MAGNIFICAT & The Rite of Spring

Two iconic works, two musical worlds, one unmistakable artistic signature: In this evening, Marie Chouinard brings together spirituality, physicality, and radical presence.

Both choreographies are based on music rooted in ritual: MAGNIFICAT as a Christian hymn of praise, The Rite of Spring as an evocation of archaic sacrificial rituals. Together, they showcase Chouinard as a pioneer of contemporary dance—aesthetically confrontational and untamed.

In MAGNIFICAT, twelve members of the company move in skin-colored briefs and halo-like headdresses, forming expansive group formations, intimate trios, duets, or solos. Chouinard translates the classical motifs of Bach’s music into an excessive physicality: the singing becomes movement, power, and submission, and jubilation and ecstasy unfold in a powerful and ironic visual language that transcends boundaries while simultaneously forging community.

*The Rite of Spring* is Chouinard’s first choreography based on a musical score. Drawing on Stravinsky’s driving music, she develops a work that celebrates the individual while simultaneously making the collective palpable. Solos take center stage; every movement is an expression of vital energy, and every body holds a secret. Time stretches; everything happens simultaneously, as if Chouinard were choreographically capturing the moment immediately following the emergence of life.

A wide temporal arc spans the period between the early *The Rite of Spring* (1993) and the most recent *MAGNIFICAT* (2025). What holds this arc together is a consistent focus on the body as a site of ritual, pleasure, exhaustion, and transcendence. Marie Chouinard’s work is less a matter of development than of persistence: a persistence in intensity, in immediacy, and in a form of dance that eludes all control.

Marie Chouinard was born in Québec and initially worked as a solo dancer for twelve years before founding the Compagnie Marie Chouinard in 1990. Since then, her works have been presented internationally and have become part of the repertoires of major venues. In addition to her work as a choreographer, she is active as a director, writer, and visual artist. She has received numerous awards for her life’s work, including the Canadian Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.

Artistic Team

MAGNIFICAT

• Marie Chouinard – Choreography, Lighting and Sound Design, Costumes, Makeup
• Music: The Magnificat, Johann Sebastian Bach
• Michael Baboolal, Adrian W.S. Batt, Justin Calvadores, Rose Gagnol, Valeria Galluccio, Béatrice Larouche, Luigi Luna, Carol Prieur, Sophie Qin, Clémentine Schindler, Ana Van Tendeloo, Jérôme Zerges – Dancers

35 min

The Rite of Spring

• Marie Chouinard – Concept, Choreography, Artistic Direction, Lighting
• Music: *Signatures sonores*, Robert Racine, 1992; *The Rite of Spring* (1913), Igor Stravinsky, arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright
• Michael Baboolal, Adrian W.S. Batt, Justin Calvadores, Rose Gagnol, Valeria Galluccio, Béatrice Larouche, Luigi Luna, Carol Prieur, Sophie Qin, Clémentine Schindler, Ana Van Tendeloo, Jérôme Zerges – Dancers
• Liz Vandal – Costumes
• Zaven Paré – Props
• Jacques-Lee Pelletier – Makeup
• Daniel Éthier – Hair

35 min

Tour Team

• Paige Culley – Rehearsal Director
• Martin Coutu – Tour Manager
• Félix Lefebvre – Technical Director, Stage Manager