For Immediate Release
Mar. 16, 2009, 2:45 p.m.
World-Class Dance Company Visits The Grand April 1
Extraordinary Compagnie Marie Chouinard To Perform Two Works
A fixture on the world's major stage and festivals, the acclaimed Compagnie Marie Chouinard will perform two of its most seductive and mesmerizing works. The company will perform 24 Preludes by Chopin and The Rite of Spring and on Wednesday, April 1, at 8 p.m. at the Grand Theatre. Please note this performance has partial nudity.
The performance opens with one of the company's signature works, 24 Preludes by Chopin. This is a pure, lavish piece consisting of movements that marry gentleness with strength, and subtlety with rawness. Set to the gorgeous music of Chopin, the work evokes feelings from chastity to passion, introspection to ardour, and submission to rebellion. Chouinard transposes states of meditative insight and visceral agitation into a vast terrain of forbidden games sculpted by light.
24 Preludes is "...a remarkable flow of energy through an undulating body, fluttering hands, flexed feet and wrists, and contrast between dancers rooted to the spot and those who are more active." - New York Times
Amidst Marie Chouinard's vast body of work, The Rite of Spring represents an important milestone as her first choreography based on a pre-existing musical score. Set to Igor Stravinsky's music, the cadence and force of the beat inspire, accompany, and energize the dancers' movements, forming both the echo and the musical counterpoint for an organic, vigorous, and vivid piece of choreography. Since its creation in 1993, The Rite of Spring has often been praised as an avant-garde work renowned for its compelling interpretation of the moment when life begins.
"Marie Chouinard's Rite of Spring is, in short, a masterpiece." - Pittsburgh Tribune Review
From 1978 to 1990, Marie Chouinard, performing alone throughout the world, created and interpreted over 50 solo choreographic productions, action-performances, vocal works, installations and films. Her travels (New York, Berlin, Bali, Nepal), her curiosity, her eclectic studies and her understanding of various techniques allow her to explore the body in different ways. In 1990 she formed the Compagnie Marie Chouinard .
Since its creation, the company has presented over 900 performances everywhere around the world. The company receives invitations from the world's most prestigious theatres and festivals. The Compagnie Marie Chouinard obtains co-productions with some of the greatest names of the world of arts: the Biennale de Venise, the ImPulsTanz-Vienna International Dance Festival, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbonne, Movimentos Festwochender Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Fondazione Musica Per Roma in Rome, as well as Festival TransAmériques and the Place des Arts in Montreal, or the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The company often has the honour to open or to close festivals, and it is regularly invited to present more than a piece from its repertory. Fifteen years after its creation, for instance, the masterpiece The Rite of Spring is still presented. Another work by Marie Chouinard, 24 Preludes by Chopin, became part of the National Ballet of Canada's repertory in 2008.
Marie Chouinard was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007. She has also received several awards for her contribution to the world of dance and arts: in 2006, the Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal; in 2003, the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in Ottawa; in 2000, a Bessie Award in New York and in 1994, the Paper Boat Award in Glasgow.
Single tickets are $39 and $34. For tickets contact the Grand Theatre Box Office, Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. at 613-530-2050 or grandtheatre2@cityofkingston.ca. Visit the Grand Theatre online at www.kingstongrand.ca.
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Media contact information:
Julie Fossitt, Marketing Administrator for the Grand Theatre at 613-546-4291 ext. 1143 or jfossitt@cityofkingston.ca
