A renowned company and a renowned choreographer make for a great night of dance in Calgary.
High performance dancers hit the High Performance Rodeo
Bill Coleman and Laurence Lemieux started Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie (CLC) 10 years ago. For the High Performance Rodeo the company will perform three creations by its celebrated resident choreographer James Kudelka former artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.
“I have always loved James’s work for the fact that he makes dancers dance — for the craft and precision and rigour of his esthetic” says Lemieux. “These three works are my favourite and also the most celebrated Kudelka contemporary works.”
The fact that Kudelka agreed to set these works with CLC demonstrates his high regard for this Montreal-based contemporary dance organization. “I am very happy to involve myself with a smaller company that consists mostly of seasoned modern dance artists” says Kudelka. “Though the bulk of my work with CLC so far is not new choreography the approach to presenting it is the same: a passion for dance performance respect for the choreographic process and presentation and finally dancing in the moment as if the ideas had just come to you.”
Based on the glowing reviews of CLC’s performances of this all-Kudelka program dance audiences in Calgary are in for a real treat when the company takes the stage at the Grand Theatre. The program consists of In Paradisum created for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens 1983; Soudain l’hiver dernier created for Montreal Danse 1988; and 15 Heterosexual Duets created for Toronto Dance Theatre 1991.
Kudelka’s ability to create work for larger ballet companies as well as smaller contemporary companies speaks to his stylistic versatility. He has a reputation as a dancer’s choreographer.
Lemieux and Coleman created CLC after dancing for several years with some of Canada’s most well-known contemporary dance companies and choreographers. The company is dedicated to bringing contemporary works to the stage as well as taking on community-based projects that are developed in conjunction with local residents and performed in outdoor sites. Since its inception CLC has performed throughout Canada the U.S. Europe China and Mongolia all to critical acclaim.
Lemieux has been described as one of Canada’s most virtuosic contemporary dancers. A New York Times reviewer wrote: “Mr. Coleman has an unmistakable way of moving seeming to pivot jump and idle on a dime.” Coleman and Lemieux have had years to develop relationships with distinguished Canadian artists and it appears to have all come together within CLC.
In continuing its work to highlight dance as an integral component of the High Performance Rodeo One Yellow Rabbit is providing Calgary audiences with a great opportunity to see accomplished dancers in one of our oldest (and newest) theatres.
