Fortier Danse-Création : Paul-André Fortier, the choreographer

Paul-André Fortier was born into the world of dance in the 1970's via one of Quebec and Canada's most innovative choreographic ensembles, Nouvelle Aire. While at this company, he worked with some of the most distinguished artists in his field. Even before Fortier began to be known for choreography, he had already earned a reputation for his strong presence and elegant and refined interpretations. He was a part of all the projects of this period, those of his masters and those of his peers (Edouard Lock and Daniel Léveillé, among others), before creating his own company in 1979, which later became Fortier Danse-Création. He is also credited with co-founding, alongside Daniel Jackson, the company Montréal Danse in 1986. For ten years he was a professor at UQAM’s dance department.

Paul-André Fortier, Office national du film du Canada

Fortiers’ career as choreographer immediately had a significant impact. He was the forerunner of a style recognized early on by his peers for blending theatrical components with the high tensions of the modern world, creating a strong, determined and rigorous form that was able to inspire a whole generation of choreographers open to the risk of creation. It is this risk that Fortier always knew to take. Drawing on a dance theatre that had left an indelible mark on the choreographic practices in Quebec in the 1980s, he embarked, in grandiose fashion, on a solo adventure with a trilogy (Les Males Heures, 1989, La Tentation de la transparence, 1991, Bras de plomb, 1993), accompanied twice by Betty Goodwin. Following that decisive encounter, Paul-André Fortier would favour collaborations with other artists: visual artist Pierre Bruneau, composer Alain Thibault, and video artists Patrick Masbourian and Takao Minami.

Though attentive to all developments in the current art scene, particularly to the dawn of multimedia and new technologies, he does not blindly follow contemporary trends and current tendencies toward “everything technological”. He has weighed the symbolic and aesthetic scope in his most recent projects, notably Tensions (2001), Lumière (2004) and Solo 1x60 - A garden of objects (2006).

He started over in 2006 with Solo 30x30, a minimalist dance stripped of the stage’s artifice and resolutely grounded in the urban décor. He performed this thirty-minute piece for thirty days in Ottawa, Montréal, Yamaguchi, Japan, Nancy and Lyon, France, Newcastle and London, U.K., Bolzano and Rome, Italy and New York.

As guest at the Ballet de Lorraine in Nancy in 2008, Paul-André Fortier created Spirale, a piece for fifteen dancers. He went on to present his latest creation, Cabane, at the TransAmériques festival. Half-way between in situ and installation performance, this last piece brings the choreographer and visual artist/musician/writer Rober Racine together around a modular shed.

Paul-André Fortier’s creative work is recognized on an international level and is distinguished by its search for renewal and a desire to surpass itself. Fortier describes himself as “a man who dances” and constantly challenges himself to meet the highest of artistic standards.

Paul-André Fortier was the recipient of the prestigious Jean A. Chalmers award for choreography as well as the Dora Mavor Moore prize. From 2003 to 2007 Fortier was the resident choreographer at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts in Montreal. His career would lead him to work on over 40 choreographies in 30 years, presented in 10 different countries. In 2010, he was appointed Chevalier in ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and received, in 2012, the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards that is Canada's foremost distinction for excellence in the performing arts and an appointement to the Order of Canada. In 2013, Paul-André Fortier receved a Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec career grant.