Provoquer l'exceptionnel EN version

FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

© MICHAEL SLOBODIAN

L’ÉCOLE SUPÉRIEURE DE BALLET DU QUÉBEC In service of excellence since 1966

Our pioneering founder

Ludmilla Chiriaeff was a true pioneer, bringing Quebec society its first institution dedicated entirely to training professional dancers: the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. She also founded Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, one of the country’s leading dance companies.

In 2024, the École supérieure will mark this exceptional woman’s centennial. She was recently named a Personnage historique du Québec by the provincial government.

International acclaim

While we can proudly admire our former students’ performances with major Quebec companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballets Jazz Montréal, Compagnie Marie Chouinard and RUBBERBAND, to name a few, several of our alumni are also excelling with major international companies, including Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin (France), Opéra de Paris, Ballet Zürich, Ballet of Difference (Cologne), Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and Staatsballet Berlin.

Our motto: developing excellence, creating emotion

A proven springboard to a professional dance career, the École supérieure’s professional performance program enables its graduates to achieve a very high level of technical accomplishment in classical and contemporary dance, opening the way for them to embody even the most eclectic artistic visions created by today’s dance companies.

training

Recipient of numerous honours, including: Companion of the Order of Canada

Grand officier de l’Ordre National du Québec Nijinsky Award

Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Prix Denise-Pelletier, presented by the government of Quebec

The only francophone institution in North America providing world-class ballet

Ludmilla Chiriaeff

MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE

Our philosophy

Each student’s fulfillment as an artist and as a human being is central to our mission. The undeniable educational richness of ballet ensures that students develop the physical strength and technical ability to foster the emergence of the skills that shape young artists. Versatility, creativity, curiosity: these are the assets they develop throughout their training – assets that will help them thrive in their dance career and beyond.

Exceptional young people

Several of our graduates, some of whom received scholarships from our foundation, now dance with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, our school’s sister company and key partner.

© SASHA ONYSHCHENKO

© PETER MORNEAU

FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

Today, the foundation needs to move to the next level, with longer-term planning for its support of the École supérieure. The goal of our campaign is very simple: to build an endowment fund for the long-term health of the foundation and to meet the immediate needs of the École supérieure. Our main plans are to enhance our scholarships, improve the physical and psychological health services available to students, and fund the creation of an exercise room. The financial objective is $3M, including $1M in planned donations, to meet future requirements and ensure that tomorrow’s young artists reach their full potential.

For our young dancers, being exceptional means diligent work, great precision and deep passion. This is your opportunity to support these young athletes and their extraordinary passion for their art, where they focus all of their energy and ambitions. Join us to bring out the best in them. Create the exceptional!

THE FOUNDATION

Since its inception in 2015, the foundation’s mission has been to provide financial support for the École supérieure de ballet du Québec’s pursuit of excellence. It also works to promote the recognition, success and progress of our dancers in Canada and around the world.

EXCELLENCE FUND – ANIK BISSONNETTE $ 1.8 M

Scholarships – Health – Artistic development

GENERAL FUND – LUDMILLA CHIRIAEFF $ 1M

Infrastructure and equipment

BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE LA DANSE VICENT-WARREN FUND $ 200K

anada’s largest library specializing in dance ..............

I am very proud to join the Provoquez l’exceptionnel fundraising campaign. It is a way to pay tribute to the vision of my mother, Ludmilla Chiriaeff, and to ensure that Quebec can continue to offer our young artists world-class professional dance training.

As my mother used to say, “dance is movement, and movement is life.” Day after day, year after year, the École supérieure de ballet du Québec provides its students a rich education, recognized for training the performers, creators and teachers who will be our society’s future cultural leaders. With your support, the campaign will help the École supérieure reach new heights and achieve new ambitions. Won’t you join us?

Katia Mead Honorary chair Provoquez l’exceptionnel fundraising campaign

GOAL 3 M $

© HAMISH BRIGGS

EXCELLENCE FUND – ANIK BISSONNETTE Scholarships – Health – Artistic development

Nothing is dearer to my heart than being able to give Quebec’s young people the means to achieve their ambitions and shine on stages around the world. This fund helps protect the physical and mental health of these athletes at a crucial time of life, an ever more pressing issue that I have worked on tirelessly in recent years.

