Artistic Direction
© George Dutil
Kathy Casey took the artistic reins of Montréal Danse in 1996. She brings to the company a broad dance practice as a performer, notably with the American companies Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and Susan Marshall & Company and as a teacher. These years of experience have permitted the company to acquire the capacity to listen, to question, to stimulate, to dare, to support and to collaborate as ways to impact and help develop community.
Her interest in choreographic reflection began with Susan Marshall & Company and has influenced all of her subsequent approaches to researching and creating in dance. She has worked regularly as a dramaturg alongside choreographers and creation teams and early on in her artistic direction created Research Events (research laboratories).
Her passion for teaching opened the door to Montréal Danse’s development of choreographic research workshops and dramaturgy workshops. Born into a family involved in politics, feminist causes and victim services, it was not surprising that Kathy invested in the implantation of the art for social action project Dance Against Violence in Montreal in 2010 to support women and their children impacted by violence.
The artistic curation that Kathy does at Montréal Danse aims to develop projects that, individually, are works that surprise and intrigue and, collectively, establish an enriching and refreshing dialogue on artistic and social questions. Her choices include choreographers in the process of establishing themselves and those with extensive careers. She insists on a working environment where taking care, daring, dialogue and rigor coexist with the goal that each project can give form to artists’ imaginations and ambitions.