Les Productions des pieds des mains

Marc is a theatre student who has been a part of the training program at Les Muses centre for the performing arts since 2002. His expressive speech and his strong stage presence are outstanding.

As a performer with Les Productions des pieds des mains, he was cast in Leçons [Lessons], a play that was produced in Quebec and in Belgium, and in Pharmakon, which was staged in Montreal’s cultural centres, as well as at the Théâtre Gesù and the Festival Art et Déchirure in Rouen, France.

In 2005 and 2006, Marc worked on two productions for the Montreal theatre company Joe Jack et John. In 2012, he was cast in the feature film Gabrielle and was the recipient of the Janine Sutto Award for best artist.

A graduate of the University of Quebec at Montreal’s theatre school — École supérieure de théâtre — Mireille also has a bachelor’s degree in dramaturgy and stage direction from Laval University and has performed under the direction of the likes of Christian Lapointe, Peter Batakliev, Martine Beaulne, Claude Lemieux, Markita Boies and Réjean Vallée. She both acts and directs. Her diverse stage training includes a stint at the Argentine public university UNICEN and other sessions at Le Théâtre de l’Homme Actor’s Laboratorium (LeTHAL) in Toronto and Théâtre Contre-Courant in Quebec City. Mireille acted in Atteintes à sa vie — the French translation of Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life — under the direction of Christian Lapointe and in La Colonie de Marivaux, directed by Markita Boies, at UQAM’s theatre school (2009–2010). In 2011, she joined Les Productions des pieds des mains to perform in Pharmakon. She also put her acting talent to work in Pirata Théâtre’s La Maison project at the Fred Barry Hall, alongside women from Passages, an organization that offers shelter and assistance to women in difficulty.

With Les Productions Quitte ou Double—where she is also artistic director—Mireille performed in Stainless and in the summer theatre production Il était des fois. In February 2012, she directed Mayenburg’s Le Chien, la nuit et le couteau at the Segal Centre. From 2004 to 2007, she worked with the Théâtre Loco Motiv, playing parts in Fernando Arrabal’s Concert dans un oeuf, Conte de la soif, Cabaret Neige Noire (performed in Chile and Argentina in 2005), and Michel Garneau’s L’Épopée de Gilgamesh, directed by Richard Nieoczym and staged at the Théâtre Périscope (2005).

Les Productions des pieds des mains would like to pay tribute to Éric Vincent Carrié (1975–2008).

Éric was involved as both a dancer and an actor from the company’s very first steps into choreography and carried off memorable roles in Leçons [Lessons], Le Temps des Marguerites [Daisy Time] and L’Ombre [The Shadow] in style.

His talent, generosity and remarkable creativity played a significant role in the company’s development.

Éric was a great source of inspiration for all of the artists who had the privilege of working with him.

Alexis Chartrand is a fiddler from Montréal who has been active in the québécois traditional music scene for several years. He is known for his energetic accompaniment of stepdancing and social dances. His interest in Québécois, Irish and Scottish fiddle styles inform his playing, along with his study of classical, contemporary and baroque music.

He frequently collaborates with dancers including baroque dancer Anne-Marie Gardette, traditional dancer and caller Pierre Chartrand, regularly performs in duo with guitarists such as Yann Falquet, Colin Savoie-Levac and Peter Senn.

In 2017, he released an album with multi-instrumentalist Nicolas Babineau (fiddle, guitar), Gigues à 2 faces. His performances have brought him around Québec, Canada, New England and Europe. His research into the intersections between traditional and baroque violin styles has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. He has also taught fiddle, traditional repertoire and traditional music history in music camps such as CAMMAC (Québec) and Boxwood Festival (Nova Scotia).

A member of the new generation of composers, Maëva Clermont studied classical music before taking an interest in jazz and completing a bachelor’s degree in jazz piano at the University of Montreal in 2009. Captivated by the visual and performing arts, she has always tried to find ways to weave her music into various artistic projects, so it was only natural for her to spread her wings with a master’s degree in composition for film and multimedia, which she completed in 2012.

