April 10, 2007 -

OTTAWA -- Montreal's extraordinary La La La Human Steps brings AMJAD, an exciting new work (and an NAC co-production) to Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Friday, April 20 and Saturday April 21 at 20:00. Guided by the bold and idiosyncratic vision of Artistic Director-choreographer Édouard Lock, this world premiere – which inaugurates the NAC's spectacular Quebec Scene -- is a new landmark in Canadian dance.

The Performance Sponsor for this engagement is Canril Corporation. La La La Human Steps wishes to thank The Minto Foundation for its generous contribution.

Édouard Lock, a towering figure in contemporary dance, has created a new work that juxtaposes tradition and the avant-garde, balancing power with poetry in a fusion of classical ballet and modern dance. In AMJAD, the choreographer revisits some of the most important ballets of the Romantic repertoire – including Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty – as he sets out to weave together different eras and dance idioms.

AMJAD is part of Édouard Lock's ongoing quest for new perceptions. "These themes offer very interesting visual and narrative points of view that include both décor and costume elements in this play on memory, tradition, and transcription," says the choreographer. "It's the interplay between historical representations of these works and their contemporary adaptation/deconstruction. It tells a story woven from other stories, if you will."

AMJAD deconstructs, reconstructs, and adapts passages from the universally recognized ballet classics that exist as part of our shared cultural memory to current musical themes and choreographies, ultimately yielding a new narrative. In drawing on classical sources, Mr. Lock also delves into his own vernacular, fine-tuned over the years, to pass from Romantic lyricism to a complex structural approach.

Performed by nine dancers and four musicians, the new work also integrates filmed images. It reunites Édouard Lock with long-time collaborators Stéphane Roy (set design), David Lang (music), Liz Vandal (costume design), and John Munro (lighting design).

This is the first performance of AMJAD – and the seventh co-production between La La La Human Steps and the National Arts Centre. As with Lock's most recent new work, Amelia, a two-year world tour begins in August 2007, and more than 150 performances in Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East will be given for more than 150,000 spectators.

[Amelia] "The superb dancers' furious rapidity and the velocity of the execution is truly awe-inspiring, and the dancing alone is to be commended for its astonishing accomplishment. Lock himself merits applause simply for the sheer audacity in getting these dancers to such an altered state of human performance."

Philip Szporer, The Dance Current

"Lock surpasses all limits. His revolutionary physical language has influenced an entire generation of dancers…"

Die Welt, Berlin

"You are left speechless, enthralled, frightened and amused. La La La Human Steps is taking dance to its highest level."

Munchner Merkur, Munich

[Amelia] "Dazzling and frenetic"

Le Figaro, Paris

"Canadian Édouard Lock is the artist of the year."

Le Monde, Paris

[Amelia]"The most accomplished and most seducing piece among his recent work."

La Presse, Montréal

The National Arts Centre's Quebec Scene
From April 20 to May 5, 2007, 700 artists from Québec will take over the arts and culture scene in the Ottawa/Gatineau region in a 16-day festival featuring over 100 different events. Musicians, actors, dancers, visual and media artists, writers, acrobats, storytellers and master chefs will invade theatres, concert halls and museums, clubs, galleries and even the streets, with a new creative energy. More than 90 national and international presenters will be on hand to discover the best of contemporary Québec talent. (www.quebecscene.ca)

AMJAD (2007)
CHOREOGRAPHY Édouard Lock
SET DESIGN Stéphane Roy
MUSIC David Lang
COSTUME DESIGN Liz Vandal
LIGHTING DESIGN John Munro

AMJAD is a La La La Human Steps production in co-production with the National Arts Centre, De Singel International Arts Centre (Antwerp), Het Musiektheater (Amsterdam), and Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), with special support from ImPulsTanz in Vienna.

