Solidary Membership

Let us support each other.

Take advantage of the solidary fees offered to you this year by the RQD and join in large numbers in order to strengthen our collective power to sustain dance.

The RQD is you.

Your network. Your voice. Your strength.

For 2020-2021, more flexible membership terms and the possibility of paying less through different price rates.

Some of 2019-2020 Highlights

Total mobilization in order to support the dance professionals during the COVID-19 crisis and to defend their interests
Movements towards a federal cultural policy and an increase in the provincial culture budget
Movements towards an equal pay in the dance sector
Harassment and Other Violence in Dance Prevention Kit (French only)
Publication of the graphic story Dance doesn’t mean putting up with everything!
$10 000 grant for the 6th Dancer Prize of the Prix de la danse de Montréal
Intercultural meetings and partnerships for better inclusion
First online training developed with La danse sur les routes du Québec

Economic Recovery Plan For The Cultural Sector: First Steps For Dance

Montréal, Tuesday, June 2, 2020 – The economic recovery plan for the cultural sector, unveiled yesterday by Minister Nathalie Roy, opens up a few prospects for recovery in dance while leaving many questions and concerns unanswered. The Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) applauds some of these initial measures, emphasizing that they need to be followed by substantial investments in order to ensure the survival and successful recovery of the dance sector. The sector covered by the RQD is an extremely precarious one and has been particularly weakened by this crisis and our main concern is the support being offered to independent artists, self-employed workers and small organizations.

Among the encouraging components of the Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCC) plan is the support for productions in new venues adapted to the context of physical distancing, such as walking tours and other outdoor shows, as well as support for the simultaneous presentation of shows in several venues and online, which some companies are considering already. Funding for rental of spaces and remuneration of artists during their training is also excellent news, considering a dancers’ essential requirement is to sustain their physical condition in order to be ready for a revival. Support for alternative and private venues to promote the next generation of dancers provides a much-needed boost to the sector, but the MCC must not forget that in dance, many intermediate and even established artists and companies are still working in unstable situations. Monies being made available to document the effects of the pandemic on the cultural sector and to support real estate and equipment acquisition projects is also reassuring.

However, this first phase of the MCC’s economic recovery plan gives the best benefits to the arts industries, particularly the audiovisual and film industries, major events and digital distribution. But the RQD fears heavy losses in the dance sector, which is made up largely of self-employed workers and project-funded organizations. For example, of the $400 million announced by the MCC, of which $250 million is new money, only $6.5 million is allocated to increasing funds for grant programs and an emergency fund for artists who are currently being supported by the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB).

“Many artists may not have access to this new emergency fund, which we are told will be managed by the Union des artistes and the Musicians Guild and reserved for extreme situations,” says artist and teacher Jamie Wright, co-chair of the RQD. “What will happen to all the performers who will not get contracts because most of the work will be produced with fewer dancers? And what will happen to all the artistic and technical collaborators who won’t have jobs?”

“We must also find a way to stabilize small organizations,” adds choreographer-manager Lük Fleury, co-chair of the RQD. “Otherwise, when the time comes to revive them, they won’t be solid enough to resume their activities. Amongst these organizations, as well as among the self-employed, (who will soon be ineligible for the social safety net of the CERB), there are many individuals belonging to other artist representation groups. It would be a shame if all the inclusion efforts made in recent years by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec were wasted.”

The possibility that venues will reopen by St. Jean Baptiste Day also makes the investment in arts promotion particularly welcome. This will be necessary in order to encourage an audience faced with the fear of contagion and the overabundance of supply, to participate. But beyond the promotion of Quebec cultural products, the RQD is calling on the government to jumpstart a campaign that promotes the arts, including the human body and dance, which will extol all their benefits and ultimately transform the perception of the arts by the general public.

Finally, dance will undoubtedly benefit from the $20 million allocated to digital projects of all kinds, with a strong emphasis on the dissemination of works and events online. However, it will not be enough. The tradition of this living art form is still possible; all that is missing is the funding to give artists time to think about the myriad characteristics it could take on in times of a pandemic.

The RQD

The Regroupement québécois de la danse brings together and represents professional individuals and organizations working in dance, with the aim of promoting the advancement and influence of the art of choreography and contributing to the improvement of conditions for dance practice.

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Source:
Coralie Muroni
Director of Communications
Regroupement québécois de la danse
cmuroni@quebecdanse.org

Québec Message for International Dance Day 2020 from Janie & Marcio

At the invitation of the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD), Janie Richard and Márcio Vinícius Paulino Silveira have delivered a unifying message for International Dance Day 2020. Adapting to physical distancing measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the duo – winners of Season 2 of the show Révolution – invited numerous artists and dance lovers to contribute to a video in which each participant dances from the confines of their home in an effort to connect with others.

Some 100 Quebecers of all ages and from all horizons took part in this joint project by filming themselves at home, alone or with their families. Artist and filmmaker Bobby León stitched together their free, expressive, nostalgic and joyful dances, and the result is a moving dialogue that emphasizes the extent to which dance is expressive, accessible and without borders.

Québec Message for International Dance Day 2020
By Janie Richard and Márcio Vinícius Paulino Silveira

Dance embodies multitudes. Now art, now sport, it is enriched by 1,001 styles, from classical to swing, salsa, vogue and breakdance. Each possesses its own steps, movements and colours, in the same way that each language has its own words, idioms and accents. But that’s where the comparison ends, as there are no language barriers in dance. A choreography speaks to us and touches us, and we grow through it, even if we don’t quite understand all its subtleties, codes and secrets.

