Courtesy of Ethel Bruneau
At barely 16 years old in 1953, after studying with Mary Bruce and at the High School of Performing Arts in New York, Ethel Bruneau joined the dance troupe that accompanied jazz singer Cab Calloway and his big band on their North American tour. She discovered Montreal and decided to settle there. Bruneau went on to sing and dance in dozens of Montreal clubs, including Rockhead’s Paradise, Aldo, Black Bottom, Cavendish Club and Maroon. Distinguishing herself on all stages, she won "Miss Swing" and "Afro-Cuban Queen" awards. In 1960, she started teaching in Dorion, before opening her first school on Sainte Catherine Street, not far from the studios of Eva Von Gencsy’s Ballet Jazz de Montréal. She also shared her skills and experiences with the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Petite-Bourgogne. Finally, in the early 1960s, she founded the Ethel Bruneau Tap Dance School in Dorval, where she popularized her style of tap dance. After nearly four decades, the school closed down in 2019. Ethel Bruneau has trained and inspired thousands of students, including Travis Knights, winner of the Canada Council's Jacqueline Lemieux Prize in 2020.
JURY NOTES
Affectionately nicknamed “Miss Swing” or “the Queen of Tap,” Ethel Bruneau has had an extraordinary career as an artist and educator. Performer, choreographer, and teacher for 70 years, this multi-talented icon has devoted herself to her art with passion and excellence. Ethel Bruneau embodies a luminous, committed, and inspiring artistic approach.Whether on stage alongside some of the greatest artists of her generation or in the studio with thousands of students of all ages to whom she still transmits her deep love and knowledge of tap dance, she has left an indelible mark. Through her many achievements, the generations of amateur and professional dancers she has influenced, and her role in making Montréal an essential destination for tap dance, Ethel Bruneau has shaped the history of dance in Québec. We are grateful and proud that this artist, originally from Harlem, chose in the 1950s to settle, perform, and teach in Montréal.
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