BJM Danse Montréal

ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA

The half-Colombian half-Belgian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (1973), hailed “rising star of the Dutch dance scene” (NRC newspaper) completed her dance studies at the Royal Ballet Academy of Antwerp, Belgium.

Annabelle has so far created works for the Scapino Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gran Canaria Ballet, the Gothenburg Ballet, Modern Dance Theater Ankara, BalletX, BJM-danse, the Pennsylvania Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater and the Ballet National de Marseille.

Ms Lopez Ochoa is a versatile choreographer who works regularly within the dance field but also creates for theatre, opera, musical theatre and in 2006, for the celebrated Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf’s project in the Van Gogh Museum.

She belongs to the Theater-dance collective “Fantasten” with who whom she created two full-length pieces which have been performed more than 200 times throughout theaters and festivals in the Netherlands.

The critically acclaimed piece “Before After” which Annabelle created for the Dutch National Ballet in 2002, and which is know as her signature piece, has been performed at the Dance Passion Festival in the Netherlands, the New York Fall for Dance Festival, the Houston Dance Salad Festival, the 2007 Orange County Fall for Dance Festival and throughout Sweden by the Gothenburg Ballet.

Annabelle has won several choreography awards; in 2002 with “Clair/Obscur” at the Hannover’s Choreographers competition and in 2003 the first prize and public’s prize with “Replay” at the International Choreographer’s Competition of Bornem. She was a finalist of the Uncontainable project in Belgium and in the fall of 2007 she was selected to participate with the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute.

Her piece “One” created for independent artists Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk has been acquired by Christopher Wheeldon’s Company Morphoses and has been presented in London, NewYork, the Houston Dance Salad festival of 2008 and Titas gala. This spring students of the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris have danced the duet for their final exams.

Two principal dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet have approached Annabelle to reset the duet "Locked up Laura" for them that they will perform at the Imatra Gala of Finland in August 2009.

Her future projects include new creations for Le Jeune Ballet du Québec, Ballet Hispanico, Compahnia Nacional de Bailado, Chemnitz Ballet, De Fantasten and a revival of "Requiem for a Rose" for the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris."

ASZURE BARTON

A young, New York based Albertan choreographer, Aszure Barton is the Artistic Director of Aszure & Artists, a company which she founded in 2002. A rising star of contemporary choreography, Aszure Barton has been commissioned to create works for renowned artists and companies such as that of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Hell’s Kitchen Dance, Benjamin Millepied & Company, Hubbard Street @, Transitions Dance Company, The Juilliard School and, of course, BJM DANSE. Her choreographies have been performed in such prestigious venues as Jacob’s Pillow Dance, the Spoleto Festival U.S.A, the Cal Performances, the Joyce Theater, the John F. Kennedy Center, the Teatro Español de Madrid, the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall and Studio 54.

Aszure Barton is currently artist-in-residence in the new and prestigious Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. She recently choreographed the Broadway production of « The Three penny Opera » (a new translation by Wallace Shawn, directed by Scott Eliott), starring Alan Cumming, Cyndi Lauper, Jim Dale, Ana Gasteyer and Nellie McKay. Considered to be one of the most innovative choreographers of this generation, her choreography has been described as intensely musical, emotionally moving and structurally remarkable. Aszure is the recipient of the Bonnie Bird North American 2006 Choreography Award and winner of the 2003 Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's National Choreographic Competition. She has also received numerous grants, scholarships and awards from arts organizations across North America, including the Canada Council for the Arts and le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Performing internationally with many celebrated companies, including the National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and the Wendy Osserman Dance Company, Aszure Barton is a graduate of the Toronto National Ballet School, the Alberta Ballet, the Sandra Gray School of Dancing, and also the John Cranko-Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. Her film credits include choreographing and performing in many films such as Afternoon of the Chimeras and 7 Universal Solvents, by Daniel Conrad for CBC Television. She has also collaborated with such noted directors as Kevin Freeman and John Price.

MAURO BIGONZETTI

Born in Rome, he graduated at the Opera’s School in Rome and entered directly in the city’s company.

In the season 1982-83, after 10 years of activity in Rome’s Opera, he joined Aterballetto, under the artistic direction of Amedeo Amodio, and performed all the choreographies of the company’s repertoire. The most significant collaborations of this period were the ones with Alvin Ailey, Glen Tetley, William Forsythe and Jennifer Muller. He also danced in many works by George Balanchine and Leonide Massine.

In 1990 he created his first work Sei in movimento set to music by J.S. Bach, which made its debut at the Teatro Sociale in Grassina.

