Founder and Artistic Director from 1991 to 2018
A well-known Canadian choreographer and dance teacher, Daniel Léveillé holds a place of high regard on the national and international scenes of contemporary dance. In forty years of practice, he has contributed to the development of choreographic art by creating a corpus of major works performed by exceptional dancers.
An alumni of Groupe Nouvelle Aire, Daniel Léveillé worked for many years as an independent choreographer before founding his own company, Daniel Léveillé Danse, in 1991. While penning choreographies for different dance and theatre companies, he was a Professor of creation and interpretation at Université du Québec à Montréal’s (UQAM) Dance department from 1988 until 2012. Pursuing this double career path, he refines and deepens his choreographic style and develops a unique approach to the interpretation of dance, without submitting to the demands of the art market.
In 2001, Amour, acide et noix confirms his reputation on the international scene in a spectacular way. He then presented The Modesty of the Icebergs (2004) and Twilight of the Oceans (2007), the two others works of his trilogy Anatomy of the imperfection. With these works, he develops a choreographic signature made of repetition and short movements, he creates choreographies that reach the borders of the impossible, that help to reveal the beauty of the human being in all its imperfections and he chooses nudity as the only possible costume in order to avoid any possible dissimulation.
Solitudes solo (2012) marks the beginning of a new cycle of creation, made of more fluid gestures and the return of a costume other than nudity, that eloquently reaffirms that we can do and say a lot with just a few things. This new cycle continues with Solitudes duo (2015) and Sadness Quartet (2018).
Daniel Léveillé is the winner of the Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal (2017) for his impact on the dance community and the longevity of his career. The jury sought to recognize Léveillé’s unique signature, his artistic integrity, and the remarkable support and transmission efforts enabled through Daniel Léveillé Danse. In 2018, Daniel Léveillé steps down as artistic director of the company and is replaced by Frédérick Gravel. He remains active in the company as a choreographer.
