Biography: Marc Boivin

Modern

A generous and prolific dancer whose career has spanned nearly 25 years, Marc Boivin has worked and performed in Quebec, Canada and abroad. The evocative power of his numerous appearances onstage has been repeatedly acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. He began his career in 1982 with Ottawa’s Groupe de la Place Royale, under the direction of Peter Boneham, and has since lent his interpretive qualities to many choreographers and projects. He joined O Vertigo, under choreographer Ginette Laurin, in 1985, participating in the company’s earliest creations and in several tours in Canada, the United States and Europe. He began to work as a freelance artist in 1991. Many renowned choreographers such as Louise Bédard, Sylvain Émard, Jean-Pierre Perreault, James Kudelka, Tedd Robinson, Felix Ruckert and Catherine Tardif have since solicited his talent and skill as a dancer for their works. Over the years, Boivin has also taken part in numerous improvisation projects, which have proven to be determining influences in the artist’s trajectory. Indeed, these experiences have inspired his own passion for choreographic creation and shaped the quality of imagination that he brings to his pieces. In 1999, Marc Boivin was awarded the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts.

In parallel with his work as a dancer, Boivin has pursued a very active teaching career since 1987, when he joined the professorial staff at LADMMI - L’École de danse contemporaine. His pedagogic approach is infused with the same passion that he brings to interpretation, and he is regularly called upon to teach and choreograph in professional schools and universities across Canada. Noteworthy are his passages in Vancouver, at the University of Calgary and in many EDAM workshops, where he teaches interpretation, improvisation and technique as well as offering individual coaching.

While Marc Boivin has long evolved as a performer, giving shape and meaning to the languages of different choreographers, he has also developed a marked interest for creation. His fascination with human beings nourishes his desire to explore a choreographic vision and voice of his own. His first choreographies were realized in the context of teaching activities, commissioned by prestigious schools in Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. These gave rise, among several other pieces, to La Fracture, a dance created for LADMMI students in 2006 and subsequently remounted at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, where he also created Aria. Between 2004 and 2008, he created solos for two professional dancers, respectively To Somewhere else for Jolene Bailie (Winnipeg) and Between here and now for Jennifer Dallas (Toronto), as well as the group piece Fragments, for Code Universel in Quebec City.

The creation of Impact in 2008 marks a pivotal moment in the dancer’s career. As the first piece that he choreographs for himself, this solo project is a synthesis of many years of craft and artistic practice. The solo is followed in 2009 by two commissions in Toronto regrouped under the umbrella The Fictions project. This project leads to the creation of Withrow Park (for Duskdances) and Fictions: Chroma key (for firstthingsfirst productions). Having danced the dance of others, this seasoned artist now feels the urgency to create, as a means of reflecting upon his own experiences, encounters and particular relationship with dance, thereby giving testimony to this rich journey.

Marc Boivin is highly involved in the contemporary dance milieu, and has played an influential role in its emancipation on the larger art scene. He is President of Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault since 2005, is a member of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, and was a longtime member of the Board of directors of Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD).