369 - Alexandre Gilbert
Based in Montréal, Tentacle Tribe is a Canadian-Swedish creative alliance between Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund. The two artists craft unconventional choreographies with a contemporary edge, shaping a form of conceptual hip-hop inspired by creatures of the natural world. With Tentacle Tribe, they have established themselves as practitioners of diverse dance and movement techniques, active contributors to the street dance scene as b-boy and b-girl, and as accomplished stage performers.
They approach choreography through a wide range of movement philosophies, aiming for their work to transcend stylistic boundaries and embody music beyond technique. Their creations reflect a complex partnership, refined musicality, and highly physical, energetic choreography. Having collaborated since 2005, they founded Tentacle Tribe in 2012. Their first official collaboration, the duet Body to Body, was created for Cirque du Soleil in Québec and later adapted into the film Elon & Emmanuelle by Natalie Galazka. Their second creation, When They Fall, premiered at the Festival Quartiers Danses in Montréal in 2012 and 2013. The duo has also been commissioned for special artistic events with Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize.
Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid (2014) toured some 30 cities across North America and Europe in 2015–2016. The choreography was also featured in the dance short films Vanishing Points, screened at over 50 international festivals, and Crack the Cypher, both directed by Marites Carino. In November 2016, Tentacle Tribe presented Fractals of You at Danse Danse in Montréal. The company has held residencies at York University and Arizona State University. After threesixnine (2017), the company has been developing a new group work scheduled for release this year.
JURY NOTES
The selection committee was dazzled by threesixnine, a work that draws on hip-hop culture and does it justice. The choreography alternates intelligently between chaos and synchronicity, resulting in dance that is charged, evocative, and intensely physical. At once organic and mechanical, it also seems to evoke cosmopolitan life and reflects our society through the expressiveness of Tentacle Tribe’s performers, whose virtuosity deserves special mention. The Tentacle Tribe duo received this award from Anne Marie Jean, President and CEO of the Conseil.
Gaëlle Leroyer