Maëva has scored a number of short films, documentaries and TV series episodes, and some of her work has been played at festivals in France, Germany and Switzerland.

Edon Descollines is a dance student at Les Muses centre for the performing arts, and shines brightly through his stage expression, creativity and total commitment to the arts.

As an actor and a dancer with Les Productions des pieds des mains, he had a role in Leçons [Lessons]—a play that premiered at Montreal’s Mercier cultural centre before moving on to Liège, Belgium, for the inaugural Rencontres Théâtrales du Créahm festival and ending its run at the Théâtre La Chapelle in the winter of 2005.

In 2006, Edon travelled to Japan to showcase L’Ombre [The Shadow], a choreographic duet from the company’s repertoire.

Caroline Gravel completed her classical dance training at École supérieure de danse du Québec—the provincial college of dance—before joining forces with visual artist Luc Boisclair. The two of them worked together for more than four years. Just one of the stages for their work was the third International Festival of Experimental Art and Performance in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2001.

Caroline completed a bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance at the University of Quebec at Montreal in 2002, and since then she has worked with a number of modern choreographers, including Frédérick Gravel (G.A.G.), Marie-Julie Asselin (Compagnie de la Tourmente), Catherine Gaudet and Jean-Sébastien Lourdais (Fabrication Danse).

Since 2007, Caroline has been performing with Daniel Léveillé Danse in Le crépuscule des océans. Alongside her career as a performer, she continues to explore her own research interests. These include expressing sensation through “bodystorming,” the concept of stripping down to essentials and the role of inner urges in channelling creativity.

Richard Gaulin earned a bachelor’s degree in drama with a major in acting (1992) and has had roles in a number of stage productions, including Itinéraires and Salomé, as well as on television. For several years he has helped to introduce people with intellectual disabilities to the acting profession by teaching at Les Muses centre for the performing arts.

Working alongside these budding performers, he met choreographer Menka Nagrani and became involved with Les Productions des pieds des mains and her dance-theatre creations.

Richard also works with Théâtre Aphasique. In the last year, Métronome — a show he wrote and directed—was not only performed close to home in Saguenay, Quebec City and Sherbrooke, but also crossed the Atlantic to the Studio-Théâtre at the Comédie-Française in Paris.

Trained in musicology, improv, and contemporary music, Gabriel Girouard has been working as an interpreter and composer since 1999. Continuing his passion for music, he learned the rudiments of classical violin very early on.

As a versatile and passionate multi-instrumentalist, he currently plays in several musical ensembles including the traditional Quebecois music of Ogalo and Baqahuis, as well as the medieval musical duo, Les Ramancheurs. Some of his other repertoires include bluegrass, country, and jazz. Since 2011, he has collaborated musically and in dance with Mélissandre Tremblay-Bourassa and Les Bordeliques. Gabriel provides musical accompaniment for workshops held by les productions des pieds des mains.

A graduate from Collège Lionel-Groulx theatre program, Arnaud had an early start in the artistic world. At the age of nine, he began giving his voice to several animated characters.

After eight years with La Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, Arnaud decided to refine his art through musical theatre. Since graduating from college in 2013, he’s had the opportunity to work on two Productions Belle Lurette operettas, directed by Etienne Cousineau, and to play the character of Shit in Code 99, by François Archambault and Yves Morin, directed by Normand Carrière.

While singing and acting are still his preferred talents, he now proudly counts step dancing and contemporary dance as new strings to his bow.

As a part of his training at Les Muses centre for the performing arts, Jean-François is studying dance with Menka Nagrani. He expresses himself through movement in a very distinctive and original way.

He has appeared as an extra on television (Annie et ses hommes, Virginie) and in the movies (Café de Flore) and had a principal role in the film Gabrielle by Louise Archambault. He was cast in Le Temps des Marguerites . . . à la folie ou pas du tout! [Daisy Time: Loves Me, Loves Me Not!], staged by Les Productions des pieds des mains at Espace Tangente in 2006 and 2007, as well as in several cultural centres across Quebec in the spring of 2008.

Jean-François has danced in the company’s production of Pharmakon many times both in Montreal and in Rouen, France.

