A Stone's Poem
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Choreographic ode, a homage to the essential lessons offered to us by Nature in each of her phases www.margiegillis.org The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation is a non for profit organization supported by the following agencies : a stone’s poem A creation by Margie Gillis and Paola Styron, performed by MARGIE GILLIS During the creative development of A STONE’S POEM, choreographers Margie Gillis and Paola Styron explored their connection with the forces of Nature by a stone’s poem working in wilderness sites which provided them with new information, on both the physical and spiritual levels: a stone quarry in Norway (Lundh’s Labrador) The result of excavations into the inner world. with sculptor, Darrell Petit; the sea swept shores of Martha’s Vineyard (The A language that springs from this ancestral communion Yard, USA); pine forests on Cortes Island (Hollyhock Retreat Center, British with Nature and its manifestations. Columbia), and at the Baie-Comeau Theatre and the Yukon Arts Center during A stone’s poem we can still understand. artist residencies... The piece was born from the raw energies of these exceptional places. On stage, Margie Gillis brings them to life with her passionate and graceful solo performance full of stark, powerful choreographic images, which reconnect us with that, which is essential. Images...sounds... silences... In spring, a fallen birch unfolds skywards like a tight bow strained MARGIE GILLIS – Dancer and Choreographer by months of captivity under As choreographer and performer of more than one hundred solo dance works, Margie Gillis layers of ice. has earned worldwide critical acclaim for her performances. A passionate and tireless creator, The shock of lightning, she has worked with the greatest dancers and artists of her time either on personal projects or reverberating through the as a collaborator on the works of her peers. Conscious of assuring continuity in her art, Margie atmosphere. Gillis devotes a large part of her time to teaching. Margie Gillis is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Québec. Also, the Canadian Fragility... trees crack, rocks split, and Quebec governments have each given her the honorary title of Cultural Ambassador. In ice breaks. recognition of her exceptional contribution to national culture, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec awarded her their Career Award in 2001. During the 35th anniversary of her Lightness... a leaf pirouettes in mid career, the Canada Council for the Arts awarded her the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence air, the mist lifts. in the Performing Arts, and the famous Stella Adler Studio of New York presented her with Power... a torrent, a tempest, their very first MAD Spirit Award for Exceptional Humanitarian Actions by an Artist. In May a fire. 2011, she received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Foundation. Carefree joy. Mystery. Dignity. a stone’s poem a stone’s Over the years, Margie Gillis’ masterful interpretation of the different facets of the human soul has won her loyal audiences. Unwaveringly, her work continues to develop through Exacting nobility of Death and experimenting, teaching and creating. Rebirth. PAOLA STYRON – Choreographer Paola Styron was a leading performer and collaborator for over twenty years with choreographer/director Martha Clarke. Productions with Ms. Clarke include: Off Broadway: The Garden of Earthly Delights, Vienna: Lusthaus, and Vienna: Lusthaus (Revisited), The Hunger Artist, Miracolo d’Amore, Vers La Flamme (Lincoln Center Great Performers Series). The operas Marco Polo, and Orfeo and Euridice (New York City Opera), Hans Christian Andersen (American : Cylla von Tiedemann : Cylla Conservatory Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (American Repertory Theatre) and Belle Epoque (Lincoln Center Theater). Ms. Styron also works frequently as a collaborator and photos performer with Heidi Latsky Dance. PIERRE LAVOIE – Lighting Designer Pierre Lavoie started designing lighting for Margie Gillis in the 1990s and has since designed Choreography : Margie Gillis et Paola Styron every new work in her repertoire. He is equally at ease with modern and classical vocabulary, a Performance : Margie Gillis versatility much appreciated by leading dancers and dance companies. Recent lighting credits Lighting : Pierre Lavoie include productions for the Royal Swedish Ballet with Sabrina Matthews, Atlantic Ballet Music and soundtrack : Larsen Lupin, Kilmartin and Gordon Monahan. Theatre of Canada, and Alberta Ballet..