News Releases - 2007
The Canada Council for the Arts announces the winners of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize
Ottawa, August 14, 2007 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced that Montreal contemporary dancer Anne Le Beau is the winner of the 2007 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize. The Prize was awarded last year to Bill James, of Peterborough (Ontario), choreographer and artistic director of Atlas Moves Watching Dance Projects.
The Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, valued at $6,000, is awarded annually to the most deserving applicant in the Dance Section’s Grants to Dance Professionals program. The prize is awarded in memory of Jacqueline Lemieux and her contribution to Canadian dance. Along with her husband Lawrence Gradus, Ms. Lemieux co-founded the Montreal dance company Entre-Six and Québec Été Danse, a summer school in Lennoxville. She was a teacher, administrator and member of the Canada Council for the Arts Advisory Panel.
Other recent winners of this Prize include Vancouver-based flamenco dancer Oscar Nieto (2005), and Toronto dancer and choreographer Sarah Chase (2004). Visit our web site at the Canada Council for the Arts – Jacqueline Lemieux Prize to view the full list of the past winners.
The winner of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize is chosen by a peer assessment committee. For 2006, the committee consisted of Robert Abubo (Ottawa), Emily Molnar (Vancouver), Selma Odom (Toronto) and Lynn Snelling (Montreal). For 2007, the committee included Peter Bingham (Vancouver), Michèle Febvre (Montreal) and Rina Singha (Toronto).
Downloadable images of Anne Le Beau and Bill James can be found in the Canada Council image galleries.
Anne Le Beau – 2007 winner
After classical training, Anne Le Beau turned to contemporary dance and studied at the Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal (LADMMI). She graduated in 1987, and for more than 20 years has danced for several nationally and internationally renowned companies and choreographers, including Danielle Desnoyers’ company Le Carré des Lombes, choreographers Sylvain Émard, Catherine Tardif, Paola de Vasconcelos, José Navas (Flak) and Louise Bédard Danse. Ms. Le Beau has participated in many tours throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Along with her dance career, she has been on the staff of LADMMI for more than 15 years, teaching contemporary technique and repertoire.
In addition to dance, Ms. Le Beau is interested in acting and works with director Brigitte Haentjens, who created a solo for her as part of Traces d’Interprètes, produced by Danse Cité. She was also part of the impressive cast of Tout comme Elle, directed by Brigitte Haentjens. In 2005, Sophie Deraspe gave her the lead in her film Rechercher Victor Pellerin. Currently, Ms. Le Beau is involved in the new creation by choreographer Martin Bélanger that will be presented at the Festival TransAmériques (June 2008).
Bill James – 2006 winner
Bill James, founder and artistic director of Atlas Moves Watching Dance Projects, is best known for his vision of dance in unconventional spaces. Throughout his 30-year career, he has collaborated with many composers, visual artists and filmmakers in performance, installation, film and media art projects in North America, Europe and Asia.
Mr. James co-directed Art in Open Spaces and Water Sources I and II, both outdoor performance series (1995 to 1999). Since 1998, he has produced Other Voices, Other Lives, an ongoing community interdisciplinary project for youth.
In the fall of 2005, Mr. James created Dancing in the Streets, a Peterborough community event featuring 400 dancers of all ages. Since 2006, he has been working with Old Men Dancing, a Peterborough group of men aged 45 to 84 that performed his work Weathering in March 2007. Mr. James has also overseen choreographic labs for The National Ballet of Canada and has taught in universities, public schools and professional dance training programs.
General information
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2007, administers and awards over 200 prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. Among these are the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Awards, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts and the Killam Prizes.
For more information about these prizes, including nomination procedures, contact Janet Riedel Pigott, Acting Director, Endowments and Prizes, at 613‑566‑4414 or 1‑800‑263‑5588, ext. 5041, or Danielle Sarault, Acting Officer, Endowments and Prizes, at 613‑566‑4414, or 1‑800‑263‑5588, ext. 4116.