by Viva Wittman
Edith Lalonger began dancing at five-years-old with contemporary and ethnic dance (Quebecois and international) and between the ages of twelve and sixteen went on tour with her dance troupe. As a young woman, she attended the Conservatoire de Montréal where she discovered Baroque dance, for which she experienced “love at first sight.” Having come to Europe as an oboist, she began taking Baroque dance classes with Francine Lancelot, a choice which guided her to take an internship with Ris et Dancerie, as well as to study for her diploma in teaching dance (and music) in Salzburg.
Edith has been teaching Baroque dance for 26 years (23 years at CDM) always with the pleasure of passing down this regrettably little known dance form. “It’s the universal side that touches you; it’s timeless,” she says. “It’s the search for the awareness of the body, of its workings and the non-verbal communication which formed this dance, and beyond that, which inspired so many great choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries, from Massine to Massin.” |
She also is familiar with the intellectual side of teaching. “I’ve written many articles in the Nouveau Dictionnaire de Danse du Larousse ,” she tells me, “I’m more of a dancer/choreographer, but I’ve published quite a lot.”
As a choreographer, Edith makes Baroque and 19th century dance creations. “I have different shows,” she adds “either onstage in the operas, for plays, or for Baroque ballets.”
As well as teaching at CDM, she also comes to this “extraordinary” location to rehearse (notably for the creation of Zaïs, Anacréon, and Pygmalion de J. Ph. Rameau at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. See her site: edithlalonger.wix.com).
As well as teaching at CDM, she also comes to this “extraordinary” location to rehearse (notably for the creation of Zaïs, Anacréon, and Pygmalion de J. Ph. Rameau at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. See her site: edithlalonger.wix.com).
Edith’s class is a blast from the past; even if her students aren’t dressed in clothing from the 17th century, there is an air of grandeur and nobility of the era. I can almost see the ballroom, resplendent ornaments draped and dangling from surfaces. The finesse of each movement awakens the ancient aesthetic of the building in which the Centre de Danse du Marais rests.