Children + A Few Minutes of Lock

Born in Montreal, Louise Lecavalier has been a professional dancer since 1977. In 1988, she joined La La La Human Steps, Edouard Lock's dance company with Oranges and went on to perform in all of the company’s productions until 1999. In 1985, she became the first Canadian to win a Bessie Award in New York for her performance in Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel (1983). In February, 2003, Louise received a career grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In December 2008, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her illustrious contribution to contemporary dance. In 2006 Louise Lecavalier founded her contemporary dance company, Fou glorieux, to have freedom to explore and work with artists whose vision is close to her own. Her physical skills and her powerful interpretation of dance make her one of the most famous canadian dancer.

The choreographer, artistic director and dancer Nigel Charnock co-founded the company DV8 with Lloyd Newson. He worked with this radical and often controversial company before moving on to pursue solo work. He was artistic director of the Helsinki Dance Company from 2002 to 2005. This versatile artist creates irreverent, comic and very human dance theatre that explores the eternal themes of love, sex and death. “In his vivid and colourful solos tinged with caustic humour, Charnock talks, dances and moves. He plays havoc with prejudice. He is bold and impudent,” says Louise Lecavalier. “He is a performer who gives totally of himself. I wanted to take the risk of working with him, to dive right in.”

Édouard Lock formed in 1980 his own company, Lock-Danseurs, which later became La La La Human Steps. He choreographed Lily Marlene in the Jungle (1980), followed by Oranges (1981), for which he won the Jean A. Chalmers Award, and Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel (1983). Louise Lecavalier was the company’s principal dancer from 1981 to 1999.  In 1986, he won a Bessie Award for the choreography of Human Sex (1985). Co-conceptor and artistic director of the 1990 world tour of David Bowie’s Sound and Vision show in 1990, Édouard also collaborated in The Yellow Shark concert series by Frank Zappa and Germany’s Ensemble Modern in 1992. Also a photographer and filmmaker, Édouard Lock directed the film version of Amelia, which has won an impressive number of prizes and was nominated for the International Emmy Awards. Édouard Lock has been invited to choreograph works for such highly-regarded companies as the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Nederlands Dans Theater, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, and the National Ballet of Holland. He was named Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2001, Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002, and Member of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006.