RUBBERBANDance Group

Company history:

Rubberbandance Group is a collection of world-class dancers from contemporary and breakdance

backgrounds that unite to investigate human relationships through an innovative mix of hip-hop dynamics and contemporary classicism. In 2002, after years of exploring dance and theater from urban, classical and contemporary angles, Victor Quijada, Artistic Director/Choreographer, &
Eloï Jacques-wood (aka) Shakoo Creative Guide  formed Rubberbandance Group. 

Quijada work with RBDG examines humanity and human relationships through a unique fusion of these dance and theater styles. Anne Plamondon joined the group in 2002 as a dancer and contributed highly to the growth and development of the company. She has been co-artistic director of RBDG since September 2005. Presenting choreographic works that effect and engage the audience, this extraordinary group articulates the perfect marriage between explosive hip-hop physicality and the subtle profoundness of contemporary storytelling. A combination of the narrative, the spectacular, and freedom of breakdance, with the abstraction, nuances, and technique of contemporary dance result in a true hybrid of dance forms. Since its inception, RBDG has been a sought after guest at both Hip Hop and Contemporary dance festivals throughout North America, Europe, and recently in Japan as a Canadian representative at EXPO 2005. A well-known member of the Montreal dance community and resident company (‘03 /‘04) of Usine C, Rubberbandance Group is best known for the innovative site-specific work &Slicing Static" (Best Dance

Production of 2004 - Montreal Mirror). 

Other highlights include performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Becket, MA), Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (Seattle, WA), Fall for Dance Festival at City Center (New York, NY), Breakin' Convention at Sadler's Wells (London), ACT Festival '04 at the Rotterdamse Schouwsberg (Holland), and URB Festivaali at Kiasma (Helsinki, Finland). RBDG made its official debut at Espace Tangente in May 2002 with &Tender Loving Care " (winner - Printemps de la Danse), and returned to Tangente later that Fall with "Hasta La Proxima" (Best Dance Performance of 2002 – La Presse), and returned once again in March 2003 with the full evening work Metabolism. Rubberbandance performed at New York City Central Park Summerstage '02 and '03, and at the Hip Hop Theater Festivals in New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. RBDG has toured throughout Québec with “Elastic Perspective” (winner - Prix Coup de Pouce - Vue Sur La Relève 2003), and across Canada with “Reflections on Movement Particles” which was created in residency at Danse En Vol Festival in Brussels and commissioned by the CanDance Exchange Tour. RBDG has been featured in several music videos, documentaries, television specials, and also produced the film adaptation of & Hasta La Proxima" (finalist - 2004 American Choreography Awards /Short Film).

Victor Quijada

Co-Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer

The remarkable path of Artistic Director / Choreographer Victor Quijada began in the Hip Hop clubs

of Los Angeles. His introduction to formal dance and theater at L.A. County High School for the Arts

brought questions concerning the possibilities and potential of the Hip Hop art form. A protégé of Judson Church pioneer Rudy Perez, Quijada adapted post modernism to his Hip Hop ideals. During three years of working with dance icon Twyla Tharp, he applied choreographic know-how to those ideals. Strongly attracted to the classical ballet technique, he worked with Eliot Feld and later joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, experiences that further influenced and re-shaped his long-standing relationship with Hip Hop. In 2002, after years of exploring dance and theater from urban, classical and contemporary angles he formed Rubberbandance Group. His work with RBDG examines humanity and human relationships through a unique fusion of these dance and theater styles. In 2003 Quijada received both the Bonnie Bird North American Award and the Peter Darrell Choreography Award (UK). He has created work for Peter Boal & Company (NYC), Transitions Dance Company (London), Chamber Dance Project (NYC), and notably "Self Observation Without Judgement" for Scottish Dance Theater, which won the 2004 National Dance Award for Best Modern Repertory. A finalist in the 2004 American Choreography Awards for "Hasta La Proxima& his work was also featured in the K-os music video & Man I Used To Be & which won the 2005 Much Music Video Award for Best Rap Video. Pacific Northwest Ballet has commissioned a new work by Quijada which will have its world premiere during their home season in Seattle, November 2006.

Eloï Jacques-wood 

Membre fondateur du Rubberbandance Group

Anne Plamondon

Co-Artistic Director/Dancer

From the age of 11, Anne Plamondon received her classical ballet training from the greatest dance institutions in Canada: National Ballet School, Banff Center for the Arts and l'Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec from which she graduated in 1994. A member of Le Jeune Ballet du Québec before joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Anne moved to Europe in1995 to join Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (Holland), led by renowned choreographer Jiri Kylian. It was there that she pushed the boundaries of her ballet technique through the master works of Kylian, Hans Van Manen, Ohad Naharin, as well as creating lead roles in works by Paul Lightfoot, Yohan Inger, Patrick Delacroix and numerous others. In 1998 she continued her exploration of European contemporary dance at The Gulbenkian Ballet (Portugal), where she performed works by Rui Horta, Itzik Galili and Angelin Preljocaj, to name only a few.

