Her dynamic leadership is outstanding. She has that vibrant energy that is essential to the development of dance in areas outside city centers. She is a visionary and daring woman, both inclusive and supportive of her partner presenters. You have, of course, recognized her: Annie Claude Coutu Geoffroy! Since 2008, she has been actively involved in the promotion of dance both as a development agent and dance presenter at the Théâtre Hector-Charland de l’Assomption. She is deeply committed to the encounter between dance artists and the Lanaudière audiences, and this has influenced her approach and all her initiatives in recent years. We want to highlight her tremendous and pioneering work in the Lanaudière region, reaching its peak in the summer 2021 with the launch of Pôle Territoire Danse, now a reference and a source of inspiration for the development of dance in the region. The young woman behind this hard work is warm, dedicated, committed and inspires admiration. The Prix de la danse’s Board of Directors is proud to award her the Prix de la Contribution Exceptionnelle for her significant contribution to the dance field.
BIOGRAPHY
Annie-Claude Coutu Geoffroy is known for her active contribution to the development of dance and her remarkable commitment to artists and audiences. Ambitious and honest, she invests her talent in her very own Lanaudière community to promote cultural and artistic development in the region. Diffusion Hector-Charland has offered her the opportunity to work on Pôle Territoire Danse’s development since 2008, first as an agent, then as a manager, and finally as the Dance Program Coordinator in 2009. Her initiatives and vision for this unique structure have yielded many achievements, a wide diversity of projects and complementary action from partners such as municipalities, multidisciplinary presenters, festivals, and art centers. Coutu Geoffroy’s experience as an artist is assuredly at the core of her second career. Immersed in dance from early childhood, she owes her impetus to her mother, a paragon of determination and role model who taught classical ballet for over fifty years. She studied at École Supérieure de Danse du Québec in Montreal and graduated from Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto, Coutu Geoffroy made her debut with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens and went on to contribute to several contemporary dance works in Quebec and abroad, both as a choreographer and a dancer. In 2007, she was awarded the Prix Ambassadeur Télé-Québec by Culture Lanaudière, which recognizes the influence of an artist outside their region. Recently, she joined several committees and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Regroupement québécois de la danse (2017-2021).