Dance in Quebec includes dances that are specific to the province of

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 thirtee ...

, Canada, it comprises traditional group,

couple Couple or couples may refer to : Basic meaning *Couple (app), a mobile app which provides a mobile messaging service for two people *Couple (mechanics), a system of forces with a resultant moment but no resultant force *Couple (relationship), tw ...

, and

solo dance A solo dance is a dance done by an individual dancing alone, as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner. ...

as well as contemporary jazz, ballet, and modern dance. There are a number of

dance companies This is a list of notable dance and ballet companies. Notes References See also * List of folk dance performance groups *List of ballet companies in the United States {{Dance Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a leg ...

and dance schools. Quebec's most renowned organizations are Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal as well as the contemporary dance crew

La La La Human Steps La La La Human Steps was a Québécois contemporary dance group in Canada, 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 gra ...

, directed by the choreographer

Édouard Lock Édouard Lock (born March 3, 1954 in Morocco) is a Canadian dance choreographer and the founder of the Canadian dance group, La La La Human Steps. Career La La La Human Steps Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer Édouard Lock began hi ...

and his emblematic dancer

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 ...

Traditional

In late 17th century,

English country dance A country dance is any of a very large number of social dances of a type that originated in the British Isles; it is the repeated execution of a predefined sequence of figures, carefully designed to fit a fixed length of music, performed by a g ...

s, contredances,

cotillion The cotillion (also cotillon or French country dance) is a social dance, popular in 18th-century Europe and North America. Originally for four couples in square formation, it was a courtly version of an English country dance, the forerunner ...

s, and

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...

s were popular. The most known dance was the bastringue. In the 18th century,

reels A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

and

jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

s were introduced to Quebec from the British Isles and British colonies in America.

Quadrille The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...

s and the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

started appearing in the 19th century, along with step-dancing (called ''la gigue'' in Quebec) and polka. They also create a funny move called . The tradition included

galop In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popul ...

s. Dancing had traditionally been monitored by the Catholic clergy of the province of Quebec, which often used its social and moral influence to ban dancing altogether in many villages and towns.

Classical ballet

The very first

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), it ...

studios in the province of Quebec started appearing in 1945. In 1952, in

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 ...

Ludmilla Chiriaeff Ludmilla Chiriaeff (January 10, 1924 – September 22, 1996) was a Latvian-Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. Biography Ludmilla Alexandrovna Otsup was born in Riga to a Russian-Jewish father Alexandr Otsup ...

established the ''Ballets Chiriaeff'', which became

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

in 1957. She then founded, in 1966, the Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens, nowadays known as the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. More recently, in 1989, Christiane Bélanger founded the ''Christiane Bélanger-Danse'' dance school in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

. She also established the ''Compagnie Christiane Bélanger'' (2001), which would become the Ballet de Québec in 2005, the school thus being renamed École du Ballet de Québec in 2013, when she also started a college program in classical ballet at Cégep Garneau. ''Le Centre Uriel'' was also the first showcase specialized in classical Ballet in

. The ''Société de Ballet du Québec'' (2012) is dedicated to the promotion and development of internationally recognized professional classical Ballet in

. Christiane Bélanger co-founded, along with Jacques Marsa from the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, the Competition Internationale de Ballet, Concours International PETIPA (May 2015), which was the first francophone international Ballet competition held in America. She dissociated herself from its co-founder in November 2012 and created the Compétition internationale de Ballet du Canada – volet Québec. She also created the École de mécanique corporelle du Québec to help elite athletes improve their performances.

Contemporary

Marie Chouinard, Benoît Lachambre, Ginette Laurin and the companies they created in Quebec, O Vertigo, D and PPS Danse are celebrated names in contemporary dance whose productions have spread internationally. founded the first dance company in Quebec City after the DansePartout company, founded by Chantal Bellhumeur and subsequently taken over by Luc Tremblay. The ''Compagnie Christiane Bélanger'' was established in 2001 and turned a corner to become exclusively dedicated to classical Ballet in 2005 ; it is now known as the Ballet de Québec. Christiane Bélanger was awarded the Prix François-Samson pour le Développement culturel in 2007 by the Conseil de la culture des régions de Québec-Chaudières Appalaches. Her style, which was referred to as neoclassical, was an extreme form of dance composed of a combination of martial arts, theatre and bold classical Ballet techniques from her classical Ballet experience. There are many auditoriums promoting contemporary dance in the

Province of 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 thirteen p ...

. In

Montréal 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-p ...

, there are Agora de la danse, Danse-Cité, Tangente, the Maisons de la culture, Montréal art interculturel, Studio 303, Théâtre Lachapelle, Théâtre Gésu, Usine C, the Pierre-Mercure hall, Théâtre Maisonneuve and many others, while

hosts La Rotonde and the Méduse facility.

Traditional

Classical ballet

Contemporary

See also

Further reading

Notes