Returning to Montreal in 2000, Anne worked with and became Assistant to Helene Blackburn, with whom she first found the opportunities to discover her skills as a teacher and coach. She then went on to projects with various choreographers such as Jean Grande-Maitre, Estelle Clareton, and Louis-Martin Charest. In 2002, having decided to go beyond her ballet and contemporary accomplishments, Anne joined Rubberbandance Group, where after two years of exploring the world of break, she has taken her versatility as a dancer to an extraordinary level. Although she initially joined the group as a dancer, the extensive experience she brought with her contributed highly to the growth and development of the company. As an artistic as well as administrative advisor and coordinator, she has also worked to develop a unique training program that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of

both the contemporary and break dancer, and has focused on conditioning a complete dancer without limits.

Performances & distinctions

• 2008
• Punto Ciego
•  Dance Celebration, Philadelphia (US)
•  Redfern Art Center, Keene (US)
•  Centinnial Theatre, Lennoxville(QC)
• AV Input/output
•  Cinquième Salle, Place des Arts Montreal (QC)
• Elastic Perspective
•  Kravis Center, West Palm Beach (US)
•  Iowa Cities(4), Iowa (US)
•  Irvine Barclay theater, Irvine (US)
•  Luckman Theatre, Los Angeles (US)
•  Dancer’s Studio West, Calgary (CAN)
•  Brian Webb Dance Company,Edmonton(CAN)
•  Vancouver Est Cultural Centre, Vancouver (CAN)
•  New Works, Vancouver (CAN)
•  Yukon Arts Center, Whitehorse (CAN)
•  Dance Victoria Society, Victoria (CAN)
•  Cultuurcentrum Brugge, Brugge (Belgium)
•  DanceXchange, Birmingham (England)
•  UCSB Arts & Lecture, Santa-Barbara
• (US)
•  University of California, San Diego (US)
•  David S. Howes Theatre, St-Catharines (CAN)
•  The Oakville Centre, Oakville(CAN)
•  River Run Centre, Guelph (CAN)
•  The Rose Theatre, Brampton (CAN)
•  Capitol Centre, North Bay (CAN)
• 
  
• 2007
• Elastic Perspective
•  Festival La Bâtie, Genêve, Suisse
•  Festival Danse Canada, Ottawa
•  Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston (É.-U)
•  Festival des arts de St Sauveur, St Sauveur (CAN)
•  Ravinia Festival, Chicago (É.-U)
•  Spoleto Festival, Charleston (É.-U)
•  Salle Pauline-Julien, Sainte-Geneviève
•  Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne
•  Annenberg Center, Philadelphie (US)
• 
  
•  Danceworks, Toronto (CAN)
• 
  
• 2006
• Elastic Perspective
•  Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
•  Hip Hop Theater Festival, Chicago (US)
•  Festival Danse Canada, Ottawa (CAN)
•  Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Beckett (US)
•  Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, (US)
•  Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, (US)
•  Center of Creative Arts, St. Louis, (US)
•  Maisons de la culture, Montréal(QC)
•  Salle Pauline-Julien, Sainte-Geneviève, (QC)
•  Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne(QC)
•  Annenberg Center, Philadelphia (US)
•  Danceworks, Toronto,(CAN)
• 
  
• 2005
• Ship Shop Shapeshifting
•  Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur (QC)
•  Hip Hop Theater Festival, Yerba Buena Center for
• the Arts, San Francisco (US)
• The Traviattle
•  EXPO 2005 Aichi (Japon)
• 
  
• 2004
• Elastic Perspective
•  ACT 2004 Festival Rotterdamse Schouwburg,
• Netherlands
•  Quebec Tour (Pointe-aux-Trembles / Valleyfield /
• Mont-Laurier / Rimouski / Baie-Comeau)
•  Adidas Fashion Launch Event, Montréal (QC)
•  Fall For Dance Festival, City Center, New York, (US)
• Performances and
• distinctions (suite)
• 
  
