At this conversation, choreographer Angélique Willkie will discuss her artistic practice with members of the Movement Theory Lab, part of the Arts Labs research project the Neubauer Collegium. The event will follow a public performance of Willkie's Confession Publique at Theaster Gates' Studio (Dec. 3, 7:00 pm, 6724 South Chicago Avenue) and precedes an invitation-only workshop with the Movement Theory Lab. This series of events is supported by the Neubauer Collegium and the ReBuild Foundation.

About the Speaker

A multidisciplinary artist, Angélique Willkie began her dance training after completing a Master’s degree in Economics at McGill University. A graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she subsequently pursued a career in Europe where, over 25 years, she performed with dance companies and independent projects throughout Europe, most notably Alain Platel/Les Ballets C. de la B., Jan Lauwers/Needcompany, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and more. Performer, singer, dramaturge, and pedagogue, Willkie has been among the more sought-after contemporary technique teachers on the European professional circuit, teaching companies, schools and festivals including ImpulsTanz (Vienna), Henny Jurriens Stichting (Amsterdam), SEAD (Salzburg), Wim Vandekeybus/Ultima Vez (Brussels), among others. Her dramaturgical work has included projects in dance-, music- and circus-theater with artists as varied as Belgian theater director/choreographer Isabella Soupart, French trapezist Mélissa VonVépy, and Dutch choreographers Arno Schuitemaker and Pia Meuthen/Panama Pictures. Since resettling in Montreal in 2014, Willkie has continued to be active in Montreal’s professional community as teacher, creator, and dramaturge. Her current research interests have three main axes: approaches to interdisciplinary artistic creation (i.e. that sits “between” disciplinary boundaries); European circus aesthetics and dramaturgy; and the notion of a personal dramaturgy, inspired by the trajectories of performer Josephine Baker and French transgender circus artist Phia Ménard. An underlying interest in her work remains the use of the voice as a creative tool and performance instrument.

About the Moderator

Clara Nizard is a performer, translator, curator, and PhD candidate in English and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago. Their most recent work, summer games, was shown at The Lawn (Chicago) in Summer 2024. Other works include performances at the Logan Center for the Arts (Chicago), the Brink Festival (UK), and the Collisions Festival (UK). Their co-translations of the poet Cécile Mainardi have appeared in Asymptote and FENCE, and you can find their critical writing in Chicago Review, ASAP/J, and Performance Response Journal.