Anik Bissonnette (born February 9, 1962) is a Canadian ballet dancer. She began her professional ballet career with the Ballet de Montreal Eddy Toussaint in the 1980s and became a principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1990.

Career

Training

Bissonnette began her ballet training at the age of ten at the studios of Ludmilla Chiriaeff, the founder of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. She discontinued her studies after six months. She then pursued jazz and dance at the École de Danse Eddy Toussaint. Toussaint later offered her a scholarship on the condition that she take

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 en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

classes, to which she agreed.

Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint

In 1979, at the age of 17, Bissonnette joined Toussaint's troupe, Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint. She originated several leading roles in Toussaint's choreographies, including ''Rose La Tulipe'' (1979), ''Un Simple Moment'' (1981), ''Requiem de Mozart'' (1986), ''New World Symphony'' (1987), and ''Bonjour Brel'' (1988). Under Toussaint's artistic direction, Bissonnette formed a partnership with Louis Robitaille. She starred in several televised productions with Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint and appeared in '' Night Magic'', a film directed by Lewis Furey. Her participation in the 1984 Helsinki Ballet Competition contributed to Toussaint earning a gold medal for his choreography in ''Un simple moment''. She first danced the role of ''Giselle'' in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

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in 1988. The following year, she was invited to

Toulouse, France Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, where she performed the role of ''Odette''/''Odile'' in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' alongside Laurent Hilaire, a principal dancer with 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 kn ...

. She also portrayed Juliet in Nicholas Beriozoff's ''Romeo and Juliet'''''' and the title role in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

In 1989, Bissonnette joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and was named principal dancer the following year. She performed leading roles in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'', ''

La Fille Mal Gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'', '' Les Sylphides'', ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', and ''

''. She also played dramatic principal roles in Antony Tudor's ''Jardin aux Lilas'' and ''Pillar'' ''of Fire'' and

José Limón José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...

's '' Moor's Pavane''. Additionally, she has performed in ten of George Balanchine's ballets. In 1991, she reprised the role of Giselle, partnered with Éric Vu An, an étoile at the

Paris Opera 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 kn ...

. Bissonnette left the company in 1996. Throughout her career with Les Grands, Bissonnette worked with choreographers including

James Kudelka James Kudelka, Order of Canada, OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario), is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ball ...

, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian,

Ohad Naharin Ohad Naharin (; born 1952) is an Israeli choreographer, contemporary dancer, and creator and teacher of a unique system/language/pedagogy of dance called Gaga. He served as artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company from 1990; he stepped down i ...

, Nacho Duato, Nils Christe, Susan Toumine, and Hans van Manen. She collaborated with Montréal choreographer Ginette Laurin and emerging choreographers such as Kevin O'Day, Gioconda Barbuto, Septim Webre, Didy Veldman, and Stijn Celis. In 2001, she created the role of ''Lisa'' in Kim Brandstrup's ''La Dame de Pique''. Bissonnette frequently performed at gala events worldwide, including in

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Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

(

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Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and

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. In 2005, Carla Fracci of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

's Teatro dell'Opera invited her to revive the ballet ''La Chatte'', which Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal had staged for her in 1990. She performed in Vienna for the closing of Tanz für Europa. She officially retired from the stage in 2007.

Leadership

In 2015, Bissonnette became the artistic director of École Supérieure de ballet du Québec. Alongside her stage career, Bissonnette serves as the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur and is the President of the Regroupement québécois de la danse. Bissonnette has contributed to organizing Montreal's Festival Quartiers Danses.

Personal life

Bissonnette was in a relationship with Louis Robitaille for nearly 20 years before they separated in 2001. She has one daughter who attended l'École supérieure de danse.

Awards and honors

Source: * 1985: Best individual Performance at the International de Danse Porsche du Canada * 1985: Personality of the week by La Presse * 1988: Personality of the year, Youth section by the Salon de la Femme de Montréal * 1990: Prix des Biches (awarded on the Radio-Canada television show La Bande des Six) * 1995: Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

* 1996: Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec * 2005: Awarded the Prix du Public at the Budapest Ballet Gala * 2007: Awarded the Prix du Public at the Budapest Ballet Gala * 2014:

Governor General's Performing Arts Award The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual Canadian award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in associ ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement * 2018: Ordre de Montréal * 2021: Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec * 2024: Prix de la danse de Montréal, catégorie Contribution exceptionnelle

References

External links

Anik Bissonnette
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissonnette, Anik 1962 births Living people Canadian ballerinas Canadian female dancers Knights of the National Order of Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada Entertainers from Montreal Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Governor General's Award winners