Anik Bissonnette
Encyclopedia
Sadik Anik, OC
, CQ
(born February 9, 1962, Montreal
) is a Canadian ballet
dancer and principal dancer, since 1990, with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
. Her father, Jean Bissonnette, was famous as a television director
with Télévision de Radio-Canada
.
Anik Bissonnette began her training at the École de danse Eddy Toussaint, primarily under Camilla Malashenko. In 1979, she joined Toussaint's troupe, Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint. Her extraordinary physical attributes – long arms, elegant hyperextended legs and high arches, combined with her feline agility and beautiful face – set her apart from the other dancers and garnered her leading roles right from the start.
She created many leading roles in Toussaint's choreographies, including Rose La tulipe (1979), Un simple moment (1981), Requiem de Mozart (1986), New World Symphony (1987), and Bonjour Brel (1988).
Under Mr. Toussaint's artistic direction, Bissonnette formed a memorable partnership with Louis Robitaille
. She starred in many televised productions with Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint and performed in Night Magic, a film directed by Lewis Furey
. Her participation in the 1984 Helsinki Ballet Competition netted Toussaint first prize for his choreography in Un simple moment.
She danced the role of Giselle for the first time in Odessa
, Russia, in 1988. The following year, she was invited to Toulouse
, where she danced the part of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake
with Laurent Hilaire, principal dancer with the Opéra de Paris. In 1991, she resumed the role, partnered by Éric Vu An, another Paris Opera étoile. She also danced the role of Juliet in Nicholas Beriozoff's Romeo and Juliet
, as well as Cinderella in the work of the same name.
In 1989, Bissonnete joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal and was named principal dancer the following year, thus gaining access to roles that showcased the full range of her enormous talent. Leading roles in great classics like The Nutcracker
, Coppélia
, La Fille Mal Gardée
, Les Sylphides
, Giselle
and Swan Lake allowed audiences to appreciate her versatility. She performed the dramatic principal roles in Antony Tudor
's Jardin aux lilas and Pillar of Fire and in José Limon
's Moor's Pavane. With her flawless technique, she has also performed in some 10 ballets by George Balanchine
.
Throughout her career with Les Grands, Bissonnette has been fortunate to work with some of the greatest choreographers today, including James Kudelka
, William Forsythe
, Jiri Kylian
, Ohad Naharin
, Nacho Duato
, Nils Christe, Susan Toumine and Hans van Manen. Montréal choreographer Ginette Laurin an a number of up-and-coming choreographer (including Kevin O'Day, Gioconda Barbuto, Septim Webre, Didy Veldman
and Stijn Celis
) have also had the pleasure of working with her. In 2001, she created the role of Lisa in Kim Brandstrup's La Dame de pique.
Bissonnette performs regularly in galas around the world: Melbourne, Athens, Prague, Budapest, Thessaloniki, Montréal, New York City, Toronto, Vienne, Spoleto (Italy), Helsinki, Bratislav and many more. In 2005, she was invited by Carla Fracci
of Rome's teatro dell'Opera to revive the ballet La Chatte, which Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal had staged for her in 1990. She performed recently in Vienna for the closing of Tanz für Europa.
In tandem with her stage career, Bissonnette is Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur and President of the Regroupement québécois de la danse. In 1995, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. In 1996, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec
.
Bissonnette has a daughter who currently attends l'Ecole Superieure de Ballet Contemporain de Montreal. One of the five most prestigious dance academies in Canada.
1985 : Named Personality of the week by Montréal daily newspaper La Presse.
1988 : Named personality of the year, Youth section by the Salon de la Femme de Montréal
1990 : Prix des Biches (awarded on the Radio-Canada television show La Bande des Six)
1995 : Named Officer of the Order of Canada
1996 : Named Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec
2005 : Awarded the Prix du public at the Budapest Ballet Gala
2007 : Awarded the Prix du public at the Budapest Ballet Gala
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, CQ
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
(born February 9, 1962, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
) is a Canadian ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
dancer and principal dancer, since 1990, with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is a Canadian ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec.It was founded in 1957 by Ludmilla Chiriaeff. Conductor and composer Michel Perrault served as the organization's first music director. In 2000, Gradimir Pankov became Artistic Director...
. Her father, Jean Bissonnette, was famous as a television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
with Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...
.
Anik Bissonnette began her training at the École de danse Eddy Toussaint, primarily under Camilla Malashenko. In 1979, she joined Toussaint's troupe, Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint. Her extraordinary physical attributes – long arms, elegant hyperextended legs and high arches, combined with her feline agility and beautiful face – set her apart from the other dancers and garnered her leading roles right from the start.
She created many leading roles in Toussaint's choreographies, including Rose La tulipe (1979), Un simple moment (1981), Requiem de Mozart (1986), New World Symphony (1987), and Bonjour Brel (1988).
