February 01, 2005 -

OTTAWA -- Dramatic. Engaging. Startling. Louise Lecavalier embodies all these attributes and more – but no adjective in print can remotely describe the power and presence of this dance goddess live in performance. Experience the superb artistry of Louise Lecavalier at the world premiere of Cobalt Rouge, her newest production – an NAC co-production – in the National Arts Centre Theatre at 20:30 on Wednesday, February 16 and Thursday, February 17, 2005. Originally scheduled for just one performance, Cobalt Rouge quickly sold out and a second show was added due to audience demand.

Cobalt Rouge is a new evening-length quartet – with choreography by Tedd Robinson – to be performed by Louise Lecavalier together with Marc Boivin, Masaharu Imatzu (Japan), Tedd Robinson, and renowned jazz musician and composer Yannick Rieu.

Louise Lecavalier is a brilliant and innovative dancer who has thrilled audiences worldwide with her passion, daring, and fearlessness. As both performer and choreographer’s Muse, she is an internationally recognised icon who has extended the boundaries of contemporary dance. Cobalt Rouge is her first independent project, presented in association with 10 Gates Dancing Inc. (Ottawa).

“It is as if she was dancing for her life every second.”
Pamela Anthony, The Edmonton Journal

Tedd Robinson is the Artistic Director of Ottawa-based 10 Gates Dancing Inc. His self-described ‘Abstract Theatrical Narrative’ style has a logic all its own, leading an audience member through an abstract presentational environment to a sense of narrative, much like the way our minds might help us find our way in the world. Cobalt Rouge follows this method and has evolved from a series of solos that interconnect, forming duets, trios, and quartets that forge relationships ... sometimes fragile as blue glass ... sometimes hard as metal.

Cobalt Rouge will be performed in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre on Wednesday, February 16 and Thursday, February 17, 2005 at 20:30. Tickets are $41, $38 and $29, and $21.50, $20 and $15.50 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. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid ‘Live Rush’ card. Groups of 20 or more save up to 20% off regular priced tickets; for reservations, call (613) 947-7000 x384 or toll free 1-866-850-2787, x384 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca

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

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

LOUISE LECAVALIER, performer
Born in Montreal, Louise Lecavalier has been a professional dancer since 1977. She joined La La La Human Steps in 1981 for its production of Oranges and went on to perform in each of the company’s productions until Salt in 1998. Louise Lecavalier also participated in each of La La La’s major collaborations, including David Bowie’s Sound and Vision tour in 1990 and The Yellow Shark concert, performed by Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern of Germany in 1992. In May 1999, Louise Lecavalier received the Jean A. Chalmers National Award, Canada’s most distinguished dance prize. In 2003, she received a Career Grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She regularly gives training sessions and master classes at dance festivals in Europe, as well as at New York University, and continues to work as a freelance dancer on new projects. She has been working with choreographer Tedd Robinson since 2002. Cobalt Rouge is their second collaboration.

TEDD ROBINSON, choreographer and performer
Born in Ottawa, Tedd Robinson graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University (Toronto), and studied at The School of The Toronto Dance Theatre and with eminent British visual theatre artist Lindsay Kemp. Robinson first rose to prominence as Artistic Director of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg (1984 to 1990), where he created highly theatrical ensemble works. Having returned to Ottawa in 1990 to pursue a solo career, he is now firmly established as a choreographer, educator, and solo artist whose critically acclaimed, award-winning and utterly unique works have won him a multitude of commissions and an international schedule of touring and teaching. His critically acclaimed work Rokudo: six destinies in three steps received the 1998 Chalmers National Dance Award. From 1994 to 2000, Robinson was a practicing monk of hakukaze soto zen in Ottawa. Tedd Robinson is Artistic Director of 10 Gates Dancing Inc., a non-profit company formed in 1998 to promote the development and performance of contemporary dance creations.

MARC BOIVIN, performer
Known for his interpretations of the work of such choreographers as Jean-Pierre Perreault, Louise Bédard, Sylvain Émard, Ginette Laurin, Tedd Robinson, Catherine Tardif, and Pierre-Paul Savoie, Marc Boivin is one of Quebec's best-known contemporary dancers. Between 1982 and 1985, he performed in Canada, France, and Holland with Le Groupe de la Place Royale, directed by Peter Boneham. He later performed in Canada, the United States, and Europe with such companies as O Vertigo Danse, Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault, Louise Bédard Danse, and Sylvain Émard Danse. In addition to his own work as a dancer, he has been acclaimed as a teacher at Les Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal Inc, at EDAM in Vancouver, and in numerous other dance schools in Canada and abroad. In 1999, Marc received the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, awarded annually by the Canada Council for the Arts.

MASAHARU IMAZU, performer
Masaharu Imazu was born in Choshi-City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. After learning mime from Yoichi Enoue, he learned contemporary dance and improvisation from Shigeharu Honda and Kuniko Kisanuki. As a dancer, based in Tokyo, he has participated in several dance groups such as neo, M-laboratory, Condors etc. and has performed all over Japan and abroad. He has also danced in a Canada-Japan Dance Partnership project CJ8 (2000), in Toru Shimazaki's Human Gate (2002), in Jo Kanamori's nomadic project (2003), and Kuniko Kisanuki's Expect production by New national theater (Japan). Besides working with a variety of prominent choreographers, he has also presented several unique solo pieces, such as ash, A and Le Ciel Bleu, TIGERS AROUND ME. He has been awarded a scholarship from the Japanese government to work as a trainee artist in 2004.

YANNICK RIEU, composer
Montreal-born French Québécois Yannick Rieu was raised in the Gaspé and Saguenay regions of Quebec. After studying at Le Conservatoire de Rennes (Britanny), then in Chicoutimi and Montreal, he began his career as a jazz sax player in 1980. As early as 1988, Down Beat, the American bible of jazz, ranked him amongst the 20 most promising sax players in the world, alongside Branford Marsalis, Joe Lavano and Courtney Pine. Since then, he’s been collecting rave reviews in pre-eminent jazz publications in the U.S., France, and Canada for his recordings and his live performances. Known as one of the most talented young sax players in the world today, Yannick has played predominantly in Quebec, and also elsewhere in Canada, as well as in France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United States, and he travels frequently to Paris, one of the jazz capitals of the world. A great admirer of the legendary sax players who marked the history of jazz over the last half-century, including Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Éric Dolphy, Steve Lacy, and Lee Konitz, he absorbed their contributions to forge his own style, highly personal and skillfully mastered. He has played with such great artists as Paul Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, John Hendricks, Toots Thielemans, François Théberge, Gilles Naturel, Simon Goubert, Olivier Renne, Jean-Loup Longnon, and Christian Vander, to name a few.

JEAN PHILIPPE TRÉPANIER, lighting 
Jean Philippe has done the lights for over 200 choreographies. To name them all would take too much time. In 1992, the Canada Council awarded Jean Philippe the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize for his outstanding contribution to dance in Canada. Jean Philippe is a freelance artist working on different projects with companies across the country. This is his 5^th project with Tedd Robinson, and the first one with Louise Lecavalier. As usual, Jean Philippe is thrilled by the challenge.