Sylvain Émard Danse

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Sylvain Émard first distinguished himself as a dancer working with renowned choreographers such as Jean-Pierre Perreault, Jo Lechay and Louise Bédard before he formed Sylvain Émard Danse, in Montreal, Canada, in 1987. He is widely recognized as one of the most important choreographers on the Canadian dance scene today. Over the last eighteen years, he has developed an expressive language of movement that speaks first to the senses, then draws on the intelligence of the entire body. From his first solo Ozone (1986) to his latest creation Temps de chien (2005), his choreographic works reveal a creator in full command of his talent, an artist who has won the admiration of audiences at home and abroad. Sylvain Émard's repertoire, comprising over twenty unique pieces, has been praised for the diversity of his choreographic vocabulary. His work sways between extremes of generous fluidity and taut control, demanding the highest level of virtuosity from the dancers. Sylvain Émard’s new piece Wave – third and last part of the Climatology of bodies cycle – will premiere at the Zeeland Nazomerfestival in the Netherlands in August 2008, in the context of a European tour. In September of 2008, following performances in the Netherlands and Germany, Sylvain Émard will introduce Wave to Montreal audiences at Usine C. This new work benefited from creative residencies at Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique and Usine C in Montréal. Wave is an international co-production by Sylvain Émard Danse, Station Zuid (Netherlands), the Grand Théâtre de Lorient (France) and Usine C (Canada).

Photo of Sylvain Émard: Jean-François Bérubé

Artistic Director

Renowned for the exceptional quality of his artistic work, Sylvain Émard has worked as guest choreographer in theatre, opera and cinema, as well as in various schools of dance. In 2004, Robert Lepage invited Sylvain Émard to choreograph the opera 1984 which premiered at the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden London. In May 2008, 1984 took the stage of the legendary Scala in Milan. In addition to commitments with his own company, Sylvain Émard is the President and Founding Member of Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique in Montreal. Winner of the Jacqueline Lemieux Award of the Canada Council for the Arts (1991) and of the prestigious Jean A. Chalmers Award for Great Choreographic Distinction (Canada, 1996), Sylvain Émard excels at laying bare the dramatic and the poetic, at creating an atmosphere charged with emotion. In 1996, Sylvain Émard Danse was awarded the Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de la Communauté Urbaine de Montréal for Rumeurs.

On Tour

"The set design, music and dance combine to create a strange and beautiful universe, at once dark and luminous, that is full of tenderness, violence and abandon and where the desire to love and communicate is often frustrated by the other’s inability to understand. (…) This is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished works Sylvain Émard has ever created."