Hélène Langevin

A brief overview

With a Bachelor of Contemporary Dance from Université du Québec à Montréal (1987), Hélène Langevin founded the collective Brouhaha Danse at the end of the 80s with three choreographers as passionate as she is. Almost 10 years later, in 1996, she created her first choreographic work for young audiences: Roche, Papier, Ciseaux—a real epiphany for her, even though she had already been teaching creative dance to children since her early twenties.

The choreographer founded Bouge de là in 2000; the company’s activities were and still are exclusively devoted to the creation of shows for children aged 3 to 10 years. Exploring various art forms throughout her career, the artistic director focused on deepening her research on the moving body with the primary goal of exploring theatricality and creating a language to better convey her vision of movement to children.

In a spirited blend of pedagogy and creativity, Hélène Langevin has been imparting the pleasure—and passion!—of dance to youngsters for almost 40 years. Her secret: offering choreographies that allow lots of room for their imagination and their own creativity. And her young public is always begging for more!

To know more:

Genesis

After graduating from the contemporary dance program at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1987, Hélène Langevin joined forces with Ginette Ferland, Rolline Laporte and Guylaine Savoie, three choreographers also driven by a creative spark. They established the collective Brouhaha Danse. The company soon became renowned for its invigorating, festive pieces and in situ happenings that were veritable accolades to nonchalance.

The collective gave pride of place to street theatre, circus skills, performance art, walkabout shows and interaction with the audience. Hélène Langevin created Brouhaha (1987) and Ça frise la frénésie (1988) plus a series of collectively produced works: Méfiez-vous des faux frissons (1989), Claire (1991) and La galerie des horribles (1992), presented in Dresden, Germany and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Epiphany

In addition to working within her company, the choreographer has been teaching creative dance to children for the past two decades and notes that childhood has been an inspiring force throughout her career. In 1996 she presented her first work for young audiences, Roche, Papier, Ciseaux, and it proved to be a revelation. Now with the company Bouge de là (created from the ashes of Brouhaha), she focuses exclusively on performances for children aged 3 to 10, a veritable passion for a woman who has been imparting the pleasure of dance to youngsters for almost 30 years in a spirited blend of pedagogy and creativity.

Art in Movement

Hélène Langevin’s omnipresent desire to explore different forms of art has led to diverse projects that intermingle dance, video, theatre, the visual arts, shadow play, etc. Throughout her career she has conducted research on the body in movement, her primary objective being to play with theatricality and create a language that allows her to better convey her vision of movement to children.

Collaboration and Collective Harmony

With a preference for team work plus improvisation as a creative starting point, the choreographer sees herself as a conductor who sets the tone and the quality of the movement, or as a painter whose colour palette consists of the personalities of her dancers, carefully selected for each new piece so that a collective harmony is achieved.

The cooperation between Hélène Langevin and her performers and collaborators is a forum for nourishing exchanges that help shape the creation of the work. The contributions of the dancers constitute an important part of the creative process, and the piece will reflect the colours of each individual involved. Their humanity, the way they inhabit their bodies, their personalities, their rapport with dance, their singularity–all will have an influence on the work. Charismatic and effective communicators, they are the dynamic link between the dance and the spectator.

Playful, whimsical and imbued with poetry, the choreography of Hélène Langevin engages the imaginations of children and stimulates their own creativity. No wonder the Prix du CALQ jury from the 2019 Prix de la danse de Montréal described her piece Through My Eyes as “sophisticated work that succeeds in making us see the world through the eyes of a child” trough “judicious, creative and remarkable choices”!

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