Helen Simoneau Danse Lecture & Demonstration (3/15/19)
From left: Melanie George (dramaturge) and Helen Simoneau (choreographer)
Described by Dance Magazine as “a Choreographer-on-the-rise” with a style that is both “athletic and smooth”, Helen Simoneau has enjoyed her company’s global presence over the last 7 years. Simoneau and her dancers were CAI Artists-in-Residence for 3 weeks in March 2019, during which they created a new dance work entitled "Darling."
On March 15th, Simoneau gave a lecture & demonstation about her creative process. The goal was to demystify the choreographic process by giving participants an entry point into the ways choreographers and dancers generate dance material. The event began with a full performance of the new piece and concluded a talk-back with the choreographer, dramaturge, and dancers. Feedback from the audience was used to further refine the piece.
Founded in 2010, Helen Simoneau Danse (HSDanse) is committed to creating and performing the compelling dance works of it’s founder and choreographer Helen Simoneau and has been presented in Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and toured throughout Germany, Asia, and the United States. Simoneau has been commissioned by The Juilliard School, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the American Dance Festival, UNC School of the Arts, The Yard, Springboard Danse Montréal, and the Swiss International Coaching Project (SiWiC) in Zurich. Most recently, Simoneau was resident artist at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Bates Dance Festival and has received fellowships from The NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts, the Bogliasco Foundation, as well as twice from the North Carolina Arts Council. Notable venues that have presented Simoneau’s work include The Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Dance
Place (DC), Joyce SoHo (NYC), Tangente (Montréal), The Aoyama Round Theatre (Tokyo), the L.I.G. Art Hall Busan (South Korea), Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out (MA), PACT-Zollverein in Essen (Germany), and Athens International Dance Festival (Greece). Her work was also presented at the 13th Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theatre Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was awarded 1st place for Choreography.
Simoneau's CAI residency involved UB students and the Buffalo dance community in her collaboration with 4 dancers, composer Nathalie Joachim, dramaturge Melanie George, and costume designers Reid & Harriet. Simoneau works in a task-based process where the dancers are active collaborators. These tasks were shared with the community through master classes and workshops.