A wind of youth and diversity is blowing through the LNI. Indeed, the National Improv League has opened its ranks to add a sixth team, the Violets, to its Charade Cup tournament, which gets under way on February 19.
The objective of this expansion? Allow new artists to join the oldest and largest improvisation league in Quebec. “It is talent that motivated our decision to add this sixth team, explains the artistic director of the LNI, François-Étienne Paré. Every year, we hold workshops to meet new faces and discover rising talent. And what we saw convinced us that we had to make room for this next generation in our season.
“In 2022, several of these up-and-coming players came to replace artists who had to withdraw due to the pandemic at the last minute,” he continues. It gave them the opportunity to shine. And we found them very, very good! »
It should be understood that the LNI does not experience a huge turnover of its permanent improvisers. Some veterans have been there for more than 25 seasons (think Réal Bossé or Sophie Caron). “However, these are not players that we want to squeeze on the pretext that they are aging,” says François-Étienne Paré.
Thus, five new players have been added to the starting line-up of the LNI: Anne-Marie Binette, Rose-Anne Déry, Fabiola N. Aladin, Lyndz Dantiste and Louis-Philippe Desjardins. These rookies will play for different teams this season. As for the Violets, former LNI star player Jean-François Nadeau was recruited as head coach.
More diversity on the rink
This decision to add an additional team will have an impact on the calendar of the season. Each team will play one game less in the season, since the number of games remains unchanged “for financial reasons”. Also, the teams will only play each other once. “Accepting this new team is a nice gesture on the part of the improvisers, since everyone ends up with one less performance,” says the artistic director.
PHOTO NAJIM CHAOUI PROVIDED BY THE LNI
Lyndz Dantiste is one of the new recruits of the LNI.
The expansion project is also part of the LNI’s desire to continue its work of openness to diversity. “It is part of our concerns and we are very happy that two of our new players come from diversity, Fabiola N. Aladin and Lyndz Dantiste. Note that the LNI has often shown diversity on its ice rink: Normand Brathwaite, Didier Lucien, Nicholas Michon…
Another activity to highlight for the Charade Cup season, which begins on Sunday at Club Soda: the return of the school break game, which pits improvisers from Télé-Québec youth programs such as Like heads not chickens And The pact. They will face an all-star LNI team made up of Pier-Luc Funk, Mathieu Lepage, Marie Eve Morency and Joëlle Paré-Beaulieu. The game is scheduled for February 26 at 2 p.m.