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Louise Lecavalier at the 2015 PuSh Festival: For the Uninitiated

It's been said before, but it bears repeating for the uninitiated: Louise Lecavalier is the third part of the holy triumvirate of androgynous high-art-meets-pop-culture blondes, along with David Bowie and Tilda Swinton.

So Blue, Louise Lecavalier, 2015 PuSh Festival

It's been said before, but it bears repeating for the uninitiated: Louise Lecavalier is the third part of the holy triumvirate of androgynous high-art-meets-pop-culture blondes, along with David Bowie and Tilda Swinton. Like her counterparts in music and film, Lecavalier has an ageless grace and mega-ton talent that transcends the realm of dance.

Louise Lecavalier is the grande dame, high priestess and reigning queen of Canadian contemporary dance. And for over 30 years she has yet to be unseated. She is best known for her time as the principal dancer and muse at La La La Human Steps (Montreal), one of Canada's most important cultural exports of the 1980s and '90s. And since her last role with the iconic company in 1998, she formed her own company of one with special guests, toured the world with new works, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

And Lecavalier continues to surprise and delight her legions of fans. At age 54, she embarked on the next stage of her enviable career: choreographer, having premiered her first work of her own choreography, So Blue, in 2012.

So Blue makes its long-awaited Vancouver debut, at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, on January 20 & 21 at SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Tickets and info at pushfestival.ca


Here's a quick visual primer of Louise Lecavalier in all her remarkable glory.

This is Louise Lecavalier in her heyday. So... yeah.

LouiseLecavalier_PuShFestival

Human Sex (1985) is arguably La La La Human Steps's most famous work. It is unadulterated power and unabashed sexual energy manifest, and Lecavalier is its centrepiece. Watch Lecavalier perform an unrelenting cascade of "barrel rolls" (mid-air, horizontal piroutes–her signature move), and tell yourself that ballet is for wusses.

http://youtu.be/l2ORZCdazM0

So famous and incredible were La La La Human Steps and Lecavalier that they partnered with David Bowie for his 1987 world tour. The comparisons of their cultural significance have been coming ever since. Witness:

http://youtu.be/hnZIR41ZuyU

And it happens again a few years later, with Frank Zappa this time:

http://youtu.be/gUBTJhmtrH4

In case you're having a hard time grasping how bad-ass this dancing is, here it is in slow-mo:

http://youtu.be/gELXU4ivC4w

So, you're wondering what she's doing now, at an age when the rest of us would consider retirement and certainly decreased physical exertion. Well, here she is in 2011.

Carnal desire.

http://youtu.be/H_kdDVBvWqw

With So Blue, Louise Lecavalier proves again that Canada is no little sister to anyone on the cultural world stage. We hold our own, and we dare you to challenge us, because we've got this power maven on our side.

http://youtu.be/d580FHSVymc


PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, with 149 Arts Society and DanceHouse, presents Louise Lecavalier in So Blue, January 20 & 21, 2015 at SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 West Hastings, Vancouver). Tickets and info at pushfestival.ca