Louise Lecavalier

Louise Lecavalier (born 1958) is a Canadian dancer, known as one of the icons of Canadian contemporary dance.

Lecavalier was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She began her professional dance career at the age of eighteen when she joined Le Groupe Nouvelle Aire. It was there that she met Édouard Lock.

Lecavalier became Lock's muse in his company La La La Human Steps. With her mane of platinum dreadlocks, her physical power and her mastery of the full-body barrel jump, which looks like a horizontal pirouette, her image was a signature for the company. She was the perfect embodiment of Lock's frenetic and technically punishing androgynous aesthetic in works such as "Human Sex" (1985) and "Infante, c'est destroy" (1991).

She joined La La La Human Steps in 1981 for its production of "Oranges" and went on to perform in each of the company’s productions up until "Salt" in 1998.

In 1985, Louise Lecavalier became the first Canadian to win a Bessie Award in New York for her performance in "Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel" (1983).

She danced in "Human Sex" (1985), "New Demons" (1987), "Infante, c'est destroy" (1991) and finally, "2" (1995) and "Salt" (1998), where she achieved a rare maturity as a dancer. As the company’s symbol and luminary for nearly two decades, she gave heart and soul to her art. She embodied dance on the outer edge, performing with passion and generosity, dazzling audiences worldwide.

Lecavalier also participated in each of La La La’s major collaborations, including David Bowie’s Sound and Vision tour in 1990 and Fame music video, The Yellow Shark concert, performed by Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern of Germany in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Vienna in 1992, and the film "Inspirations" from director Michael Apted in 1996.

In May 1999, Louise Lecavalier received the Jean A. Chalmers National Award, Canada’s most distinguished dance prize.

In 2003, she appeared with Tedd Robinson in "Lula and the Sailor" as part of a concert of duets choreographed by Robinson. In the winter of 2005, she co-produced "Cobalt Rouge" with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Biennale di Venizia and Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. The work features Lecavalier with dancers Marc Boivin, Masaharu Imazu, and Tedd Robinson, and musician/composer Yannick Rieu.

Lecavalier has been a guest teacher at New York University on several occasions and continues to perform as an independent artist.

Notable Performances

* "Oranges" (1981)
* "Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel" (1983)
* "Human Sex" (1985)
* "New Demons" (1987)
* "Infante, C'est destroy" (1991)
* "2" (1995)
* "Salt" (1998)
* "Lula and the Sailor"
* "Cobalt Rouge" (2005)

Movies & Videos

* "The Mondo Beyondo Show" (1982) (TV)
* Carole Laure's "Danse avant de tomber" (1989) (as a dancer)
* David Bowie's "Fame '90" music video (1990) (as a dancer)
* "The Yellow Shark" by Frank Zappa (1992) (TV)
* "Velasquez's Little Museum" (1994) (as a dancer)
* "Pour tout dire" - Module 3 (1995)
* "Pour tout dire" - Module 4 (1995)
* "Strange Days" (1995) (as Cindy 'Vita' Minh)
* "Inspirations" (1997) (as herself)