Marc Boivin Bio

Marc Boivin, in particular, enlivened the space (...) In his long poses that are part of the choreography, he's never static, but waiting, listening (...) for him, the abstract is a dynamic place that speaks about and doesn't ignore human essence. 
Kaija Pepper, Dance International. 

Marc Boivin began his dance career at Le Groupe de la Place Royale in Ottawa under the directorship of Peter Boneham (now Le Group Dance Lab). In 1985 he joined Ginette Laurin and her newly formed company O Vertigo Danse, touring extensively in festivals across Canada, the United States and Europe. Since 1991 he has worked as an independent dancer, performing in the company creations and/or the commissioned works of many choreographers, notably Louise Bedard, Sylvain Emard, Jean-Pierre Perreault, Catherine Tardif and Tedd Robinson. A teacher of technique and interpretation, he has been affiliated with Ladmmi, a professionnal training program in Montreal since 1987 and regularly guest teaches in schools and companies across Canada. An avid improviser Boivin has been researching and performing this form since 1992 more specifically with Andrew Harwood, Peter Bingham and Helen Walkley. He is the 1999 recipient of the Jacqueline Lemieux prize, awarded each year by the Canada Arts Council. More recent projects have included performances with Louise Lecavalier in her newest commission Cobalt Rouge by Tedd Robinson, partnership with Karen Kain for the short feature film Elegie, and assistant to choreographer Sylvain Émard for Robert Lepage’s staging of Lorin Maazel’s opera 1984 at Covent Garden ROH.

Technique class

Marc Boivin offers a comprehensive contemporary dance class composed from the pedagogical material of the Limon techique and some principals of ballet. Using the traditional progression of a center class, the dancer is challenged to develop an equilibirium between strength and the free released weight of momentum; the clarity of impulse within, and the outward relationship to space through form and focus. In the process, technique is defined as the appropriation of tools in order to physically articulate the artistic contribution of the dancer through her/his choices.
Through the technical work participants focus on understanding and articulating the mechanics of movement within their own physical systems, as well, in relation to the science of this chosen traditional and contemporary work. The work has many purposes among which:
* The safety and health of the body as it is developped beyond it’s daily use to a higher level of efficiency and expressivity;
* The understanding of a personal physical system inherent to our dancing, something to be first accepted, then challenged and developed;
* The appropriation of a mode of _expression in all its parameters;
* An expanded range of possibilities and a higher sensitivity through a heightened vitality within the body.