2024-05-03
 
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Membre honoraire du RQD

Françoise Riopelle

[1927-2022]

A signatory of the Refus global, Françoise Riopelle was only 20 when she arrived in Paris with her husband Jean-Paul Riopelle. From 1946 to 1958, she immersed herself in modern dance, taking classes with Mary Wigman, among others. Attracted to choreography, it was in the City of Lights that she made her first multidisciplinary experiments.

On her return to Montreal, she founded Françoise Riopelle’s École de danse and convinced Jeanne Renaud to join her. In 1961, they created the Groupe de danse moderne de Montréal. The affiliated school became the first entirely dedicated to modern dance in Canada. Among their close collaborators, composer Pierre Mercure organizes an ambitious music and dance festival in 1961, where Riopelle meets Merce Cunningham and John Cage. She maintained a relationship with the New York choreographer until 1966.

When the Université du Québec à Montréal opened in 1969, she taught in the theater department, where she founded the Mobiles group. Moving away from a formal choreographic approach to a more theatrical path, she integrated actors rather than dancers into her creations. She is a pioneer in the integration of bodily expression in educational settings. In 1979, she was responsible for opening the dance program at UQAM. In 1978, she and Dena Davida founded the Qui danse? collective, which presented the first works by independent Montreal choreographers. A creator, teacher and supporter of the next generation, she was a member of the Danse-Cité Board of Directors from 1985 to 1991.
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