David Rancourt

A native of Rouyn-Noranda, David Rancourt is a dance artist established in Montreal since 1999. After training at the Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal (now EDCM), his versatility and his great love of plural forms of dance allow him, as a performer, to defend a rich range of choreographic proposals. In twenty years, he has distinguished himself in some fifty productions, including some thirty creations, among which are landmark works in the careers of certain creators. These include Marie Chouinard’s bODY_rEMIX/les_vARIATIONS_gOLDBERG (2005), José Navas’ Anatomies (2006), Annie Gagnon’s La marche invisible (2010), Pierre-Paul Savoie’s Danse Lhasa Danse (2012 re-creation 2020), and Alan Lake’s Ravages (2015) and Le cri des méduses (2018). Early in his career, he met Paula de Vasconcelos who, over the course of nearly 7 years of collaboration, provided him with in-depth learning about the craft and creation. There he discovered the power of dialogue, the richness of human relations in creation and saw the close relationship between the organization, the craftsman’s work and the creative.

Allowing dance or the creative gesture to take root within oneself and then to be shared is a quest of his artistic practice. This is in part what stimulates him to follow, since his arrival in the city, the teachings and guidance of Marie-Claude Rodrigue through the practice of Qi Gong. This age-old practice has carved out a precious place for itself in the artist’s journey, providing a place to evolve humanly, physically, emotionally and spiritually. David is part of the teaching team of the Fragments Libres school where he shares some of the treasures of this practice with people of all ages and backgrounds.

As a creator, he believes that the artist’s sensitive gesture is political. David tries to embody the change he would like to see in this world. He is concerned and aware of community issues such as the recognition of the status of the artist (particularly that of the dancer) and the need to allow our creations to meet their audience and spread out in different territories. On the other hand, it recognizes that our practices can no longer avoid even more important social issues such as the distribution of power and wealth, living together and environmental protection.

In recent years, his practice has evolved by occupying different functions. Alternating between the roles of choreographer, performer, teacher, rehearsal director, outside eye and assistant artistic director, David is refining his sense of teamwork and coordination of the human, artistic and technical elements involved in the development of a creative project. These multiple functions are precious assets in his new role as co-artistic director of PPS Danse, alongside Pierre-Paul Savoie, with whom he has been working for nearly 10 years. Wishing PPS Danse to continue to be a crossroads for artists, disciplines and audiences, he hopes that his extensive knowledge of the field will make him a unifying co-artistic director, capable of being open, listening, taking risks and of freedom.

To sum up his aspirations and inspirations, he paraphrases a great woman of dance, Linda Rabin, who communicates and teaches him through the practice of Continuum “that it is not about making movement but rather about listening, putting ourselves at the service and letting the movement we are express itself”.