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Productions
Joyful, poetic and touching, the company’s productions are witness to the maturity of a progressive and evolutionary artistic vision, aimed at young audiences for over 35 years.
Conscious of the intelligence, the openness, the great capacity to listen and see and the demanding nature of young audiences, the company works with seriousness, authenticity, and with the greatest respect for this audience. Presented from coast to coast in Canada as well as internationally, Sursaut’s productions inspire and charm young and old alike.
The Sursaut Dance Company is a pioneering figure in the field of contemporary dance for young and family audiences in Canada and contributes to the development of professional dance outside major urban centres. Firmly convinced of the importance of art for young audiences, the company pursues its mandate and works to make dance accessible to all.
The Sursaut Dance Company is founded in 1985 at the initiative of the Conseil de la culture de l’Estrie (The Eastern Townships Arts Council), in order to promote the growth and development of professional dance in the region.
In 1987, choreographer Francine Châteauvert is named artistic director of the company. Her strongly imaged creations give the company a true identity. From the start, she collaborates closely with Adam Dymburt, and together they work with passion and energy to build the company as we know it today.
Their strong determination allows the company to become rooted in its’ community and to broaden its’ impact, through the dissemination of its’ productions across Quebec beginning in 1989.
For the first 10 or so years, the Sursaut Dance Company creates, produces and disseminates dance works for audiences of all ages. It is in 1998 that the artistic direction decides to concentrate principally on creations for young and family audiences. Sursaut becomes one of the first companies in Canada dedicated to young audiences, and in this sense plays a major role in the effervescence of the discipline in the country.
In the early 2000’s, the dissemination of the company’s works spread throughout the rest of Canada as well as internationally
Since December 2007, the company is resident at the Centre des arts de la scène Jean-Besré, a unique space in Quebec, dedicated to the creation and production of dance and theatre works. In 2009, the Sursaut Dance Company joins the Théâtre du Double signe and the Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke to found Côté scène, an organization working to develop the performing arts for young audiences, as well as towards the construction of a new venue specialized in the presentation of dance and theatre works for children and their families, slated to open in 2023.
With the production At nightfall, the company participates at numerous international events, and in 2012, becomes the first contemporary dance company for young and family audiences to tour China. The company continues its’ international dissemination with further tours to China and Mexico.
In 2014, choreographer Francine Châteauvert receives the CALQ prize- Eastern Townships Work of the year, for her production The Cicada and the Ant.
With the future of the company at heart, the artistic director collaborates with young artists who are invested in the company and with whom she shares an artistic affinity. This is the spirit in which the company’s latest productions came to be: Me Squared in 2015, Acuna in 2017, and Essaim in 2018. A forward-looking path, whose trajectory is in line with the artistic approach for which Sursaut has become known.
Faithful partner of the artistic director, Adam Dymburt leaves the company in December 2019, for a well-deserved retirement after 32 years of loyal service. His involvement and tenacity leave a permanent trace on the development and history of the company.
In the wake of the company’s 35th anniversary celebrated in 2020, Francine Châteauvert returns one more time to choreograph Echos, a new creation slated to premiere in the fall of 2021. This work will mark the end of the choreographers’ journey with the company. Proud of what has been accomplished since her arrival at Sursaut, she is preparing the artistic succession, and looking to the future with confidence.
It is in this spirit of succession that the company is announcing the creation of FUDGE, festival universel de danse géniale pour enfant, the first edition of which is scheduled to be held in Sherbrooke in the 2021-2022 season.
Well rooted in its’ community, the company participates in the decentralization of arts and culture throughout the territory, and contributes to the development of a community of professional artists in its’ region. Its presence remains essential to maintaining and building this community.
Through its notoriety and artistic activities, the Sursaut Dance Company is a leading ambassador for dance creation for young audiences in Quebec, in Canada, and abroad.
The company’s commitment to children remains at the heart of its’ activities.
Artistic Direction
Francine Châteauvert
Decidedly contemporary, her creations are imprinted with authenticity and freshness, offering performances imbued with a poetic realism in a highly physical choreographic style. Her work is characterized by a finely tuned choreographic language, a fusion of abstraction, symbolism, and theatricality of movement.
Assistant Artistic Director
President
Contractual, Visual Arts
Vice-president
Human Resource Advisor
Treasurer
Head Designer at BRP inc.
Secretary
Lecturer, University of Sherbrooke
Administrator
Retired Director of Studies at the Cegep de Sherbrooke / Consultant for Collecto, Bundled Educational Services
Administrator
Teacher, Alexander Galt Regional High School
Administrator
Contractual, Arts and Culture projects
Administrator
Co-owner, Sanders Farm
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