Helen Simoneau Danse Returns To Dance Post-Pandemic With A New Work, Residencies, and Fellowships

Helen Simoneau Danse continues a return to dance after the pandemic with a full fall 2021 schedule, including creation residencies to develop new work, open movement classes, work-in-progress sessions, performances, and more.

Helen Simoneau has been granted fellowships with New York City Center and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, residencies at Wortham Theater and American Dance Festival, was named Artist-in-Residence by The University of the Arts and has been commissioned to set work on dance students at The Ailey School and The University of the Arts this Fall. A jam-packed fall promises exciting premieres and performances to come during the winter season.

"After months of no live performances, there is an energy teeming all around the creative community," said Helen Simoneau, founder of Helen Simoneau Danse. "I'm thrilled to be returning in full strength, working with dancers in person, and being back in the studio. I'm excited to share my new ideas with audiences."



As part of a fellowship, Helen Simoneau Danse will continue a residency at New York City Center from December 7-16, 2021, working on two new pieces. In September, Helen Simoneau had a creation residency with the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC, the culmination of which featured a work-in-progress showing of Delicate Power followed by a Q&A session. Delicate Power examines how individuals hold and exert power through voice and body. The work will feature an original score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and musician Caroline Shaw, with dramaturgy by Melanie George and costume design by Quinn Czejkowski. In addition to the work created for the stage, Helen Simoneau & Liz Sargent will collaborate to produce a Delicate Power dance film. The residency also featured an open movement class, specifically focusing on composition. The showing and class were both made possible with support from South Arts and the American Dance Festival. Delicate Power was also rehearsed at New York City Center during Helen's time there as a Choreography fellow.

Helen Simoneau Danse performed Flight Distance I to celebrate North Carolina Dance Festival's 30th anniversary season in early October at the Van Dyke Performance Space, Greensboro, NC. The show features several special performances honoring the history of the Festival and showcasing the diverse, unique perspectives of artists who call North Carolina home.

On November 3, 2021, Les Voisins by Helen Simoneau, commissioned by BalletX, will have its virtual premiere, which will include a post-screening talk with all the choreographers. Throughout this fall, as an ongoing project, Helen Simoneau will also be setting this work on students at both The Ailey School and The University of the Arts. Ailey will be filming the piece for their virtual fall concert on November 6, 2021. The University of the Arts will be performing the work live, in theater on December 4-5, 2021.

Helen Simoneau, originally from Rimouski, Québec, is the artistic director and choreographer of Helen Simoneau Danse. Described as "a Choreographer-on-the-rise" by Dance Magazine, Simoneau creates work that exists at the intersection of intent and impact. Her commissions include: The Juilliard School, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the American Dance Festival, BalletX, UNC School of the Arts, The Yard, Springboard Danse Montréal, The Ailey School, the University of the Arts (PA), and the Swiss International Coaching Project (SiWiC) in Zurich. Simoneau was a resident artist at Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYU/Tisch, Bates Dance Festival, New York Dance Lab, The National Choreographic Center in Akron, the University of Buffalo via the Creative Arts Initiative, and has received fellowships from The NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts, the Bogliasco Foundation, Ailey's New Directions Choreography Lab, and twice from the North Carolina Arts Council. Her work has been presented both nationally and internationally at The Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Dance Place (DC), Joyce SoHo (NYC), Tangente (Montréal), The Aoyama Round Theatre (Tokyo), the L.I.G. Art Hall Busan (South Korea), Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out (MA), PACT-Zollverein in Essen (Germany), Athens International Dance Festival (Greece), and the Shanghai Dance Festival (China). Simoneau was awarded 1st place for Choreography at the Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.

For more information, visit helensimoneau.org.

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