Dance holds the power to transcend our differences and bring us together, as it draws on a form of communication accessible to everyone: universal communication conveyed through the body. Regardless of whom we are dancing with and where, be it on a stage or a television set, in a kitchen, at a family party or with friends, we can all feel its energy coursing through our veins and reaching into our hearts. This real, fabulously contagious energy unifies us and makes us feel good.

Dance also gives us a unique opportunity to express our dreams and desires, even those we dare not say aloud. In this sense, it is the language of freedom. Let us dance when we feel sadness or uncertainty, therefore. Let us dance when we’re happy, when we feel inspired and want to inspire others. Let us dance so we can better understand, feel connected to, and love one another. Let us dance for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

Because when we dance, we are absolutely and marvellously authentic.

Janie Richard
Janie grew up in Terrebonne and was trained at the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. During the course of her career, she has worked with world-renowned choreographers and with such companies as the Atlantic Ballet of Canada, the Grands Ballets Canadiens and the Gran Canaria Ballet of Spain. Ms. Richard is currently working as an independent dancer. She is also a choreographer and a teacher, and she serves as a judge at local and international dance competitions. ► Biography (French only)

Márcio Vinícius Paulino Silveira
Brazil native Márcio Vinícius Paulino Silveira was trained at the Bolshoi Theatre School. Since moving to Québec in 2010, Márcio has danced for La La La Human Steps, EzDanza, the Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Ballet Ouest and Andrea Peña & Artists. Overall, he has performed in no fewer than 24 countries alongside numerous choreographers, including Édouard Lock, Vladimir Vasiliev, Rodrigo Pederneiras, Victor Quijada, Cayetano Soto, Barak Marshall, Itzik Galili, Stéphane Boko and Jomar Mesquita. He has also created choreographies for Cirque du Soleil and the Opéra de Québec. ► Biography

Source
Coralie Muroni, Communications Director, cmuroni@quebecdanse.org

International Dance Day: Québec Message from Louise Lecavalier

At the request of the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD), Louise Lecavalier brings us a galvanizing and poetic message for International Dance Day. One of the groundbreaking figures of contemporary dance, she pours forth a cascade of words in a video which blends her image with a diverse array of bodies, an effect made possible by interactive digital technologies and artificial intelligence. An unvarnished panegyric to the art of dance and its universal appeal, produced in collaboration with the team of renowned director Vincent Morisset and fifteen talented Québec performers.

Québec Message for International Dance Day
From Louise Lecavalier

Dancing to name the moment
Dancing the poetry of flesh
Transparent flesh
Screaming flesh
Dancing tight on the wire
Inventing every possibility
Dancing resilience and abandon
Dancing like a wild wiseman
Who’s become his own guinea pig

Dancing face to face with our humanity
and the animal we are
Dancing with every complex
Inferiority and superiority
Dancing with a partner
that’s something else
With a hundred or a thousand partners
How would that be?

Dancing the wealth of our miseries
or our share of humanity?
Making a dance step of every fall
Dancing without thinking
Dancing to leap outside of and then inside into ourselves

Dancing the ephemeral, sadness, dreams, the furious
Dancing innocent joy
‘the more than human of all that’s human’
Dancing to cleanse and rev the engines of our blood stream
Dancing the heart…cold blooded, hot blooded
Dancing the sacred, whirling dervish, hip-hop, krump, whacking, locking…Wow

Dancing because it’s better to be a dancer than a criminal!
Dancing to please
Scoffing at the years
and continuing to dance
Dancing to dis-art-tic-ulate ourselves
Dancing the skeleton crick crack click click click click
Letting our bodies and heads explode
to finally be transformed
Dancing…counting
tac tac tac tac tac tac tac…without stopping at 8
to say thank you to life
until the ultimate recognition

Dancing like animated films in 2d, 3d and in endless directions
Dancing to not wear out the sweet word…love
Dancing dissolution…to leave…to stay
Finding the trance or the trend
Dancing because it’s good that it hurts sometimes
Dancing because it’s funny…strange…crazy
because it could change the world

Dancing to forget our names
with eyes closed and short of breath
Dancing the exercise, the exorcism, the exotic
the sensual, the sexual
Dancing one gender…no gender
he…she…LBGT, the alphabet

Dancing speaking…dancing boxing never hitting
Dancing sweat without fear
the brain in a cosmic hula hoop
A mental trip
Dancing down to earth
tears in the dust
Dancing on the graves
with a rhinestone but broken heart
and then what?

Ah…belly dance
Dancing to one’s own music
Internal, electro, modern, acoustic
Dancing blue
completely dressed or naked as a worm
letting yourself go
Dancing despite it all…because of it all
Dancing the child
Innocent movements…turbulence

Dancing totally like giants.

Louise Lecavalier was associated with Édouard Lock and La La La Human Steps from 1981 to 1999, a time of rare intensity with legendary performances that included shock encounters with David Bowie and Frank Zappa. In those years, she incarnated an extreme dance that galvanized the creative imagination of a whole generation. Since founding her company Fou glorieux in 2006, her movement research, epitomizing her trajectory in dance, has been based on risk-taking and pushing her own boundaries. In 2012, she created her first choreography, So Blue, following this with Battleground in 2016. Louise has received many prestigious awards during her career.
► Biography (French only)

Source: Coralie Muroni, RQD Communications Manager, 514 849-4003 #222.