Canadian Stage presents HIERONYMOUS BOSCH: THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS

Canadian Stage proudly presents the Toronto premiere of Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights, the latest creation by world-renowned Canadian choreographer Marie Chouinard. A choreography in three acts inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's infamous medieval triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, Compagnie Marie Chouinard's Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights is on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre from April 19-23 for five performances only.

The latest in the line of virtuoso dance works created by Marie Chouinard incorporating the vision of iconic artists - from poet and ink painter Henri Michaux to composers Bach and Stravinsky - Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights was commissioned by the Netherlands to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Dutch painter's death and premiered in Hertogenbosch ("Den Bosch"), Bosch's birthplace, in 2016. The work has gone on to captivate audiences in Italy, France, Belgium and Quebec.

"Just as a choreographer can start with a piece of music in order to create, I am starting with the painting by Bosch. And just as a choreographer can choose to 'stick' to a musical score (or not), I have chosen to 'stick' to Bosch's painting, its spirit. The joy of bowing before a masterpiece!" said Marie Chouinard, who wrote, choreographed, designed and directed the piece.

"Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights comes to Canadian Stage following our presentations of Marie Chouinard's The Golden Mean (Live) (2013) and Orpheus and Eurydice (2011), two of the most memorable dance experiences in our company's history," said Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic and General Director, Canadian Stage. "Marie's incomparable vision for contemporary dance has made a lasting impact on the national identity of the art form in Canada and it is with great anticipation that we introduce her newest dance-theatre adventure, which I was lucky enough to see at the opening in Hertogenbosch - a remarkably sensual and deliciously jarring stage experience audiences are unlikely to forget."

The choreography re-creates the fantastical imagery of the 16th century masterpiece "The Garden of Earthly Delights": Bosch's ambitious and most famous surviving painting, depicting a cornucopia of illusions and hallucinations, bizarre monsters, biblical narratives and hedonistic fantasies. Shifting ecstatically between creation, temptation and damnation, a multi-talented ensemble of ten dancers moves through the triptych's three panels - from hell to paradise and beyond - revealing Bosch's unconscious prophecy of life today. Out of the dancers' naked figures - contorting in rigorous and incandescent primal bursts - Chouinard sculpts a startling living landscape.

2016 was a landmark year for the Montreal-based choreographer and performer, who received two major Canadian Awards: the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement and the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts (nominated by Canadian Stage's Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn). Chouinard was also recognized in Italy, receiving the Positano Prize for Choreographer of the Year and being appointed the Director of Dance for the Venice Biennale. In 2015, Compagnie Marie Chouinard launched its first application for iPhone and iPad CANTIQUE: a groundbreaking creative tool that allows the user to take command of two dancers and choreograph your own image and sound work.

Bosch: a Cultural Renaissance

With cities, contemporary artists, museums, filmmakers, and even fashion designers, paying tribute to the late medieval painter on his 500th anniversary, the work of Hieronymus Bosh is enjoying a worldwide cultural renaissance. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" hangs at Madrid's Prado Museum, which recently presented a major retrospective of his work "Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition" alongside Den Bosch's Noordbrabants Museum and their award-winning exhibit "Jheronimus Bosch - Visions of genius." His surreal and often apocalyptic depictions of Medieval society captured the major themes of his time: seduction, sin, judgment, in an inimitable manner - sharing uncanny similarities with the big questions of our turbulent times.

About Marie Chouinard

In 1978, the Montreal choreographer Marie Chouinard presented her first dance work, Cristallisation, establishing her reputation as a highly original artist driven by the need for authentic communication. This first piece was followed by thirty solos performed on the international stage, including Marie Chien Noir (1982), S.T.A.B. (Space, Time and Beyond) (1986), and Afternoon of a Faun (1987), landmarks in contemporary dance of the past 30 years. In 1990, the soloist and choreographer founded her own company, Compagnie Marie Chouinard, which performs all over the world and has co-produced pieces with such international partners as the Venice Biennale, the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival (Vienna), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Festival TransAmériques (Montreal), Place des Arts (Montreal), and the National Arts Centre (Ottawa). Many of the company's pieces remain for a long time in its repertoire, such as The Rite of Spring danced for more than 20 years already, and can also be found at the repertoire of different ballet companies including the National Ballet of Canada, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo and the GöteborgsOperan in Sweden.

Over the years, Marie Chouinard has developed her own dance technique, now taught by herself or her dancers during workshops or master classes. In addition to being invited to create for other prestigious companies, Chouinard is also an author, set and lighting designer, a photographer and a filmmaker, and her body of work includes multimedia pieces, films, music videos and photo-installations. Named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007, Marie Chouinard has received several awards including the Bessie Award (New York, 2000), the Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal (2006), the title of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 2009), the Denise Pelletier Award (Quebec, 2010), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec Award for best choreography for LE NOMBRE D'OR (LIVE) (2012), the Samuel de Champlain Award (France, 2014), the Ordre national des arts et des lettres du Québec (2015), the Ordre national du Québec (2015) and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Canada, 2016). The name of Marie Chouinard became a dictionary entry in Le Petit Larousse illustré in 2010 and in Le Robert in 2011. Marie Chouinard is the Venice Biennale's director of dance.

Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights will be on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (27 Front Street E) from April 19 to 23. Performances run Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8pm, Friday at 7pm, and with a 1pm matinee on Sunday, April 23. Tickets from $39 to $114 are available online, by phone at 416.368.3110, or in person at the Berkeley Street box office. For details visit www.canadianstage.com/online/bosch

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