Les corps avalés 

Since its inception in 2009, choreographic company Compagnie Virginie Brunelle has been under the artistic direction and management of choreographer Virginie Brunelle. Its repertoire includes contemporary dance works, which have been presented in Quebec and on international stages. 

Brunelle draws her creative inspiration from music to generate distinctive stage imagery. These images are then transposed onto the work like musical scores. Brunelle first composes the primary physical elements before focusing on the dynamic gestural language. Her attention shifts to highly detailed work, combining rhythms, suspensions, ferocity, delicacy, gazes, breathing and brutality to bring out the evocative power of gestures. Behind this formal research process lies a poetry of vulnerability that gives rise to poignant and visually stunning stage experiences. 

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Virginie Brunelle draws her creative inspiration from music to generate distinctive stage imagery. These images are then transposed onto the work like musical scores. Brunelle first composes the primary physical elements before focusing on dynamic gestural language. Her attention shifts to highly detailed work, combining rhythms, suspensions, ferocity, delicacy, gazes, breathing and brutality to bring out the evocative power of gestures. Behind this formal research process lies a poetry of vulnerability that gives rise to poignant and visually stunning stage experiences. 

After graduating, Brunelle created Les cuisses à l’écart du cœur, a choreography for seven dancers that earned the 2009 Bourse RIDEAU at the Vue sur la Relève festival. Emboldened by this initial success, she founded her eponymous company (Compagnie Virginie Brunelle) in 2009 and, in the same year, created a second work, Foutrement, which won the 2017 Prix du public presented by the CAM en tournée (CAM touring program). In 2011, Brunelle opened La Chapelle’s fall season with the presentation of her third work, Complexe des genres, which received second prize at Denmark’s prestigious Aarhus International Choreography Competition. Three years later, she presented PLOMB, and in 2016 she created À la douleur que j’ai. These four works have since toured across Europe and Canada, allowing the choreographer to gain recognition on the world stage, culminating in an invitation in 2018 to create a show for the Gauthier Dance Theaterhaus Stuttgart company. The result was Beating, a work that was first presented in Germany, with a Canadian tour scheduled in 2018-2019. In 2020 she created Les corps avalés, a piece for seven dancers, accompanied on stage by the Quatuor Molinari and presented by Danse Danse at Théâtre Maisonneuve. This work was a resounding success with critics and audiences alike. Her latest ambitious work, Fables, comprised of twelve dancers, was presented in May 2022 at the Lugano Danza Festival in Switzerland. She recently signed the production of a first dance short film entitled Réminiscences. 

Choreographer Virginie Brunelle Dancers Sophie Breton, Sabrina Dupuis, José Flores, Chi Long, Milan Panet-Gigon, Marine Rixhon, Peter Trosztmer Musicians Quatuor Molinari Violin Olga Ranzenhofer, Antoine Bareil Viola Frédéric Lambert Violoncello Pierre-Alain Bouvrette Lighting Designer Alexandre Pilon-Guay Costume Designer Elen Ewing Set Designer Marilène Bastien Sound Design Ben Shemie Dramaturgy Advisor Gabriel Charlebois-Plante Rehearsal Director Isabelle Poirier Technical Director François Marceau Sound Engineer Jean-François Gagnon Co-producer Danse Danse