MARIE-JOSÉE CHARTIER
 
Montréal native and Toronto based choreographer, Marie-Josée Chartier has created over twenty-five works that have been presented in dance series and festivals in Canada such as the Canada Dance Festival, Dancing on the Edge, New Dance Horizons, Brian Webb Dance Company, Danceworks and abroad notably Café Québec at the Vooruit in Gent, Impuls Tanz in Vienna, la Ménagerie de Verre in Paris, the Substation in Singapore and P.S.122 in New York. She is fascinated by contemporary visual art and has created a cycle of works based on the human figure: SEATED WOMAN, FIVE SEATED FIGURES, STUDIES FOR THE HUMAN BODY (a work created for Dancemakers), STUDY FOR A CROUCHING FIGURE and FIGURES IN STILLNESS AND IN MOTION (installation work for 9 dancers and pianist). These last two works have received Moore Dora Mavor Award nominations.  Ms. Chartier has received numerous choreographic commissions from solo artists and companies such as VESTIGE for Toronto Dance Theatre, QUICKSILVER for dancer Yvonne Ng, VARIATIONS ON FIGURES for the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, ÉTUDE POUR DEUX MAMMIFÈRES for Kaeja d'Dance and La Lourdeur des Cendres for Four Chambers Dance Projects.  

Over the years Marie-Josée Chartier has collaborated with artists from various disciplines including composers Henry Kucharzyk, Linda C. Smith, Rick Sacks, John M. Sherlock, Rodney Sharman, Allison Cameron, her husband, the late Michael J. Baker, costume designer Heather MacCrimmon, lighting designers Jan Komarek, Marc Parent, Bonnie Beecher and set designer and builder Don McGoldrick. Her opera credits include choreography for SIRENS and ECHOES, two contemporary full evening works produced by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre and an upcoming Numus and Opera Ontario production for the spring of 2005 as well as teaching movement and staging solos for classical singers. She is also a full time member of URGE, a collective of women who create works involving music, voice and theatre and of which she is a co-founder and member since 1992. In 2004, Urge will premiere a new play conceived for teenage girls and commissioned by Theatre Direct.  Her work has been the subject of a 30-minute documentary film IN STILLNESS AND IN MOTION that has been shown on national television and selected for the Montréal's Festival de Films sur l'Art, as well an upcoming documentary DEVENIR for LA PASSION SANS ENTRACTE premiering on ARTV in Québec and TFO in Ontario. She is also one of the artists featured in the short films celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Ontario Arts Council.  

Marie-Josée Chartier continues to be in demand as a dancer and her performing career which spans 25 years has taken her on international and national stages as a freelance artist and with dance companies including Pointépiénu, Louise Bédard Danse (Urbania Box), Jean-Pierre Perreault (JOE) and for 10 years with Toronto's Dancemakers under the direction of Bill James and Serge Bennathan.  

Upcoming projects in 2004 include performing SOUS NOS YEUX at the Side by Side Festival in Wuppertal (Germany), directing and choreographing CONSTANTINOPLE, a ninety minute music/multi-media performance with music by Christos Hatzis and performed by the Gryphon Trio, premiering in Banff and consequently touring Canada, Greece and Egypt, the premiere of SCREAMING POPES in Potsdam followed by performances in Toronto in co-production with Danceworks and the premiere in Winnipeg of a commissioned solo for dancer Jolene Bailie.  In 2006, she will be the featured performer for VOLET INTERPRÈTE produced by Danse Cité in Montreal.  

Ms. Chartier continues to be a guest teacher in Toronto, Montréal and abroad in the field of modern dance, movement for singers and musicians, voice exploration and improvisation. She has received numerous government grants for her work as a performer and choreographer and was the winner of the prestigious K.M. Hunter Artist Award in Dance for 2001 and the 2002 Dora Mavor Moore Award for New Outstanding Choreography for FIFTY-ONE PIECES of SILVER, a full evening work commissioned by Dancemakers and premiering at the Premiere Dance Theatre for the Harbourfront Dance Season in Toronto.    

Marie-Josée Chartier had the opportunity to study dance in Canada and the U.S. in numerous intensive workshops (Jacob's Pillow, Lar Lubovitch, Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, York University) and with a very long list of incredible teachers in all disciplines of modern dance, anatomy and voice including Carolyn Adams, Peggy Baker, Risa Steinberg, Irene Dowd, Diane Miller, Pat Miner, Louise Latreille, Serge Bennathan, Peter Boneham, and Richard Armstrong to name a few. She is a member and co-founder of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists.