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Alongside a diverse and exhilarating performing career with, among others, COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD, Dominique Porte, Peter James, Sylvain Émard, and Paul-André Fortier, Manuel Roque began choreographing short works (Brendon et Brenda, 2002; Ô mon bateau, 2004) before creating and performing RAW-me (2010), a solo that won awards at the Festival Vue sur la relève and the OFFTA. This was followed by the duet Ne meurs pas tout de suite, on nous regarde, created and performed with Lucie Vigneault, closer in form to dance-theatre.
He founded Compagnie Manuel Roque in 2013 and created an in situ project for Montréal’s Place des Arts public space in January 2014. The solo Data (2014), exploring the transformation of matter, was presented at Usine C, then reprised at the FTA 2015, the June Events Festival (Paris), and on international tour. In addition to participating in the European project Migrant Bodies, where he created Matière noire, Roque choreographed Aurora for the graduating students of the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal, followed by 4-OR, presented in Montréal in December 2015 by Tangente and Parcours Danse. His most recent creation, the solo bang bang, premiered in Lyon in April 2017, then at the FTA 2017 and the June Events Festival in Paris.
Manuel Roque’s work explores the blending of contemporary languages, staging a kinesthetic virtuosity intertwined with a polymorphic questioning of the contemporary human condition.
JURY NOTES
The members of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec’s selection committee were enthralled by Manuel Roque’s thrilling performance in his creation bang bang. In this emotionally charged work, the performer seemed to attain a state of grace, reminding us that the human body is a stunning machine with limitless potential. The choreographic language draws from a broad-ranging palette, by turns evoking the jig, Charlie Chaplin, and the bunny rabbit reminiscent of a long-lasting battery
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