About the Work
As part of its 50th Anniversary season, Ballets Jazz Montréal has curated ESSENCE, a triple bill that includes We Can’t Forget About What’s His Name, a new creation by Ausia Jones, Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue by Crystal Pite, and Les Chambres des Jacques by Aszure Barton. The landmark anniversary program pays homage to the company’s roots but also serves as a springboard for a new artistic vision — a balance between the company’s DNA and the evolution of its mission into the next half-century.
Throughout its history, the company hasn’t been afraid to explore new ideas and ways of moving. Moreover, the company’s high calibre dancers have used their distinct personalities to bring life to the movement and stories evolving on stage. This fearless vulnerability and humanity are what have allowed the company to connect to their audiences and how audiences have been able to see themselves in the artists. Standing in this truth, this program is symbolic and contains voices that can carry and drive Ballets Jazz Montréal forward.
Artistic Director Alexandra Damiani’s kinetic response to the work of Aszure Barton and Crystal Pite was an indicator that these artists — whose talent was cultivated by Ballets Jazz Montréal at the beginning of their choreographic careers — are the perfect ambassadors for the company. Innovative,
Credits
We Can’t Forget About What’s His Name
Choreography Ausia Jones
Music Jasper Gahunia, Stephen Krecklo & William Lamoureux
aka Earth Boring
Costume Design Anne-Marie Veevaete
Lighting Design Claude Plante
Duration 22 minutes
- PAUSE -
Ten Duets On A Theme Of Rescue
Choreography Crystal Pite
Stager Cindy Salgado
Music Solaris by Cliff Martinez
Costume Design Linda Chow
Lighting Design Jim French
Duration 14 minutes
- INTERMISSION -
sensual, human, complex — the work by these prolific choreographers, who constantly use their voices and platform to explore and push against their limits, also moves the milieu forward. They challenge. They go beyond. They refuse to settle for safe.
In order to complement these two established artistic voices, Damiani had a strong desire to cultivate emerging talent similar to Ballets Jazz Montréal founder, Geneviève Salbaing. Having been mentored by William Forsythe, Ausia Jones has a choreographic voice that reflects her generation — confident, witty, spontaneous, informed. Her movement language offers the audience another perspective during this evening — one that is inspired by diverse movement languages, groove, and counterpoint.
The company will step onto the stage for the next 50 years taking these distinct voices with them — ones that are alive, adapting, listening, reacting, innovating, and evolving. This is the DNA of Ballets Jazz Montréal and the ESSENCE of this program.
Ballets Jazz Montréal would like to thank the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Foundation for the support given to the creation of the show.
Les Chambres Des Jacques
Choreoraphy Aszure Barton
Assistant to Choreographer Andrew Murdock
Music Gilles Vigneault, Antonio Vivaldi, Les Yeux Noirs, The Cracow Klezmer Band & Alberto Iglesias
Lighting Daniel Ranger
Costume Design Rémi Van Bochove
Duration 32 minutes
Technical Director Marco Vargas Navarro
Head Carpenter Daniel Ranger
Head of Sound Maxime Lambert
Head of Lighting Claude Plante
Assistant Roderic Dyon
Artists Alyssa Allen, Gustavo Barros, Yosmell Calderon Mejias, John Canfield, Tuti Cedeño, Astrid Dangeard, Shanna Irwin, Miu Kato, DaMond LeMonte Garner, Larissa Leung, Austin Lichty, Marcel Mejia, and Andrew Mikhaiel
Coproduced by the National Arts Centre of Canada and Danse Danse
Cast Team
Read the dancers’ full biographies by scanning this QR code with your smartphone’s camera
Artistic Director Alexandra Damiani
Rehearsal Director Ching Ching Wong
Artistic Coordinator Andrew Mikhaiel
Principal Artist Yosmell Calderon Mejias
Artists Alyssa Allen, Gustavo Barros, John Canfield, Tuti Cedeño, Astrid Dangeard, Shanna Irwin, Miu Kato, DaMond LeMonte Garner, Larissa Leung, Austin Lichty, Marcel Mejia, and Andrew Mikhaiel
Executive Director Marie-Joëlle Tremblay
Head of Administration and Finance Liane Barriault
Tour Director and Production Manager Josée Kleinbaum
Marketing and Communications Manager Tony Bougiouris
Development and Partnerships Manager Alexandra Kukuc
Accounting Technician and Administrative Coordinator
Gabrielle Paquin
Technical Director Marco Vargas Navarro
Head Carpenter Daniel Ranger
Head of Sound Maxime Lambert
Head of Lighting Claude Plante
Head of Video Steve Montambault
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President François Vaqué
Vice-president Hélène Lamarre
Treasurer Odile Poupart
Secretary Brigitte Nepveu
Administrators Noémie Brière-Marquez, Steve Desgagné, Matyas Gabor, Elizabeth Heurtelou, Paul Juneau, Alexandre Lagarde, Tammy Peddle, Anie Perreault, Olivier Perron-Collins, and Line Tanguay
FOLLOW BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL
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Larissa Leung Miu Kato Alyssa Allen Yosmell Mejias Gustavo Barros DaMond Garner Tuti Cedeño Astrid Dangeard Shanna Irwin Austin Lichty Marcel Mejia
John Canfield
Andrew Mikhaiel
About Ballets Jazz Montréal
Founded in 1972 by Geneviève Salbaing, Eva Von Gencsy and Eddy Toussaint, Ballets Jazz Montréal is a contemporary dance repertory company which, under the artistic direction of Alexandra Damiani, creates, produces, and presents on local, national, and international stages.
Among the artistic directors of the company who have greatly marked its evolution, company founder Geneviève Salbaing, driven by her visceral love of dance, led Ballets Jazz Montréal with passion and determination for over 20 years. Upon his appointment as artistic director in 1998, Louis Robitaille, reoriented the company towards an audience curious to discover new choreographic forms. In June 2021, Alexandra Damiani took over the artistic direction of Ballets Jazz Montréal and will carry out the company’s mission and vision into the future.
The company engages internationally renowned choreographers to develop their own research in line with its identity and generates a repertoire that is both exclusive to the company and accessible to all audiences. The company’s impressive roster of talented and influential choreographers includes Crystal Pite, Aszure Barton, Mauro Bigonzetti, Andonis Foniadakis, Itzik Galili, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Barak Marshall, Benjamin Millepied, Ihsan Rustem, Anne Plamondon, and Juliano Nunes, to name a few. As an ambassador of Quebec dance to the world, Ballets Jazz Montréal offers an artistic product that is explosive, original, accessible, and noted for the excellence of its performance.
All of Ballets Jazz’s work bring an element of humanity, fearlessness, and emotion in addition to the highly technical skill that each dance requires. Additionally, each piece is nuanced, multilayered and often multidisciplinary — combining other artistic disciplines such as theatre, video, and music. With accessibility and quality as key values, the company successfully integrates pleasure and humanity into their strong, expressive, and demanding pieces. Moreover, the distinct personalities and high caliber of its performers further add to the quality that is expected from the company and play a key role in maintaining the company’s reputation and influence in the dance world.
Through their productions, performances, and educational activities, Ballets Jazz Montréal encourages discovery, stimulates imagination, and shares its passion for this discipline to all its audiences — both local and abroad. With more than 3,250 performances in 60 countries and an audience of nearly 3 million, Ballets Jazz Montréal is considered one of the world’s leading ambassadors of Québec dance and artistic vitality.
In 2016, the Prix Rideau Hommage was awarded to the company and its artistic director at the time, Louis Robitaille, in recognition of BJM’s impact and continued presence on Québec stages.
In 2020, the company received the Prix de la danse de Montréal for the category of international dissemination presented by CINARS.
In 2022, the company celebrated 50 years of creating, exploring, and connecting with its audiences.
(Left): Ballets Jazz Montréal in We Can’t Forget About What’s His Name (Rigjt); Ballets Jazz Montréal in Les Chambres de Jacques .
Photos: Sasha Onyshchenko
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