Carl has been appearing on television (Annie et ses hommes, Tout sur moi, Virginie) and on the big screen since 1991.

In 1998, he was cast as Martin in Léa Pool’s film Emporte-moi (Set Me Free); in 2001, he played Robert in “Bobcat,” in the TV series Coroner; and in 2004 he played Médée in Robin Aubert’s Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés and Gabriel in Giles Walker’s René.

He did the French narration for the animated film John et Michael (John and Michael), a 2007 coproduction of Shira Avni and the National Film Board. Carl received his training at Les Muses centre for the performing arts. This is his second time performing on stage with Les Productions des pieds des mains, after appearing in the play Leçons [Lessons] by Menka Nagrani and Richard Gaulin in 2004.

Alexandre became interested in live theatre in his late teens. After flirting with music, he enrolled in Canada’s National Theatre School in 2003. Upon graduating, he felt a strong need to give the next generation a voice and cofounded the Théàtre du Frèt, a company that encourages the creation of theatre through cultural exchange and crossover. He will be performing in Lyon and Paris, as well as joining the Spanish cast of Puerco Espín for its Mexican tour.

In addition to a few other film and television appearances, Alexandre landed the role of Maxime in Mouki, a children’s series on which he also worked as a scriptwriter. He began working with Menka Nagrani and Les Productions des pieds des mains in 2009.

After studying theatre, Nicolas took up dance in 2001. His experiences inspired him to further his dance studies at LADMMI, a school of contemporary dance in Montreal, where he completed his training in 2009. He then joined the company Bouge de là, directed by Hélène Langevin, and helped create L’Atelier, a show in which he toured across Canada. In 2010, he was one of the professional dancers in the production Le très grand continental by choreographer Sylvain Émard, staged at the Festival TransAmériques. He was also cast in Le Carnaval des animaux (pas selon Saint-Saëns!) by Manon Oligny. In 2011, he joined the team at the Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental for the first run of Ronfard nu devant son miroir, a play written and directed by Daniel Brière and Évelyne de la Chenelière, with choreography by Estelle Clareton. Alexandre also danced in the Cirque du Soleil show Les chemins invisibles: Le royaume de tôle, in Quebec City, under the direction of choreographer Harold Rhéaume.

In the last few years, he has been part of various dance projects by young choreographers, including Menka Nagrani’s Pharmakon, Ghislaine Doté’s L’Âmentation, Dominique Thomas’s Aller simple and Raphaëlle Perreault’s Attributs. He is also a member of Imprudanses, a league that marries improv with dance. In July 2012, Nicolas was able to attend the Deltebre Dansa workshop in Spain on a professional development scholarship awarded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec [Quebec arts and letters council].

Veronica Melis is an actor, dancer, director, choreographer, author and teacher who has been working in the performing arts for more than 20 years. She trained in both dance and theatre under European teachers. She also holds a diploma in theatre semiotics from the University of Bologna. She has performed in theatres and festivals in more than 15 countries around the world, both in her own productions and in those of renowned companies, and has distinguished herself through her charisma and her poetic and tragicomic universe (L’enfant de sable, Mi ricordo, Rosso di sera, Hybride).

Over the past 15 years, alongside her stage work, Veronica has been a visiting professor at many dance, theatre and circus schools in Europe and across North America, including Canada’s National Theatre School, Quebec’s National Circus School and En Piste. She is currently working on her new production, Circo Minimo, which will be ready in 2013.

Félix Monette-Dubeau gratuated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2009. On television, one could see him in The Boys, Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, Tout sur moi, Toute la vérité and Trauma. On stage, he was in the Opéra de Quat’sous of Bertolt Brecht, directed by Robert Bellefeuille at the TNM.

He also played in the Théâtre de l’Avant-Pays production for young public Le voyage, directed by Marie-Christine Lê-Huu, as well as in Programme double: théâtre viril et sportif, a creation from L45 Théâtre, a company he co- founded. In 2014-2015, we will have seen him in the new Théâtre Bluff production Un monde qui s’efface, a play by Naomie Wallace directed by Sebastian Harrison and choreographed by Harold Rhéaume. He will also have played in La lune est moi, created by Le Théâtre de l’Avant-Pays.

