 June newsletter ©Marina León, 2026 A spring bouquet of projects! Video screenshot from Excerpt from the call song and the song Hahchiouta'ah ©Catherine Dagenais-Savard et Sandrine Masse, 2026 Magnificent songs from Catherine Dagenais-SavardOn April 10 at the MAI, Catherine Dagenais-Savard brought Dancing bodies, memories, identities: inventing decolonial practices to a close. Through words and music, she shared an excerpt from the work she is developing during her residency.
Accompanied by musician Sandrine Masse, she appears in what is both the only moment of the event captured on video and one of its most beautiful and moving. Also worth exploring on her page are excerpts from the work currently taking form. It is a gentle, powerful journey into her Wendat imagination. Excerpt from the Call Song and the song Hahchiouta’ah Watch it, listen to it and read it here.  In the photo: Alida Esmail, video screenshot My Grandmother’s Threads by Alida EsmailA project by multidisciplinary artist Alida Esmail, My Grandmother’s Threads traces her family lineage from Muslim India to Canada, by way of South Africa and East Africa. The journey is deeply marked by apartheid in South Africa and the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972.
At the heart of this work in progress are spools of thread from her maternal grandmother’s sewing workshop, transformed into tools for connecting bodies, places, and generations. It is also an exploration of inherited memories carried within the body, questioning identity and the ancestral traces that continue to surface in the present.
This first video weaves together excerpts from rehearsals and a conversation between the choreographer and her dramaturgical consultants, Thea Patterson and Julie Tamiko Manning. It offers a rare opportunity to step inside the creative process, as Alida describes why she chose to work with these consultants and why they, in turn, chose to support the project. Intimate and deeply moving. Video filmed after a studio residency at the Playwrights' Workshop Montreal and before leaving for South Africa for a five-week research residency with two South African dance companies.
__________________________ My Grandmother’s Threads, a project by Alida Esmail Video produced by Espace Perreault Filming and editing: Maude Archambault-Wakil  In the photo: Louise Bédard, video screenshot THREAD/BARE: Louise Bédard tells her storyConceived, developed, and realized by dancer AnneBruce Falconer and visual artist Randal Newman, THREAD/BARE invited dancers to improvise within an installation shaped by themes of vulnerability and suffering, as well as healing and openness.
Louise Bédard reflects on an experience she describes as rich and surprising: “All I know is that I entered into different physical, vocal, sensory, and psychic materials, and emerged with a vivid sense of having undergone a kind of passage marked by flashes of insight and varying intensities of bodily and mental states.” She also speaks of the care with which AnneBruce and Randal approached the project, allowing the invited artists to expand their imaginations.
Read it here. __________________________ THREAD/BARE, a project by AnneBruce Falconer and Randal Newman. Video coproduced with Espace Perreault  In the photo: Kimberley de Jong, video screenshot Kimberley de Jong and Le corps qui chercheHow does Kimberley de Jong reconnect with the process of reviving the embodied memories of Martin Messier’s Corps mort? Step by step, in silence, moving through the space and seeking to recover the sensation of being onstage, Kimberley de Jong dances while asking herself: What emerges here, in this very moment? What remains? What memories lie buried within the body’s cells? Watch it here. __________________________ Le corps qui cherche, a project by Mélissa Raymond Video produced by Espace Perreault Filming and editing: Maude Archambault-Wakil  Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep ©Alex Tran Un morceau de chocolat avec Linda and Sovann Rochon-Prom TepIn this podcast episode, the street dance artist reflects on how he has woven Linda Rabin’s legacy – first encountered when he was a young student in his early days at LADMMI – into his own teaching practice. Empathy, embracing the inner experience, sensitivity, and attentive listening are among the values he inherited from Linda and that continue to shape his practice.
Listen to the lively discussion here. __________________________ Un morceau de chocolat avec Linda With Linda Rabin and Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep Host: Lucie Boissinot Production: Espace Perreault with the collaboration of Collectif Legs made up of Emmanuelle Bourassa Beaudoin, Mathi LP and Nicolas Patry Filming and editing: Maude Archambault-Wakil  In the photo: Angélique Willkie, video screenshot Dynamic stability and the spirit of play with Angélique WillkieThe final installment of this beautiful pedagogical transmission project, Angélique Willkie explores the idea of stability in motion by moving beyond the notion of stillness, a kind of rigidity that limits experimentation and blocks the path toward movement and vitality. The artist explains that the greatest obstacle to dance is the mind. That is why she encourages us to draw inspiration from childhood, intuition, and play.
Angélique, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your inspiring, generous contributions. Emmanuelle Bourassa Beaudoin and Natalie Zoey Gauld, thank you for dreaming up and bringing to life this extraordinary project, one that reflects the exceptional teacher Angélique is.
Watch it here. __________________________ Projet Angélique Willkie Project In conversation with Neil Sochasky Production: Jonathan Inksetter A series conceived and led by Emmanuelle Bourassa Beaudoin and Natalie Zoey Gauld, with the collaboration of Circuit-Est and Espace Perreault.  Six teaching artists and CovidErin Flynn meets with Sarah Bild, Marie Claire Forté, Sara Hanley, Susanna Hood, Alanna Kraaijeveld, and Isabelle Poirier to hear how the pandemic – and the need to move their classes online – changed their teaching practices.
The result is an in-depth conversation about dance and its transmission. Covid led them to explore new approaches and techniques while placing greater emphasis on their students’ autonomy and freedom. Through journals, exchanges, shared reflections, one-on-one meetings with students, and an openness to unexpected creative spaces, the pandemic turned their attention back to the essence of teaching. More importantly, it did not prevent the creation of intimacy and sacred spaces.
