NAC Associate Dance Artist Louise Lecavalier, an icon of Canadian contemporary dance, kicks off the 2014-15 season of NAC Dance with her first self-choreographed work, So Blue, in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre on October 8-9 at 7:30 p.m.

“Often imitated, never equalled” (Le Monde), Louise Lecavalier has enjoyed a prestigious career as a dancer, simultaneously embodying and defining the works of some of Canada’s brightest choreographers, notably Edouard Lock, and attaining the status of “dance rock star” through her collaborations with the likes of Frank Zappa and David Bowie. She has mesmerized audiences with her frenetic and intensely physical style of dance for over three decades.

So Blue, a National Arts Centre co-production, marks a new chapter in Lecavalier’s impressive career. The work, which has toured extensively in Canada and abroad, is the artist’s first as choreographer. This two-part maelstrom of movement first features Lecavalier in a 30-minute solo, during which she explores the possibilities of movement without constraint. With her signature focus on the body, strength and physicality, Lecavalier dances at an extraordinary speed to the music of Mercan Dede, famed Turkish world music composer/musician.

In the second half of the work Lecavalier is joined by Frédéric Tavernini, a Montreal-based, French ballet-trained dancer, as they dance and duel wildly on stage, seemingly headed for collision but always acutely aware of one another.

The premiere of So Blue at the National Arts Centre comes at the height of what you could easily call “The Year of Louise Lecavalier,” following closely on the heels of her being honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 2014 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.

ABOUT LOUISE LECAVALIER / FOU GLORIEUX

Louise Lecavalier worked with Edouard Lock and La La La Human Steps from 1981 to 1999, a period of exceptional intensity, along with scintillating collaborations (David Bowie, Frank Zappa). Her extreme dance, filled with a fiery energy, caught the imagination of a whole generation. Following 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), Louise has continued to explore, in solos and duets, the power and vulnerability of the body and the intensity of human struggles and aspirations with her company, Fou Glorieux. An Officer of the Order of Canada, Louise is the first Canadian to have received a Bessie Award (New York) and the first winner of the Prix de la danse de Montréal. In March 2014 Louise Lecavalier and Fou Glorieux won two very prestigious awards, almost back to back. The company received the 29th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal and Lecavalier 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.

ABOUT SO BLUE
 

SO BLUE

CONCEIVED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY Louise Lecavalier

PERFORMED by Louise Lecavalier and Frédéric Tavernini

MUSIC Mercan Dede

LIGHTING Alain Lortie

ADDITIONAL MUSIC Normand-Pierre Bilodeau, Daft Punk, Meiko Kaji

REMIXING PRODUCER Normand-Pierre Bilodeau

COSTUME DESIGN Yso

DURATION 60 minutes, without intermission

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES

Louise Lecavalier / Fou Glorieux performs So Blue in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre on Wednesday, October 8 and Thursday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, $40, $49 and $55 for adults and $22, $26.50 and $29.50 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card).

Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613 947-7000 x634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

Tickets are available for purchase:

• in person at the NAC Box Office;
• at all Ticketmaster outlets; *
• by telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS);
• online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (www.nac-cna.ca). *

* A service charge applies to all purchases made through Ticketmaster.

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