You may remember the conversation we had on Movement Museum during our September 15 show about the English Language Arts Network (ELAN). I mentioned ELAN's RAEV Project (Recognizing Artists: Enfin Visibles!) which profiles noteworthy "anglophone" Quebecois artists. ELAN has dedicated a section of their website to this project, which features artist's profiles, videos, and histories of every artistic discipline. Now these histories have been published by Guernica Press as a book titled Minority Report - An Alternative History of English-Language Arts in Quebec.
The reason I'm mentioning this book is because of its fascinating and educational section on dance in Quebec, written by Tao Fei. In "The Un-Solitary Worlds of Montreal Dance" Fei takes us from the city's early dance history to a round-up of dance in 2011. Did you know that the "point of origin" of Montreal's dance scene is McGill University, where in 1929 the Physical Education Department began offering credited dance courses? Or that in the 1950s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens were one of only three companies who offered their dancers regular salaries?
If you're interested in learning about the history of Montreal's dance community and get a feel for the cultural landscape in Quebec over the last 60 years, get yourselves a copy of the Minority Report. It's available on the ELAN website here.
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