Betroffenheit - Michael Slobodian
Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite was a member of Ballet British Columbia and William Forsythe’s company, Ballett Frankfurt. She made her choreographic debut in 1990 with Ballet British Columbia. Since then, she has created more than 50 works for companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater I, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, the National Ballet of Canada, BJM–Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (as resident choreographer from 2001 to 2004), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and Ballet British Columbia. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage.
Crystal Pite is an associate choreographer with Nederlands Dans Theater, associate dance artist at Canada’s National Arts Centre, and associate artist at Sadler’s Wells in London. In 2002, she founded her own company, Kidd Pivot, in Vancouver, which has toured nationally and internationally with works such as Dark Matters, Lost Action, The You Show, The Tempest Replica, and Betroffenheit (co-created with Jonathon Young).
She has received numerous awards, including three Sir Laurence Olivier Awards and the 2017 Benois de la Danse for her creation The Season’s Canon for the Paris Opera Ballet. Montréal audiences will see her again with Revisor in March 2019.
JURY NOTES
The jury highlighted the particularly impressive international reach of Crystal Pite’s work, her remarkable talent, her dedicated practice, her ongoing research, her undeniable choreographic sense, her mastery of stage elements, and her ability to delve into complex and dark subjects. The jury also noted the richness of her choreographic vocabulary, the number and quality of her works, and her intelligence in working with the body. She has a gift for showcasing the strength of her performers. Finally, since her brilliant beginnings with BJM–Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, this artist has built a meaningful relationship with Montréal—one that continues to this day.
Michael Slobodian