GOAL $ 1.8 M

That is why I am appealing to your generosity. The students have all the courage, perseverance and talent they need, but they also need your financial support to develop – as both artists and citizens – in the best possible conditions. Their success is in your hands.

Anik Bissonnette

THE SCHOLARSHIPS

Give the young people of today and tomorrow the opportunity to reach the stars, regardless of their financial situation. Help us ensure the long-term health of our scholarship program and secure the future for our students.

The École supérieure’s foundation has helped numerous talented young people achieve their full potential. It offers support scholarships to students from lower-income households, and excellence scholarships for deserving students, both to recognize their exceptional work and to facilitate their transition to the professional world.

A scholarship recipient’s testimonial

Having received scholarships for almost my entire time at the École supérieure, it is partly thanks to the foundation that I am now working in the profession that I trained for diligently for 11 years. Without the foundation, the dream of dancing for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens would have remained just a dream.

Without a scholarship or financial aid, it would have been impossible for me to continue my training. I would have had to leave the school. The support I received from the foundation and its donors was a real source of motivation. I came to realize that people believed in me and in my talent, and that my family’s financial situation would not stop me from achieving my goal. Working hard and giving my very best every day was my way of thanking them and showing my gratitude.

Tatiana Lerebours, Grands Ballets dancer, ESBQ class of 2020

© SASHA ONYSHCHENKO

© CARL LESSARD

HEALTH

Give young athletes access to the best specialists and injury-prevention techniques, as well as a range of services that help them learn in a healthy environment. Help us provide ongoing health services for current and future students.

FOR THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

A pioneer in prioritizing the physical and mental health of its students, the École supérieure is one of the first institutions to offer mental preparation coaching as well as nutrition and performance improvement workshops.

With your help, the foundation plans to improve the resources and assistance available to students. The demands of dance are evolving, and students need to adapt and prepare. Your support will make it possible to:

• Increase the number of one-on-one meetings between students and our physical and mental health specialists

• Ensure weekly sessions with our mental preparation and performance improvement specialist;

• Continue running workshops in psychology, mental preparation, nutrition, cooking, foot care and physical conditioning

• Enhance workshops on maintaining a healthy body image and sense of self-esteem, and on preventing anxiety and eating disorders

RESUMING TRAINING SOONER AFTER AN INJURY

When a student is injured in class or rehearsals, they must sometimes wait up to 12 weeks to obtain an appointment for a medical examination (MRI or other scan). During that waiting period, the young athlete must pause most of their training, which not only delays their training and expected progress but causes anxiety and loss of motivation.

With your help, the foundation will be able to offer some students medical imaging scans at a private clinic. The benefit will be considerable, because this is an expensive examination that few can afford to pay for themselves. And it will considerably shorten the time required to obtain a diagnosis and return to training. An MRI costs approximately $850, a significant expense for many families.

© MANON SÉRIGNAT-DALÉAS

GENERAL FUND – LUDMILLA CHIRIAEFF Infrastructure and equipment

Wheter to train local talents or to attract international students, we need your financial support to ensure that our students learn in an inspiring environment.

Help us maintain the infrastructure of the École supérieure and purchase the latest equipment so that our institution stays on the cutting edge and continues to be a top choice for tomorrow’s talent. Help us achieve financial security for urgent maintenance and future work, thanks to the endowment fund.

URGENT WORK – ROOF AND VENTILATION SYSTEM

GOAL $ 1M

The building requires urgent improvements to its ventilation system, while part of the roof needs to be resurfaced. The total cost of this work is significant, and despite government assistance the École supérieure must contribute $175,000 toward these pressing and essential repairs and upgrades.

A WEIGHTY PROJECT: THE EXERCISE ROOM!

The creation of a space dedicated to physical conditioning, the purchase of exercise equipment and dance-specific accessories, as well as professional supervision, will have great benefits for our dancers’ development. Comprehensive training in strength and stamina will allow them to improve their muscular strength and achieve excellence. The investment amounts to $100,000.

Daily access to an exercise room has numerous benefits for an athlete-dancer!