Under Mr. Toussaint's artistic direction, Bissonnette formed a memorable partnership with Louis Robitaille
Louis Robitaille
Louis Robitaille, OC, CQ is a Canadian ballet dancer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he is married to Anik Bissonnette, a fellow ballet dancer whom he has danced with....
. She starred in many televised productions with Le Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint and performed in Night Magic, a film directed by Lewis Furey
Lewis Furey
Lewis Furey, born Lewis Greenblatt is a Canadian composer, singer, violinist, pianist, actor and director.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec to French and American parents, Furey trained as a classical violinist, and at age 11 performed as a soloist in the Matinées pour la jeunesse concert series...
. Her participation in the 1984 Helsinki Ballet Competition netted Toussaint first prize for his choreography in Un simple moment.
She danced the role of Giselle for the first time in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Russia, in 1988. The following year, she was invited to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, where she danced the part of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
with Laurent Hilaire, principal dancer with the Opéra de Paris. In 1991, she resumed the role, partnered by Éric Vu An, another Paris Opera étoile. She also danced the role of Juliet in Nicholas Beriozoff's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, as well as Cinderella in the work of the same name.
In 1989, Bissonnete joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal and was named principal dancer the following year, thus gaining access to roles that showcased the full range of her enormous talent. Leading roles in great classics like The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, Coppélia
Coppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
, La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille mal gardée is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère...
, Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...
, Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
and Swan Lake allowed audiences to appreciate her versatility. She performed the dramatic principal roles in Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
's Jardin aux lilas and Pillar of Fire and in José Limon
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...
's Moor's Pavane. With her flawless technique, she has also performed in some 10 ballets by George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
.
Throughout her career with Les Grands, Bissonnette has been fortunate to work with some of the greatest choreographers today, including James Kudelka
James Kudelka
James Kudelka, OC, , is a choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director for the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in residence....
, William Forsythe
William Forsythe (dancer)
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
, Jiri Kylian
Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián is a Czech dance choreographer.Kylián studied in Prague and, at the age of 20, won a scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1968 and worked under John Cranko, where he began to choreograph. Kylián became Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans...
, Ohad Naharin
Ohad Naharin
Ohad Naharin is an Israeli contemporary dancer, choreographer and dance company artistic director.-Biography:...
, Nacho Duato
Nacho Duato
Juan Ignacio Duato Bárcia, also known as Nacho Duato is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. After a long and successful career, he was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education as the artistic director of the National Spanish Dance Company in June 1990...
, Nils Christe, Susan Toumine and Hans van Manen. Montréal choreographer Ginette Laurin an a number of up-and-coming choreographer (including Kevin O'Day, Gioconda Barbuto, Septim Webre, Didy Veldman
Didy Veldman
Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman trained at the Scapino Academy in Amsterdam. She has danced with Scapino Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and Rambert Dance Company, working with international choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin and Christopher Bruce, among others.In...
and Stijn Celis
Stijn Celis
Stijn Celis is a Belgian choreographer and set designer danced in companies such as the Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Zürich Ballet, Contemporary Dance Zurich, Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre in Geneva and the Cullberg Ballet...
) have also had the pleasure of working with her. In 2001, she created the role of Lisa in Kim Brandstrup's La Dame de pique.
Bissonnette performs regularly in galas around the world: Melbourne, Athens, Prague, Budapest, Thessaloniki, Montréal, New York City, Toronto, Vienne, Spoleto (Italy), Helsinki, Bratislav and many more. In 2005, she was invited by Carla Fracci
Carla Fracci
Carla Fracci is a ballet dancer and actress. Her career highlights include Nijinsky, Giselle , Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances: Erik Bruhn 1961-1967.-FAO Ambassador:...
of Rome's teatro dell'Opera to revive the ballet La Chatte, which Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal had staged for her in 1990. She performed recently in Vienna for the closing of Tanz für Europa.
In tandem with her stage career, Bissonnette is Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur and President of the Regroupement québécois de la danse. In 1995, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. In 1996, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
.
Bissonnette has a daughter who currently attends l'Ecole Superieure de Ballet Contemporain de Montreal. One of the five most prestigious dance academies in Canada.
Awards and honours
1985 : Best individual Performance at the International de Danse Porsche du Canada.1985 : Named Personality of the week by Montréal daily newspaper La Presse.
1988 : Named personality of the year, Youth section by the Salon de la Femme de Montréal
1990 : Prix des Biches (awarded on the Radio-Canada television show La Bande des Six)
1995 : Named Officer of the Order of Canada
1996 : Named Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec
2005 : Awarded the Prix du public at the Budapest Ballet Gala
2007 : Awarded the Prix du public at the Budapest Ballet Gala
External links
- Anik Bissonnette at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- Anik Bissonnette is loved (when she retire...)