Serge Bennathan - Choreographer
Serge Bennathan was the artistic director of Toronto’s Dancemakers from 1990 to 2006. The French-born choreographer trained in Paris in classical and modern dance before working professionally with Roland Petit’s Ballet de Marseille. Prior to his arrival in Canada in 1985, he directed his own company in Cannes for four years.
Twelve works of Bennathan for Dancemakers have received Dora Mavor Moore nominations with both Sable/Sand and The Satie Project receiving the award for Outstanding New Choreography. Bennathan has been commissioned by many dance companies and festivals, including Teatro San Martin Ballet Contemporaneo in Buenos Aires, Le Jeune Ballet International de Cannes, the Canada Dance Festival, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Ballet British Columbia, The National Ballet of Canada, and the Canada Japan New Creators Series.
Also known for his extensive work with opera companies and directors, Bennathan has collaborated with the Flanders Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Metropolitan Opera Company and the Canadian Opera Company (COC). His many collaborations with the COC include Venus and Adonis in 2000-01, the 2002 remount of Salome with Atom Egoyan, a collaboration with director Tom Diamond on Handel’s Julius Caesar in 2002, and the spring 2003 remount of Bennathan’s choreography for Jenůfa. His direction and choreography for John Blow’s Venus and Adonis earned Bennathan two Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations, for Outstanding Direction – Musical and Outstanding Choreography. In 2005, Bennathan directed his first mainstage opera, Rossini’s Tancredi, at the COC.
Serge Bennathan lives now in Vancouver where he created Les Productions FIGLIO. The first creation of Les Productions FIGLIO, The Invisible Life of Joseph Finch a play with actor Jonathon Young was created in 2007 in Vancouver and was performed at the Fringe Festival of Singapore in January 2008 and toured Canada in January/February 2209. The second creation Manga, a duet for Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan, premiered in Vancouver and Toronto in November 2007.
Recently he also created:
July, 2007: “Je, Tu, Il ou Elle” for Anatomica that premiered at the Dancing on the Edge Festival in Vancouver.
October, 2007: “Umm” For Simon Fraser University.
January, 2008: ”Song” a solo for Susan Elliott performed at the Chutzpah Festival in Vancouver.
February, 2008: “Je voudrais que tu sois la nuit…” for LADMMI in Montreal.
une 2008 he directed Stravinsky’s Renard for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble in Toronto.
July, 2008: “Slam for a Time Traveller” in Vancouver, a commission from the Dancing on the Edge Festival at the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
October, 2008: “Le vent t’emportera” for Dancersdancing in Vancouver.
November, 2008: “Samarcande” a full length work for Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers.
January/February, 2009: The play “The Invisible life of Joseph Finch” toured in Montreal, Whitehorse, and Vancouver.
April, 2009: the creation of “SLAM2” for dancers Leigha Wald, Vanessa Goodman, and Jane Osborne that premiered at the Dancing on the Edge Festival 2009.
October 15, 2009: “The Strange Adventure of Myself” a solo performance for Sylvain Senez premiered at the Firehall Theatre in Vancouver.
In creation for Les Productions FIGLIO is a solo “ Le recours aux Forets” for interpreter Davida Monk and “Conversations” a play about an imaginary encounter between Federico Garcia Lorca and his murderer Juan Luis Trescastro for the fall of 2010 that will be part of the Push Festival 2011.
Also a writer and a painter, Bennathan has written and illustrated three books: Julius le piano voyageur, published by the French-language publishing house Le GREF in Toronto, The Other Moon of Mr. Figlio and A Few Thousand Miles, a collection of poems about dance, dancers and the dance of life. Coming out very soon is Peurderien.
His paintings reflect the poetry of the human soul; its dreams, imagination and humour.
Allyson McGrane - Manager
Allyson McGrane is a Vancouver-based business consultant who specializes in the arts, non-profit and small business start-ups. As a partner in Left Right Minds Initiatives, Allyson is now working to develop ways for businesses and non-profit organizations to leverage the technical advantages of a customized website into their real-world business strategies. She has over seven years of experience with consulting, mentoring and teaching workshops to adults including working as a part-time facilitator with the S.E.A.R.C.H. program at the Greater Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture. Since 2001, she has worked with over 70 non-profit arts groups and helped raise more than $1 million to fund various projects. She is also a lawyer who graduated from the University of Victoria, and now runs her own sole practice as McGrane & Company. Allyson serves as the board president for TTS Theatre Terrific Society – an organization which focuses on providing theatre education and performance opportunities for disabled artists.