• General strengthening for girls and boys alike

• Specific strengthening for boys to prepare them for pas de deux (duets, portés).

• Injury prevention, maintenance of conditioning and injury rehabilitation.

• Training specific to the physical and athletic requirements of the profession.

BILBLIOTHÈQUE DE LA DANSE VINCENT-WARREN FUND

Canada’s largest library specializing in dance

GOAL $ 200K

This is your opportunity to contribute to the improvement and maintenance of one of the world’s largest collections of dance-related materials! Help the library continue its digitization work and continue teaching the history of dance, thanks to the endowment fund.

Driven by the deep conviction that recognition of the art of dance stems from knowledge of its history, artist Vincent Warren wanted to give Quebec a major library dedicated to dance. Founded in 1979, located in the same building as the l’École supérieure, the library is fulfilling its mission! It is a place for learning and sharing, and it is integral to students’ academic program thanks to dance history courses and a variety of workshops. But the Bibliothèque de la danse Vincent-Warren is a victim of its own success – it needs your help to safeguard and advance the art of dance through its collection of documents.

Currently, the library holds nearly 40,000 documents. Artists and dance companies contact the library regularly to offer donations of archival fonds. In order to be able to accept, catalogue and conserve these many cubic metres of documents in the right conditions, and to make them accessible, the library absolutely needs the proper means!

Students, professors, the university community and the general public have access to this unique place where knowledge, teaching, history and passion meet. You are an essential part of preserving this precious legacy.

Vincent Warren

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MICHAEL SLOBODIAN

© RAYSIDE LABOSSIÈRE

WORKING TOGETHER FOR OUR STUDENTS

As a leader in professional dance training, the École supérieure believes that the school’s profile and reputation are intimately linked to its students’ success. Working closely with the faculty, the school’s administration supports, guides and accompanies students in their pursuit of excellence and in making their dream a reality.

Artistic Director - Anik Bissonnette, O.C., C.Q., O.M Canada’s most famous ballerina from Quebec; she delighted audiences around the world for more than 30 years.

Board of directors - Foundation

Co-chair

Natacha Engel, Senior manager, Corporate Services Canadian National

Co-chair

Nicolas Rubbo

General manager, Espace Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Treasurer

François Gervais

Corporate director

Secretary Camille Aubin Lawyer

ROBIC, s.e.n.c.r.l.

Directors Jean-Paul Bellon President

Gestion Jean-Paul Bellon inc.

Dominique Bérubé Director, Pre-development Devimco

Anik Bissonnette, O.C., C.Q., O.M. Artistic Director École supérieure de ballet du Québec

Émilie Couturier Advisor, Marketing and communications strategy Proaction international

Board of directors - École supérieure

Chair Pierre A. Goulet President

Gestion Scabrini inc.

Vice-chair

Kathleen St-Pierre

Senior manager

Deloitte

Treasurer

Nedgy Augustin

President

Résidence Dahlia

Secretary Caroline Tessier Director of communicatios Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

Administrateurs Julie Cousineau Lawyer

Natacha Engel Senior manager, Corporate Services

Canadian National

Pierre A. Goulet President Gestion Scabrini inc.

Alix Laurent Executive Director École supérieure de ballet du Québec

Étienne Lavigne Executive director Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur

Élisabeth Malo Director, Talent and Culture Air Transat

Michel Noël

Cultural management consultant

Michelle Proulx

Artistic advisor and administrator

Olivia Saint-Jacques Strategic designer GRDN

Catherine Thouin

Assistant Executive Director Jack World inc.

Anne-Marie Turcotte Manager – Real estate and interior design projects

Pierre-Marc Fortier-Landry Director, procurement and contract administration Investissement Québec

Mathieu Laneuville

Executive director and technical director Réseau Environnement

Martin Massé Assistant director Grandir Santé

Judith Ouimet

Radio journalist, dance critic and narrator

Michelle Proulx

Artistic advisor and director

Michèle Viau-Chagnon

Co-founder and honorary board member Le Phare, Enfants et Familles

Executive Director - Alix Laurent

An experienced manager who has worked in the cultural field for more than 30 years.

© CARL LESSARD

© ALEX PAILLON

© SASHA ONYSHCHENKO