by Marie Brodeur
Canada, Quebec / 2016 / 83 minutes
Selected for the Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec (FCVQ)
Premièred at the International Festival of Films on Art - FIFA 2016
FIFA 2016 winner of the Best Canadian Film Award
A MAN OF DANCE (Un Homme de Danse) is a documentary feature about the life and times of dancer, curator and historian Vincent Warren. He was the bright shining star of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, the male principle dancer who contributed to this ballet's company to succeeded in acquiring, in a rather short time, the worldwide recognition and great reputation.
The film documents "la belle epoque" of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and its beginnings with the founder Madame Ludmilla Chiriaeff. It shows extracts from its major performances and focuses on the public's interest they steered. But most importantly, the film highlights the life and the creative, artistic career, as well as the major contribution of the company's lead dancer Vincent Warren. That period of Les Grandes Ballets' youth and blossoming is revealed through Vincent Warren's on screen recollections and reminiscences, as well as the vast documentation and a number of video clips, many of which came from Vincent Warren's memorabilia collection and his personal, very unique, and the largest dance related library.
The film presents a remarkable man and his achievements, and also focuses on his vast interactions with the artistic milieu of his days, as well as his great love of the dance and his respect and consideration for his dancing partners and colleagues. It is an inspiring film that also helps to reconnect Montrealers to their recent cultural past.
Official Synopsis:
"From Igor Stravinsky to Norman McLaren to Frank O’Hara, Vincent Warren has touched hands with history. This American-born star dancer of Montreal’s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens has always been inhabited by the importance of dance, art and culture in society and has worked his whole life as the bearer of beauty. From his début at the Old Metropolitan Opera and throughout his career, he established a reputation as a formidable dancer, historian and curator. The recipient of several awards including the Order of Canada, Vincent Warren has, to a certain extent, incarnated great social and artistic trends both in Canada and in the United States. A MAN OF DANCE is the story of this living legend and his historical era."
About the filmmaker
Marie Brodeur comes from the visual arts, dance and theater. She studied with a number of renowned visual and theatrical artists such as Irene Whittome, Gilles Maheu, Linda Rabbin, Martine Epoque, Jean Asselin, Merce Cunningham and Jean-Pierre Perrault. Following a brilliant 10-year dance career in modern ballet in Canada, the United States and Europe, Marie Brodeur took on a new career in 1986 as a documentary filmmaker, specializing mostly in art and dance. She was honored with two UNESCO prizes, recognizing her films (Danse du guerrier, La danse en Asie : la magie en mouvement) for their “exceptional contribution to the conservation of our world cultural heritage.” Many of her films are now part of the permanent collections of esteemed institutions such as the Lincoln Centre Performing Arts Library in New York, the Cinémathèque de Paris and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.
A MAN OF DANCE
Director: Marie Brodeur
With: Vincent Warren and the participation of Annette av Paul, Arnab Bandyopadhyay, Anik Bissonnette, Peter Boneham, Jean-Sébastien Couture, Paul-André Fortier, Linde Howe-Beck, Chris Huizinga, Véronique Landory, Marie-Josée Lecours, Brian Macdonald, Mamata Niyogi-Nakra, Gaétan Patenaude, Aileen Passloff and Jeanne Renaud.
Cinematography: Sylvestre Guidi, Marie Brodeur
Editing: Michel Giroux
Online editing: Denis Pilon (ACIC)
Original Music Score: Thomas Alain Thériault
Sound: Louis Léger, Alain Thériault, Jean Laurence Thériault
Sound Design: Catherine Van Der Donckt
Sound Mix: Bruno Bélanger (PRIM)
Producers: Alain Thériault, Marie Brodeur
Executive Producer: TAP Film Inc.
Production: La Compagnie de la Marie
Distribution: SPIRA
Official Site: comarie.ca/fr/un-homme-de- danse
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/ Unhommededanse
Trailer: vimeo.com/180075436
In Theatres on September 30
A MAN OF DANCE will then open in Quebec theatres on September 30, in French at Cinémathèque québécoise (Montreal) and Cinéma Le Clap (Quebec), and in English at Cinéma du Parc (Montreal). The film will also be screened in theatres throughout the province this autumn.