La La La Human Steps performs AMJAD in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Friday, April 20 and Saturday April 21 at 20:00. Tickets are $54, $51, $40, and $31 for adults and $28.25, $26.75, $21.25, and $16.75 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC's website at www.nac-cna.ca. Same-day Live Rush tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13-29) are $10 at the NAC Box Office between 14:00 and 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid 'Live Rush' card. Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices to all NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances; to reserve your seats, call 947-7000 ext. 384 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

New! Dinner packages at Kinki, Social, and Meditheo are available with the purchase of tickets to any NAC Dance performance. Book your package by visiting Ticketmaster at one of the following links: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/promo/24375, http://www.ticketmaster.ca/promo/24364, or
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/promo/b5kfde

Photos for all dance events can be viewed and downloaded at: www.nac-cna.ca/media/

La La La Human Steps and Place des Arts
cordially invite journalists to a
PRESS CONFERENCE
with Édouard Lock
featuring excerpts from AMJAD

Tuesday 10 April 2007 ~ 13:00
at Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts
175, rue Sainte-Catherine West, Montréal

RSVP and requests for interviews:
Sylvie Deslauriers
Tel 514-274-0149
cinecom@ca.inter.net

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Information:
Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations, NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca

ÉDOUARD LOCK
Édouard Lock is one of Canada's most internationally successful and innovative choreographers. In the early 1970s, he performed with Le Groupe de la Place Royale (later renamed Le Groupe Dance Lab). He received his first choreographic commission at the age of twenty-one from Le Groupe Nouvelle Aire. In the 1970s, he also received commissions from the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (later renamed Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal). The National Arts Centre has co-produced his work many times.

Lock established his own company, Lock-Danseurs, in 1980, and eventually changed its name to La La La Human Steps. He quickly gained a reputation as a cutting-edge choreographer whose frenetically urban and androgynous movement attracted youthful audiences.

One of his most internationally successful works, Human Sex (1985), toured the world for two years. The piece won a 1986 Bessie Award (officially the New York Dance and Performance Awards). It also set the tone for Lock's subsequent work featuring his muse, Louise Lecavalier, a fearless dancer with platinum dreadlocks known for her ability to execute horizontal pirouettes.

Lock has frequently collaborated with other artists. He co-created and directed rock musician David Bowie's 'Sound and Vision' world tour in 1989 and collaborated with Frank Zappa and Germany's Ensemble Modern on 'The Yellow Shark' concerts. In addition, he has worked with some the most prestigious classical ballet and contemporary companies, such as Het Nationale Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater 1 of Holland and Paris Opera Ballet.

Lock's Salt/Exaucé (1998) was an international co-production. It signaled Lock's increasing interest in the use of pointe work in his choreography. The inclusion of computer animation in Amelia (2002) demonstrated his continued exploration of the theatrical potential of technology. His film version of Amelia (2003) has won numerous awards.

Among his many honours, Lock was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Québec in 2001. That same year, he won a National Arts Centre Award in the field of dance as part of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Salt/Exaucé. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002. In 2006, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To interpret Amjad, La La La Human Steps has brought together a troupe of nine dancers of stunning strength and versatility, who master both classical ballet and contemporary dance techniques. Xuan Cheng, a new arrival to the troupe, is originally from China, where she was a member of the Guangzhou
Ballet from 2000 to 2006; she won the gold medal in the adult section of the Third Shanghai International Ballet Competition in 2004. Andrea Boardman was a principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal for 10 years, and joined La La La Human Steps in 2001. Zofia Tujaka, who trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, joined the troupe in 1997; this is her third creation with Mr. Lock. Talia Evtushenko danced with, among others, the National Ballet of Canada and the Peter Schaufuss Ballet of Denmark before joining the troupe in 2006. Mistaya Hemingway has performed in numerous George Balanchine ballets, as well as in works by William Forsythe and Nacho Duato; she came back to the troupe for Amelia. As for the troupe’s male dancers, Québecer Bernard Martinwas also a dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, where he performed in works from the most well-known choreographers. He joined Mr. Lock for Amelia. Successively a member of several ballet companies in the United States and Canada, Keir Knight is joining La La La Human Steps for the third time; Jason Shipley-Holmes was part of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens before dancing in Salt/Exaucé and Amelia. Dominic Santia joined the troupe in 2006 after earning a BFA from the Juilliard School,where he performed in works by José Limon and Nacho Duato, among others.

To create a musical universe for Amjad, Mr. Lock called upon composer Gavin Bryars, who shared the choreographer’s inspiration and drew material from classic musical sources—namely,music composed by Tchaikovsky for Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. The reinterpretation of these two works will remain faithful to the tradition of the period,whereby music for full orchestras was adapted for chamber music ensembles. Four musicians will interpret the resulting musical creation on stage, under the direction of pianist Njo Kong Kie,with cellist Élisabeth Giroux, violist Jill Van Gee and violist Jennifer Thiessen.