Having managed her own consulting firm, which offered museums and publishing houses strategic advice on market development and positioning for cultural organizations, Ms. Gignac has a natural affinity with the FJPP’s new mission: to preserve and showcase Quebec’s heritage of creative dance choreography.

Sylvie Gignac has an educational background in the performing arts, including theatre and staging, as well as in communications, literature and cultural organization management. Ms. Gignac is looking forward to facing exciting new challenges at the FJPP, where she will apply her dynamism and communication skills to advancing the FJPP’s cultural mission, which is unique in Quebec. She can be reached at sylviegignac@fjpp.ca.

Sylvie Gignac replaces Sophie Préfontaine, Executive Director of the FJPP since 2010, who is expecting her second child. The FJPP thanks her for her excellent work and wishes her all the best. “Sophie’s efforts of the past two years inaugurated the new mission of Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault”, said Chairperson Marc Boivin at the launch on April 24. “We are forever grateful to her for relaunching the organization and steering it towards a bright future.”

The Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault (FJPP) is pleased to announce the launch of Phase I of Jean-Pierre Perreault, Choreographer: A Virtual Exhibition, organized in partnership with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and Hexagram UQAM.

The FJPP has a long-term development plan for this monumental and unique project, Phase 1 of which is finally coming to fruition. Several more phases will follow. The FJPP team and its partners have been working for months to create a virtual space to accommodate an impressive body of archives and documents, consisting of papers, audiovisual footage, interviews, drawings, photographs, sketches and choreographic notes. The existence of the BAnQ’s Jean-Pierre Perreault collection, housed at the Centre d’archives de Montréal, has greatly facilitated this project, as has the support of Hexagram UQAM, Toxa and Turbulent Média inc.

The FJPP wants to make Jean-Pierre Perreault’s work available to the widest possible audience. Jean-Pierre Perreault, Choreographer is a compelling vehicle for presenting and promoting the legacy of an important Montreal artist.

www.jeanpierreperreault.com

Spotlight on landmark choreographic works

The launch of Phase I of Jean-Pierre Perreault, Choreographer: A Virtual Exhibition will enable the FJPP to expand its reach and begin carrying out a core element of its mission: to showcase Quebec’s heritage of contemporary dance choreography.

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The launch is part of the program of the first-ever Québec Danse event, organized by the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD). Events are being held across Quebec from April 23 to 29 April 2012, International Dance Day.

It will also be possible to acquire one of these works, following standard procedure in the art community. The Fondation is dedicated to maintaining a link with Perreault’s paintings and to keeping track of them for future events. An exhibition catalogue in PDF format will be available in early January 2012.

To receive an invitation to the opening or for any other question, send an e-mail to info@fjpp.ca.

Under the direction of Ginelle Chagnon, assisted by Sophie Breton, the students will work on choreographic material from the works Joe and Rodolphe, as it was improvised under Perreault’s direction in 1983. The group piece, bringing together dancers from each school, will be performed at the Dance Canada Festival next June. It will be interesting to see the subtle differences between these two characters: one austere, wearing boots and a hat, and the other, his predecessor, in bare feet without a hat.

With December 2012 marking the tenth anniversary of the death of Jean-Pierre Perreault, this will be a moving opportunity to revisit a few months beforehand these so well-known characters in contemporary dance!