In addition to his interests in directing, music and dance, Felix is writing a play called SPIN; its first version was presented this year at the Zone Homa summer event.

Geneviève Morin-Dupont has been studying dance and theatre with Menka Nagrani and Richard Gaulin at Les Muses centre for the performing arts for 10 years. Her first professional engagement was in 1994, when she played the lead in the film Un billet de loterie. With Les Productions des pieds des mains, she was in the cast of Leçons [Lessons] in 2004–2005; from 2005 to 2008, she was outstanding in the role of Marguerite in Le Temps des Marguerites . . . à la folie ou pas du tout! [Daisy Time: Loves Me, Loves Me Not!] and in 2011, she appeared in Pharmakon.

Geneviève is very at home on the set and has made several television appearances in such shows as Annie et ses hommes, Gang de rue, Tout sur moi and Le Négociateur. She also had a role in the movie Gabrielle. Her theatre work includes two productions with the company Joe Jack et John between 2004 and 2012.

Menka Nagrani is a multidisciplinary artist who weaves together dance, theatre and music. She has studied classical piano and also enjoys singing and step dancing. She has danced for choreographers Marjolayne Auger, Karine Rathle and Marie-Soleil Pilette (including in the IV Games of La Francophonie, held in Lebanon). She has also toured Quebec as a performer and dancer with the travelling theatre company Le Cochon SouRiant. Menka seeks unique and socially engaged artistic adventures. She regularly directs and performs with the street theatre company Espace Forain and enjoys exploring the possibilities of working without the fourth wall.

She founded Les Productions des pieds des mains in 2004 and has since created several socially engaged dance-theatre productions. Leçons [Lessons], L’Ombre [The Shadow], Le Temps des Marguerites [Daisy Time] and Pharmakon have all been staged in Montreal (Espace Tangente, Théâtre La Chapelle and cultural centres), as well as in international festivals in France, Belgium and Japan. Le Temps des Marguerites was rated one of the four best dance theatre productions in Canada in 2007 by the dance critic for The Globe and Mail. Pharmakon won a social commitment award and an honourable mention for most remarkable production at the Gala des Cochons d’or, Quebec awards for emerging theatre. Menka received the Janine Sutto Award in 2010 and an award from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec [Quebec arts and letters council] for her artistic achievements in 2012.

Michael has been studying theatre at Les Muses centre for the performing arts since 2004.

With Les Productions des pieds des mains, he played Faust, the protagonist in Le Temps des Marguerites . . . à la folie ou pas du tout! which was staged at Espace Tangente, in cultural centres in Montreal and at the Théâtre Côte à Côte. Michael acts in both English and French and has had film roles in Éric Savoie’s Ashes in Paradise and Louise Archambault’s Gabrielle.

He has also been an extra in the television series Annie et ses hommes and performed in two plays by the theatre company Joe Jack et John between 2009 and 2012.

A graduate of the “Option Théâtre” program at CEGEP de St-Hyacinthe, Marilyn Perreault now divides her professional life between acting, writing, directing and codirecting Théâtre I.N.K. and Théâtre Aux Écuries.

As a physical performer, she appeared Le Trident and Flip Fabrique's Le songe d'une nuit d'été, Des pieds des mains's Cendres, Theatre Conspiracy's Foreign Radical, Frédérick Gravel and Étienne Lepage’s Ainsi parlait and La logique du pire, Alix Dufresne's Nuits frauduleuses and Chutes, Hannah abd El Nour's Nombreux seront nos ennemis, Satellite Théâtre's Comme un seul grum, Triangle Vital's Les mots secrets, Pigeons International’s Humanity Project, DynamO Théâtre’s Mur-Mur, Lili, Le grand méchant loup and Faux départs, and in several works by Théâtre I.N.K. She also performed in Britannicus Now (Théâtre du Double Signe), Vipérine (Projet Mû), La migration des oiseaux invisibles (Mathieu, François et les autres) and 8 femmes (Jean-Bernard Hébert Productions). She has directed Fiel, Jusqu’au sang ou presque, Lignedebus, and La beauté du monde. Her works include Fiel, Lignedebus (Bus Stops), Britannicus Now (Louise-LaHaye award winner produced by le Théâtre du Double signe and published by Lansman Éditeur), Roche, papier, couteau… (published in French by Lansman Éditeur and in English as Rock, Paper, Jackknife… by Playwrights’ Canada Press), Les Apatrides (published by Dramaturges Éditeur), Nobridgetown, and Entre A et C il y a B. She has also written dialogue for the Théâtre de la Dame de cœur.

Les Apatrides, presented during the FTA in 2005, received the Masque Révélation de l’année. Bus Stops has had 62 performances, in French at Théâtre Aux Écuries and at the Frontenac and Ahuntsic Maisons de la culture, and in English at the Centaur Theatre and the NDG Maison de la culture. It was also nominated for the META Best Production award.

After graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2008, Renaud Pettigrew collaborated with other artists, including Michel Lefebvre (Youtheatre), Serge Mandeville (Absolu Théâtre), Michèle Parent (Pirata Théâtre), Daniel Meilleur (Théâtre Les Deux Mondes) and Shilvi’s Tour de chant and Quand les poules auront des dents.

Renaud is very involved in touring theatre and has done the lighting for Ex Machina (Lipsynch, Jeux de cartes, The Far Side of the Moon), Sibilyne (Woyzeck), Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui (Les Belles-soeurs), Pierre Lapointe (Sentiments humains tour) and Les Fourberies de Scapin (at the Just for Laughs festival).

Over the next few months, he’ll be the lighting designer for Isabelle Boulanger (in a dance performance by La Grande Fente) and Michel Lefebvre (Dreaming Now, a theatre piece, and Fire/Work, a musical work).

Since graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2004, Ève Pressault has become an experienced stage performer in theatre and dance productions. She has studied dance with Estelle Clareton and Yukio Waguri. She has also taken part in various performance workshops led by artists including Jacqueline Gosselin and Tina Landau of Siti Company in New York. As a professional, she has always worked in both disciplines.

She performed in choreographer Dave St-Pierre’s No Man’s Land Show (2003) and La pornographie des âmes (2005). She also danced in his production of Un peu de tendresse, bordel de merde (2007) when it was first created and on its European tour. She collaborated with choreographer Leslie Baker in Knot of Nots, staged at Espace Tangente in 2008. After working with French director Ludovic Lagarde in Fairy Queen at Espace Go in 2005, she toured France in 2006 with his production of Oui dit le très jeune homme

Marie-Soleil Pilette is a choreographer, dancer and rehearsal director who earned a BA in contemporary dance from the University of Quebec at Montreal (concentration in creation). She also has specialized training in traditional Quebec step dancing. She holds step-dancing workshops in Canada, the U.S. and occasionally in Europe.

She has worked as a dancer and performer for the ethnic dance company Migrations and urban folk group Zogma. She currently dances as a soloist in various contexts, as well as with Rapetipetam (a group directed by Pierre Chartrand) in North America and sometimes in Europe. Marie-Soleil is also increasingly valued as a teacher in her specialty. She is the founder of the Sans Temps dance company and has created original works combining Quebec step dancing and contemporary dance.

Multidisciplinary artist Dominic St-Laurent graduated from Collège Lionel-Groulx musical theatre program in 2011, where he received an Excellence Award. Fresh out of school, Dominic co-founded the Compagnie Tidlidoum, a musical theatre creation company.

Its two creations, Maluron Maluretta and Règle no 1: ne pas craquer!, were presented at the St-Ambroise Fringe Festival. In addition, the singing short film that he’s co-written Last-Call was presented at the Rendezvous du cinéma québécois. For nearly four years, his imitator and choreographer talents have been put to good use in the yearly review: Cabaret politique et Bouffonneries.

Passionate about the physical aspect of playing, Dominic is working on the new creation of DynamO Théâtre, an acrobatic theatre company.

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