The Evocative Compagnie Virginie Brunelle Makes its Philadelphia Debut with Fables
Philadelphia Debuts
Our dance audiences have often been wowed by the passionate, ingenious performances by some of Montréal’s most celebrated companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballets Jazz Montréal, Compagnie Marie Chouinard and RUBBERBAND. Compagnie Virginie Brunelle, founded in 2009, is also part of Montréal’s rich dance legacy known worldwide for producing original and innovative artists.
Hailed as a fresh voice in contemporary dance and a rising star on the international scene, Virginie Brunelle and her eponymous dance company make their Philadelphia debut Feb 20-21 with Fables, a soul-stirring, emotionally driven, full-length dance theatre work that explores feminism.
Virginie Brunelle
After studying violin throughout her childhood, Brunelle took her first dance class at the age of twenty at the University of Quebec and discovered that her real calling was choreography. She graduated in 2008 and created her first work Les cuisses à L’écart du cœur, that same year. Encouraged by its success, she founded her company just one year later.
Following its founding, Brunelle’s company has won the 2017 Prix du public for Foutrement (2010); earned second prize at the Aarhus International Choreography Competition in Denmark for Complexe des genres (2011); and performed several major works in over 50 cities in Europe and North America. In addition to stage works, Brunelle recently directed her first award-winning short film, Réminiscences (2022), featuring three sensual duets, which was screened at 30 dance film festivals.
Brunelle tackles thorny issues—feminism, gender identities, violence, death and mourning—with gusto. Her work is about the human condition—pain, fragility, hope, the search for truth and the beauty that dwells within. She notes, “Creation is my way to sublimate what could be the negative atmosphere around me, to answer my questions and share them with a group of people. Through dance, I am not necessarily searching for answers, but my goal is to create a dialogue with people through movement.”
Fables
Fables premiered at the 2022 Lugano Dance Project Festival in Switzerland, was presented at the Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts in Montréal later that year and, most recently, was part of the prestigious Biennale Danza in Venice in 2025.
The inspiration for Fables was largely drawn from the Lugano festival’s theme, which centered on Monte Verità, the site of an idealistic community in the early twentieth century. The micro-society was interested in creating a new life based on freedom, simplicity, cooperation and a vegetarian diet, and it is considered a precursor to the hippie counterculture that emerged in the 1960s. The “Mount,” as it was called, became a cultural mecca for artists, intellectuals and reformers, including Isadora Duncan, Mary Wigman, Rudolf von Laban, Carl Jung, Hermann Hesse, Paul Klee, Rudolf Steiner and Max Picard. As dance lovers, we credit Duncan’s free-spirited style, Wigman’s unforgettable expressiveness and von Laban’s system of Labanotation, or documenting human movement, for pioneering the foundation for modern dance.
Brunelle was most interested in the feminist and utopian ideals that Monte Verità fostered. From this spark, she created a rousing, evocative and, at times, harsh 65-minute work for ten dancers to live music by pianist Laurier Rajotte. The choreography features powerful tableaux, energetic duets, memorable characters of female archetypes, panting gestures, compelling imagery and all that encompasses theatrical dance. One scene features a woman in a huge white dress, her face in pain with two naked bodies emerging from the skirt. Another segment shows a woman bounded by black bands attached to a structure. She is struggling to move but has limited space to do so. Then, there are more utopian moments such as an ensemble section featuring dancers in sequin outfits on stools where they sit, turn, twist, jump and triumphantly dance together in unison. There is nudity, violence, tenderness.
Janet Smith (Stir) beautifully sums up Brunelle’s work, “As for the dancers? Wow. They bare their souls and commit fully to the physical and emotional demands here, crossing back and forth between fragility and harshness.”
I, for one, cannot wait to experience this fascinating U.S. premiere. See you there on Feb 20-21. Read more...
France’s Magnificent Malandain Ballet Biarritz makes its Philadelphia Debut
Philadelphia Debuts
Malandain Ballet Biarritz makes its glorious debut at Penn Live Arts May 2-3 with its full-length spectacle,
The Seasons. One of France’s most treasured neoclassic ballet companies, Ballet Biarritz is recognized worldwide for its visually stunning productions, virtuoso dancers and inventive works. French newspaper
Le Figaro exclaims that
The Seasons is “one of the most beautiful dance pieces to be seen.”
Read more...Recent Highlights: Apr – Jun 2021
Philadelphia Debuts
As our country began to see a light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, arts lovers were eager to process feelings and emotions through music and dance performances. The final weeks of our spring season offered up just such an opportunity through a host of evocative programs. Here are some highlights.
Rennie Harris Puremovement gave us a powerful, message-driven performance, including works about police violence and the Black male experience. In its review of the performance, The Philadelphia Inquirer said, “His narrative voice is as compelling here as it is in his storied contemporary dance career with Philadanco and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.” Viewers commented that it was “mesmerizing” and “showcasing community pain.” Learn more about Philadelphia-native Harris in our 5 Questions article or this Philadelphia Tribune profile. Read more...
5 Questions with Ayodele Casel
Philadelphia Debuts
Ayodele Casel’s accolades continue to roll in.
The New York Times hails her as “a tap dancer of unquestionable radiance,” and she was named one of the publication’s “Biggest Breakout Stars of 2019." She will even be
featured on a postage stamp soon, as part of a celebration of tap! Casel has become an inspiring and powerful voice for the art form, and we can’t wait for her to
make her Philadelphia debut on our stage on May 6. But first, let’s discover more about Casel in just f̶i̶v̶e̶ six questions (we couldn’t turn down the chance to learn a bit more!)
What first got you into dance?
Seeing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Swing Time while taking a “History of the Movies” course in high school is what peaked my tap dancing curiosity. I thought they were magic. I wanted to teach myself how to move like them and I would check out their films at the library, go home, and lock myself in the room to revel in what they were doing. My sophomore year in college presented my first opportunity to take a tap class and I was in all my glory living the dream of being a little closer to feeling like I was in 1930’s Hollywood. Read more...
Recent Highlights: Jan – Mar 2021
Philadelphia Debuts
Powerful. Stunning. Inspiring. These are just a few of the words our audiences have shared with us since the spring digital season began in early February. It’s always great to hear such praise for the artists who have given a superlative performance. But in the past year, as we transitioned to livestreamed performances, it is particularly meaningful. And when we read that “the production team stars along with the dancers,” we get excited at the thought that perhaps that invisible barrier, across the virtual divide, just might be dissolving, bringing our virtual audiences so much closer. As one of only a couple of venues in the Philadelphia area to stream live performances in real time, this is a wonderful affirmation of the artists and their art and our staff learning to work in completely new ways. Here are a few highlights from the first weeks of our spring season.
Preserving the live experience has been our overriding goal for our 20/21 season. For debut artists, the dramatic tension of the live experience lends an extra level of energy, even in a virtual setting. For the audience, hearing new artists such as rising jazz stars Samara Joy and Pasquale Grasso gives a peek into the future of the art form. These fresh voices and musicians were a great kickoff to the spring season. You can read more about Samara Joy and her connection to Philadelphia in The Philadelphia Tribune and hear from both artists on our blog in our 5 Questions series. Read more...
