Last January 10 marked the 100the birthday of the giant of Quebec dance, Ludmilla Chiriaeff (1924-1996). Who has heard of it? However, it is thanks to her that there is dancing here. Nutcracker, it’s her too. She was the one who founded the Grands Ballets Canadiens (1957) and the École supérieure de ballet du Québec (1966), and she was the one who brought in the choreographer Fernand Nault. Why has the commemoration remained silent?
The one we called “Madame” left quite a legacy: before, dance in Quebec was folkloric and ballet classes for young girls from good families. Since then, there has been professional dancing. “Madame touched on everything that makes and still holds dance here,” says Anik Bissonnette, director of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec (ESBQ).
Local artisans interviewed by The duty are unanimous: the planned celebrations, disconnected from the anniversary date, do not measure up to the importance of Ludmilla Chiriaeff, named a historic figure by Quebec in 2022. “It’s sad,” we heard. “It’s naughty. »
What do the Grands Ballets Canadiens (GBC) say about it? “It’s not bad, what we’re doing,” says general manager Marc Lalonde straight away. We are going to put in resources, it is significant. I look at the budget, and it’s considerable. »
Next October, the GBC will dance the triple program for three days Ludmilla. On the menu: a piece from the repertoire of Ginette Laurin (O Vertigo) dedicated to Mme Chiriaeff, another by James Kudelka, and a last one by Balanchine.
Also a creation by Jean Grand-Maître, for the first time at the GBC. “It will be a tribute, a narrative ballet on his exile and his immigration, on war refugees,” as the choreographer explained in an interview.
Done in collaboration with the ESBQ, the choreography will give 20 students the chance to dance with the pros, in a grand finale which will bring together roughly 60 performers — a rare quantity — as the choreographer announces, all smiles. A connection with the next generation that would have pleased Madame.
“It’s a heavy program,” continues Marc Lalonde. We mix up the repertoire, we revive old productions. We know that programs like this attract less than a full-length ballet, too. »
Art of the ephemeral, art of forgetting?
“There is no equivalent figure in dance in Canada, perhaps even in North America – apart from Martha Graham”, in the United States, sighs Mme Bissonnette.
The school has paid and will pay tribute within its means. There was a day of celebration with the students on January 10: a ballet class for former students. There will be a round table on April 29, in collaboration with the GBC. And the end-of-year show, in May, where we can already see the choreography of Mr. Grand-Maître, will be entirely dedicated to Madame.
“When I finished my training,” says Mr. Grand-Maître, “I was depressed. I had worked hard and I wasn’t dancing the way I wanted. Madam saw that it was not going well. Separately, she told me: “What you don’t have in your legs, Jean, you have in your head.” It gave me permission to choreograph. »
Dance, a living art and art of movement, is by nature ephemeral, indicates dance historian Josiane Fortin, of the University of Quebec in Montreal. We cannot collect the works or make them increase in value, which perhaps accelerates its oblivion.
“We tend to value and remember the works and the choreographers more,” adds the specialist. The very vast field in which Ludmilla Chiriaeff played, from interpretation to cultural mediation, from teaching to choreography, including concrete actions in arts policy, works against remembrance.
Arriving in Quebec in 1952, that year she began to collaborate with Radio-Canada, on the brand new television, in black and white. “She arrived with her reputation as a dancer,” explains M.me Fort. Mme Chiriaeff had danced at Colonel de Basil’s Ballets Russes and at the Berlin Opera Ballet before the war. Michel Fokine was his spiritual master.
On TV, great success, at a time when there were not dozens of continuous channels. Everyone sees the ballets. The show Concert time began in 1954. Ballets were danced there, very narrative, very porous. You need performers to play them. Madame recruits, teaches, she choreographs.
After some 300 broadcasts, which allowed her to accumulate performers, costumes, repertoire, music, she founded the Chiriaeff Ballets, and took her dance from TV to the stage, continues Josiane Fortin.
She also founded her dance academies, schools spread across Quebec. “I met her for the first time in Quebec, when she was giving us the exam,” relates dance artist Lucie Boissinot, who was maybe 7, maybe 10 years old at the time.
“She had arranged with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs for the best students from Quebec to come to Montreal once a week, on Saturday, to do a full day of classes, by bus. »
“She could be frightening, but she had a gift for saying the right word to everyone,” underlines the former director of the Montreal Contemporary Dance School.
My big little ballet
“Do you know the story of the founding of the GBC? whispers, all smiles, Anik Bissonnette. The government had decided to subsidize two ballet companies: the Royal Winnipeg, the oldest company, and the National Ballet in Toronto. »
“Someone, behind the scenes of the ministry, woke up: “Damn, we forgot Quebec””, the French-speakers, the distinct society. To avoid the political blunder, Madame was told that she would have money to set up “a small company”, seven or eight dancers.
“Okay,” she said, good idea; “and I’m going to call it the Great Canadian Ballets.” The name, impressive and prestigious, helped the company from the beginning to carve out a place for itself in the world.
Madame rejoiced, it is said, when a new company was formed, when the contemporary began to take its place. This meant that dancing was gaining ground.
At a closed microphone, several speakers suggest that the lack of funds limits the scale of the commemoration of the 100e birthday of Ludmilla Chiriaeff.
“It’s a big year for us,” said the GBC director to establish context. “We had to request support for the mission and strategic planning for the coming years. You also have to think about the 60e of Nutcracker », says Marc Lalonde.
Have the École supérieure and the GBC requested support within the framework of the new Quebec Commemoration Strategy, established by the Ministry of Culture, whose mandate corresponds perfectly to the situation, visibly? “The what? » asked Mme Bissonnette, who did not know that this program existed, just as the Grands Ballets did not know.
There would be other events to come, not yet announced, and which we want to keep as a surprise, we whisper. Will they be able to bring together all the dance communities of Quebec, who all owe a little or a big something to Madame’s work? And reach the general public?
Why are some artists over-celebrated, and others not, sometimes despite their importance? This text was the first in a series to come on the commemorations.