La La La Human Steps was a Québécois

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

group in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, active between 1980 and 2015, known for its energetic, acrobatic style involving fast-paced and athletic physical contact. Its signature move was the barrel jump – a gravity-defying, fully horizontal, mid-air

barrel roll A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as a " ...

. The first mention of the group in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', after the premiere of ''Human Sexy'', stated: :"This erformanceintegrates punk art music into the dancing - which features the fearless physicality of a group of high-flying and nose-diving performers. There is also the added interest of the dancers producing sound by activating laser-beam instruments with their bodies. ..Yet the style - Miss Lecavalier wears a Merry Widow corset, tights, running shoes and a mustache - is different. There is something touching about seeing a younger generation reinvent a wheel, however naively: this difference in attitude defines our times." The troupe collaborated with rock musicians, including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, David Lang,

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompto ...

, Stephen Luscombe, Pandit Dinesh,

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

(West India Company)

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments; pe ...

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David Van Tieghem David Van Tieghem (born April 21, 1955) is an American composer, percussionist and sound designer, best known for his philosophy of utilizing any available object as a percussion instrument and for his collaborations with the experimental artists ...

Carole Laure Carole Laure O.C. (born August 5, 1948) is an actress and singer from Quebec, Canada. Career Throughout most of her career, Carole Laure primarily collaborated with Anglophone singer, songwriter, producer, and director Lewis Furey, whom she ...

Priya Khajuria Priya may refer to: * Priya (given name), a given name of Indian origin * Priya (actress) (), stage name of Indian actress Karpagavalli * ''Priya'' (1970 film), an Indian Malayalam film by Madhu * ''Priya'' (1978 film), a Tamil film by S. P. Mut ...

Michel Cusson UZEB is a Canadian jazz fusion band from Montreal, Quebec who were active from 1976 to 1992, and reunited in November 2016. The members are Alain Caron ( bass guitar), Michel Cusson (guitar), and Paul Brochu (drums). The band won a number of Cana ...

and

Alain Bertrand Alain Bertrand (23 February 1951 – 3 March 2020) was a French politician. Born in Saint-Juéry, Tarn, he was originally a member of the Socialist Party before switching to LREM. At the time of his death, Bertrand had served as the Senate's rep ...

. It was formed in 1980 by Édouard Lock under the name Lock-Danseurs and showcased for many years

Louise Lecavalier Louise Lecavalier OC (born October 3, 1958) is a Canadian dancer known as one of the icons of Canadian contemporary dance. Biography Lecavalier was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She began her professional dance career at the age o ...

. The group appeared regularly in its hometown of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, and all over the world. In later years the leading soloist of La La La Human Steps was Grace-Anne Powers. On September 2, 2015 Lock announced that the company had been disbanded owing to insurmountable financial difficulties.

Repertoire

* ''Lily Marlene in the Jungle'' (1980) * ''Oranges'' (1981) * ''Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel'' (1983) * ''Human Sex'' (1985)
Video
* ''New Demons'' (1987)
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* ''Infante C'est Destroy'' (1991)
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* ''2'' (1995) * ''Exaucé/Salt'' (1998)
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* ''Amelia'' (2002)
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* "Les Boréades" opera by Rameau; production of Opera National de Paris, Robert Carsen, DIR., William Christie, cons.; (2003) * ''Amjad'' (2007)
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* ''Untitled'' (2011)

References

{{authority control Dance companies in Canada Contemporary dance companies 1980 establishments in Quebec Organizations established in 1980