Louise Lecavalier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louise Lecavalier 2009
Louise Lecavalier (with Frédéric Tavernini) 2012

Louise Lecavalier (born October 3, 1958 in Montreal , Canada ) is a Canadian dancer . She is considered an icon and pioneer of contemporary dance and received Canada's highest award ( OC ). Lecavalier became internationally known in the 1980s with the dance ensemble La La La Human Steps under the choreography of Édouard Lock.

Life

Louise Lecavalier grew up in the French-speaking Canadian province of Québec , in Montreal. At the age of 15 she decided to become a dancer, at 18 she joined the Groupe Nouvelle Aire . There she met Édouard Lock. The New York Times first mentioned her in an avant-garde appearance in February 1979.

La La La Human Steps

In 1981 Lock founded La La La Human Steps with Lecavalier ; she became the front dancer of the group and inspired Lock to all of his subsequent works. Lecavalier shaped the group's style, which is known for its acrobatic elements and the use of avant-garde rock music. Her physical strength, the blonde dreadlocks , the androdgyne aesthetics and the horizontal pirouette (barrel jump, barrel roll ) became the emblem of the ensemble. On the first European tour with the piece Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel (1983), the dance critic of the London Times condemned the “extravagant” performance as incomprehensible, but found that two dancers ...

"... seemed quite gifted at performing various strange dance moves; the blonde [Louise Lecavalier] demonstrated a pleasant bravado whenever the production gave her a touch of space. "

With the productions Human Sex (1985), New Demons (1987) and Infante, c'est destroy (1991) the group toured worldwide and celebrated successes in Germany, France and Japan. Her collaboration with Lock and La La La ended with tracks 2 (1995) and Salt (1998).

A dance critic wrote after the New York Times premiere of Human Sex in 1985 :

“Louise Lecavalier is especially breathtaking when she rolls like a projectile towards her target partner in the air. [...] And her style - Ms. Lecavalier wears a funny widow corselet , tights, jogging shoes and a mustache - is also different from everything else. There is something touching about watching a younger generation reinvent the wheel, however naive: This difference in approach defines our time "

In 1985, Louise Lecavalier was the first Canadian artist to receive the Bessie Award in New York for her dance in Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel (1983). In 1990 she appeared with the pop singer David Bowie on his world tour Sound + Vision and played the leading female role in his music video Fame. 1991/1992 she worked in Berlin with the musician Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern . In 1996, she appeared in the film Inspirations by Michael Apted on. In May 1999 she received Canada's highest honor for dancers, the Jean A. Chalmers National Award .

Solo projects since 1999

In 2003 she danced with Tedd Robinson in Lula and the Sailor , in winter 2005 she co-produced Cobalt Rouge with the National Arts Center in Ottawa , the Biennale di Venezia and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. The music was composed by Yannick Rieu. On December 7th, 2012 she danced the premiere of So Blue in Düsseldorf . The solo piece is Lecavalier's first work as a choreographer. Her latest choreography, Battleground , also premiered in Düsseldorf on February 13, 2016. Louise Lecavalier occasionally teaches dance at New York University . She lives in Montreal with her children.

Pieces (selection)

  • Oranges. (1981)
  • Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel. (1983)
  • Human sex. (1985)
  • New demons. (1987)
  • Infante, C'est destroy. (1991)
  • 2. (1995)
  • Salt. (1998)
  • Lula and the Sailor
  • Cobalt rouge. (2005)
  • So blue. (2012)
  • Battleground (2016)

Movies and videos

  • The Mondo Beyondo Show. (1982) (TV)
  • Carole Laures "Danse avant de tomber" (1989)
  • David Bowie's "Fame '90" music video (1990)
  • The Yellow Shark. by Frank Zappa (1992) (TV)
  • Velasquez's Little Museum. (1994)
  • Pour tout dire. - Module 3 (1995)
  • Pour tout dire. - Module 4 (1995)
  • Strange days. (1995) (as Cindy 'Vita' Minh)
  • Inspirations. (1997) (as herself)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Governor General to Invest 43 Recipients into the Order of Canada . In: approx . Governor General of Canada . March 31, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  2. ^ Lock in the English Wikipedia Édouard Lock
  3. ↑ Jennifer Dunning: Groupe Nouvelle Aire at Riverside Church. New York Times, February 9, 1979, p. C31
  4. ↑ John Percival: La La La Riverside. The Times, Nov 5, 1983, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Anna Kisselgoff: Edouard Lock's Punk Style . New York Times, October 6, 1985. Translated from the American
personal data
SURNAME Lecavalier, Louise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian dancer
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd October 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal , Canada