A rich and moving conversation, part of Territoires partagés, a project focused on artist training initiated by Johanna Biennaise.
Listen to it here.  Daniel Léveillé ©Émilie Tournevache Farewell, Daniel LéveilléIt is with great sadness that Espace Perreault learned of the passing of Daniel Léveillé. His unmistakable choreographic signature rigorously and consistently questioned our relationship to the body, nudity, and abstraction. We extend our deepest condolences to those close to him – his friends, family, and collaborators.
Watch or revisit here the interview produced by Circuit-Est in 2019 as part of its Visages de la danse series, hosted by Aline Apostolska.
Listen via our website to his fascinating interview with Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, the creator, producer, and host of the major Faire corps project.  Dance dans la neige, by Françoise Sullivan, performed by Ginette Boutin. Photo: Marion Landry. Courtesy of the artist and the Galerie de l’UQAM (2007) Elsewhere on the web: Réactiver l’éphémère: l’archive en mouvement chez Françoise SullivanBy our contributor Véronique Hudon, this article published on the Vie des arts website is described by the author as follows: “This text grows out of my doctoral research, which focuses in particular on issues surrounding the documentation, archiving, and transmission of ephemeral practices in art. Through the work of Françoise Sullivan, I explore how archives can not only preserve traces, but also reactivate works rooted in the body, movement, and presence.”
A reflection shaped by Françoise Sullivan’s legacy, available to read here. Enormous thanks to the artists we worked with this yearBefore closing this newsletter, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the artists and researchers who journeyed with us through this rich and exhilarating year, and who helped bring our productions and co-productions to life.
Dancing bodies, memories, identities: inventing decolonial practices With: Ideation: Elisabeth-Anne Dorléans, Thiago Freitas, and Chloé Saintesprit With the participation of: Nicholas Bellefleur, Julie Burelle, Sonia Bustos, Claudia Chan Tak, Sophie Corriveau, Catherine Dagenais-Savard, Élisabeth-Anne Dorléans, Mara Dupas, Alida Esmail, Shérane Figaro, Marie-Andrée Gill, Rameez Karim, Camille Larivée, Soleil Launière, Sandrine Masse, Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep, Pierrot Ross-Tremblay, Eduardo Ruiz-Vergara, Chloé Saintesprit, Corinne Skaff, Yvon Soglo alias Crazy Smooth, Ingrid Vallus, Angélique Willkie and Hodan Youssouf.
Artist residency With Catherine Dagenais-Savard, and her collaborators: Sandrine Masse, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui, Michel Savard.
Mozongi Traces et mémoires. Choreographic Toolkit With authors Zab Maboungou, Katya Montaignac and testimonials from Marie-Denise Bettez, Kristina Brown, Reena Almoneda Chang, Daniel Diaz, Aïchatou Erna Labarang, Mona El Husseini, Marie-Claude Gervais, Maryse Jeanneau, Marion Landers, Thierry Liverpol, Claudine Malard, Bruno Martinez, Elli Miller-Maboungou, Jeanne Maugenest, Raphaëlle Perreault and George Stamos.
Tracement, by Sophie Michaud And her allies: Ginelle Chagnon, Isabelle Poirier, Christine Charles and Annie Gagnon Filming completed, release coming soon.
Un morceau de chocolat avec Linda, by Emmanuelle Bourassa Beaudoin, Mathi LP and Nicolas Patry With host Lucie Boissinot and guests in 25-26: Margie Gillis, Nicolas Patry, Carol Prieur, Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep.
Archive fantôme, by Pierre-Marc Ouellette His guests Marc Boivin, Lucie Boissinot and Danièle Desnoyers. Filming completed, release coming soon.
Le corps qui cherche, by Mélissa Raymond With contributions from: Kimberley de Jong, Lucy M. May, Nicolas Patry.
Angélique Willkie Pedagogy Project, by Emmanuelle Bourassa Beaudoin and N. Zoey Gauld Trusted interlocutor: Neil Sochasky. Allies: Thom Gossage and Charmaine Leblanc
Roundtable at the Festival Rangoli, by Rameez Karim from Veils of Bollywood And his guests: Amrita Choudhury, Roger Sinha and Virushigaa Srikumar.
My Grandmother’s Threads, by Alida Esmail And her dramaturgical consultants: Thea Patterson and Julie Tamiko Manning.
THREAD/BARE, by AnneBruce Falconer and Randal Newman And their guests: Louise Bédard, Geneviève Bessette, Rachelle Bourget, Marc Daigle, Margie Gillis, Marie-Claire Forté, Jane Mappin, Susan Paulson and Peter Trosztmer.
La 2e Porte à gauche Marc Boivin, Mélanie Demers and Linda Rabin / Michèle Febvre, Nicolas Cantin and Katya Montaignac.
Territoires partagés, by Johanna Biennaise And the participants: Erin Flynn / James Viveiros / Marianne Beaulieu / Sarah Bild, Marie Claire Forté, Sara Hanley, Susanna Hood, Alanna Kraaijeveld and Isabelle Poirier.
And finally, a big thank you to Rhonda Mullins, our valued translator.
The entire Espace Perreault team wishes you an inspiring and rejuvenating summer. We’ll be here throughout July, but taking a break in August. Until we return in the fall, wishing you a wonderful summer! Espace Perreault is committed to nourishing and inspiring the dance community 💙 We would like to underscore that the land on which Espace Perreault operates is the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk), a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. Espace Perreault would like to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Caisse de la culture Desjardins for their support in all of these projects. Informations : info@espaceperreault.ca / 514 906 0988 |