In the season 1992-93 he left Aterballetto and became a free lance choreographer. In this period he began an intense collaboration with the Balletto di Toscana, a source, in those years, of many Italian choreographers.

Afterwards, the most important collaborations were with the following international companies: English National Ballet London, Ballet National Marseille, Stuttgarter Ballett, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Dresden, Ballet Teatro Argentino, Balè da Cidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Ballet Gulbenkian Lisbon, New York City Ballet, State Ballet Ankara, Royal Swedish Ballet, Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, . He also created ballets for many Italian companies including the Ballets of Teatro alla Scala Milan, Opera Rome, Arena Verona, Teatro San Carlo Naples.

For his creations he collaborated with many artists such as Claudio Parmiggiani, Fabrizio Plessi, Bruno Moretti, Elvis Costello, Stefano Bollani, Danilo Grassi, Guglielmo Capone, Millar & Swandale, Roberto Tirelli, Fabrizio Montecchi, Nicola Lusuardi, Paride Bonetta, Helena Medeiros, Paolo Calafiore, Carlo Cerri, Beni Montresor, Massimo Castri, Lucia Socci.

In 1997 he became Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of Compagnia Aterballetto under the chairmanship of Federico Grilli with whom he collaborated to build a new repertoire and a new company. As from February 2008 the Artistic Direction has been entrusted to Cristina Bozzolini; however, Bigonzetti still collaborates with the company as principal choreographer carrying out many important projects.

His most important works are Songs, Persephassa, Furia Corporis, Comoedia Canti, Sogno, Cantata, Rossini Cards, Vespro, Les Noces, Psappha, Orma, WAM, and are represented in the major theaters in the world.

The most recent and important creations of Mauro Bigonzetti are In Vento (New York City Ballet) Romeo and Juliet (Aterballetto, May 2006), I Fratelli (Stuttgarter Ballett, December 2006), Le Quattro Stagioni (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, May 2007), InCanto (Aterballetto, December 2007), Oltremare (New York City Ballet, January 2008) Caravaggio (Staatsballett Berlin, December 2008), Festa Barocca (Alvin Ailey American dance Theater, December 2008).

RODRIGO PEDERNEIRAS

“It wasn’t until 1988, when I worked with the group Uakti, that I began to sense what might be called a dance more interior to the body.”

This quote from Rodrigo Pederneiras, the Choreographer for Grupo Corpo since 1978, describes a moment that was crucial both for him and his famous Brazilian company. This notion of a “dance more interior to the body” is at the heart of the choreographer’s widely diverse approach to his art. Focusing on Xaxado, the Samba Capoeira and Ballroom dances, Rodrigo Pederneiras translates figures into language. He creates a truly modern vocabulary in often intimate transpositions. Humor, joy and denunciation of a certain violence and ambiguity of the body, mark the work of a choreographer who learned to dance in the streets.

Guided or inspired by the music, Rodrigo Pederneiras reconstructs the classics in an intensely Brazilian way, without straying into exoticism or stereotypes.

Rodrigo Pederneiras’ work has received international praise. In Brazil, he created several choreographies for the Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, the Ballet do Teatro Guaíra, the Ballet da Cidade de São Paulo and the Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais. He has also worked for the Deutsche Oper Berlin Company (Germany), for the Gulbenkian (Portugal), for the Stadttheater of Saint Gallen (Switzerland), for the Opéra du Rhin (France) and, of course, he created MAPA for BJM DANSE during a five-week residence in Montréal in October 2004.

CRYSTAL PITE

Vancouver-based choreographer and performer, Crystal Pite was a member of Ballet British Columbia from 1988 until 1996. During her eight years there she danced for many choreographers such as John Alleyne, Serge Bennathan, James Kudelka, David Earle, Barry Ingham, and William Forsythe. Since her debut as a choreographer in 1990, she created works for Nederlands Dans Theatre 1, Ballett Frankfurt, BJM DANSE, the Alberta Ballet, the Ballet Jörgen, and several independent dance artists such as Louise Lecavalier.

She joined Ballett Frankfurt in 1996, under the direction of William Forsythe, and traveled worldwide performing works such as Eidos: Telos, The Loss of Small Detail, and Endless House. She participated in many of William Forsythe’s choreographies and performances.

In 2001, Crystal Pite returned to Canada and started her own company, Kidd Pivot which tours nationally and internationally with productions that include Lost Action (2006), Uncollected Work (2002) and Double Story (2004), created with Richard Siegal. In 2006, Kidd Pivot received the Alcan Performing Arts Award and its founder, Crystal Pite, was named Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre.