BIOGRAPHY
Constantly developing himself in the field of dance, Benoît Lachambre discovered release technique in 1985 – a kinaesthetic approach to movement and improvisation that leaves its mark on his choreographic work. There is something significantly radical in his approach, imagining the dreaming body transformations. In his creations, Benoît equally aims at modifying the performer’s empathic experience with the audience. Among the artists who influenced him the most, Benoît Lachambre counts Meg Stuart, whom he regularly collaborates with, and also Amélia Itcush with her work on the dispersal of the weight and strengths in the body. Besides his work as a choreographer and dancer, Benoît Lachambre has gained recognition as teacher through his renowned workshops and classes that he’s given around the world for the past 25 years.
In 1996, Benoît Lachambre created his own company Par B.L.eux in Montréal. He expands on his artistic encounters and dynamic exchanges, collaborating with numerous international choreographers and artists from a variety of disciplines, including: Boris Charmatz, Sasha Waltz, Marie Chouinard, Louise Lecavalier, Su-Feh Lee, and again with Meg Stuart and musician Hahn Rowe.
His 2003 creation, Forgeries, love and other matters, received the prestigious Bessie Award in 2006. Benoît Lachambre has created 15 works since the foundation of Par B.L.eux, participated in more than 20 other production, and choreographed 25 commissioned works, such as I is memory (for Louise Lecavalier in 2006) and JJ’s voices for the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm in 2010. In 2012, he created Snakeskins for which he received the 2013 Grand prix de la danse de Montréal. In 2014, he received the award of Best Choreography from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) for the commissioned work for Montreal Danse: Prisms.
His latest work, Hyperterrestres, produced with French choreographer Fabrice Ramalingom, premiered during the Festival TransAmériques in Montreal in May 2015.