Bédard Danse