• 2004
•  URB Festival, Helsinki, Finland
•  Breakin’ Convention, Sadler’s Wells, London (UK)
• Slicing Static
•  Co-production with Usine C, Montréal, Canada
• * best dance production of 2004
• Hour, Montréal (Philip Szporer)
• Mi Verano
•  Dusk Dances Outdoor Festival
• 10-year Retrospective, Toronto
• Reflections on Movement Particles
•  CanDance Festival Tour (Vancouver / Guelph /
• Montréal)
• 2003
• Reflections on Movement Particles
•  Residency, Festival Danse En Vol, Théâtre de l’L,
• Brussels, Belgium
• Elastic Perspective
•  ACT 2003 Festival Rotterdamse Schouwburg,
• Netherlands
•  Millennium Scholarship Fund Gala, Musée de la
• Civilisation, Gatineau (QC)
•  Central Park Summerstage, New York (US)
•  Just For Laughs Festival, Montréal (QC)
•  Hip Hop Theater Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington
• (US)
•  Hip Hop Theater Festival, P.S.122, New York (US)
•  Festival Vue sur la Relève, Montréal
• * Prix Coup de Pouce
•  Rush the Vote / Peace Concert - JUNO Weekend,
• Ottawa (CAN)
• Mi Verano (commission)
•  Dusk Dances Outdoor Festival, Toronto (CAN)
• Hasta La Proxima
•  Short film directed by Mark Adam (BravoFACT!)
•  Alucine Arts Festival - Latin Film Gala, Toronto (CAN)
• Tender Loving Care

Elastic Perspective

Elastic Perspective is a selection of works created within

the first two years of the founding of RUBBERBANDANCE GROUP. The evening is presented in two parts; the first is comprised by 6 short pieces created through commission by hip hop and

contemporary dance festivals. The latter is the 25-minute quartet “Hasta La Proxima” created for Urban Dance Series at Espace Tangente. Elastic Perspective is the result of a contemporary choreographic research that breaks the established conventions of Hip-Hop. Victor Quijada, choreographer and co-Artistic director of Rubberbandance Group, creates a work that scrambles the aesthetic identity of hip hop, fusing it with theories that evolved in him due to his experiences in various dance forms. He has given rise to a hybrid style that emerges between the worlds of break and contemporary dance.

75 minutes with intermission

Choreography: Victor Quijada

Dancers: 6

Technician: 2

Available for a minimum of 10 cities tour

Slicing Static

Life is not like this.

“Within a conventional dance or theatre presentation, there is a stage, a fixed area where the

performance will take place. The stage, usually defined by the proscenium, similar to the outline

of a television screen, dictates, to the audience, the perimeters of the action and/or events that unfold throughout the presentation. These perimeters give the audience and performer a sense of security as

well as a knowing of where and when the action will begin and end. Slicing Static is a 60-minute site-specific dance presentation that brings a truer experience of life into the theatre space. As there are no boundaries to the events that shape our lives, the boundaries that usually define the performance space, rules, and etiquette will be distorted and adjusted. Aspects of these elements will change in many ways throughout the presentation. Events, situations, actions and movement will develop and unfold all around the individuals watching the show. Best Dance Production of 2004 – Montreal Mirror I hope to examine the ways in which we unconsciously imprison ourselves into or away from certain situations, actions, non- actions, relationships, environments and/or ways of living our lives. I want to stare directly at our constant refusal to set ourselves free from outdated, non-functional rules set by society and by us. I want us, both performer and audience, to go through many states of being over the course of the 60 minutes. We will feel many things, especially, by the end of the performance, the desperate need and hunger to break our own psychological chains and inspire others to do the same. I believe that in order to achieve this we must feel the frustration of confinement, the pain of helplessness, the hope of freedom, the joy of independence, and the happiness that comes through the discovery of love.”

Victor Quijada

The workshop

Interested in the raw dynamics of hip hop and breakdance and the subtleties of classical and

contemporary movement, choreographer Victor Quijada has been breaking down the barriers between

these very different dance forms. The result has been the emergence of a unique idiom that has

captivated audiences worldwide. Join Victor Quijada and Anne Plamondon, as they guide you through a series of demonstrations, exercises, and movement phrases to offer you an experience of this unique fusion of dance forms.

The lecture & demonstration

Ideal for children, teens, or general audience, this 45 min presentation introduces spectators to the

unique dancers and work of Rubberbandance Group while also familiarizing and de-mystifying the

theater experience. Choreographer Victor Quijada guides the public through a viewer friendly

breakdown of the choreographic process, identifying the components of the specific style and language of the company’s diverse repertory, leaving established audiences intrigued and making dance accessible to new audiences.

Contact:

Co-Artistic Director, choreographer and dancer: Victor Quijada

 victor@rubberbandancegroup.com

Co-Artistic Director and Dancer: Anne Plamondon

anne@rubberbandancegroup.com

Administration: Maryse Boulanger, Diagramme Gestion culturelle

maryse@diagramme.org

Rubberbandance Group

405-1030 Cherrier St.

Montreal (Quebec) H2L 1H9 Canada

Tel: +1 514 524 7665 p.222 | Fax: +1 514 524 7584

www.diagramme.org

www.rubberbandancegroup.com

Representatives

Harold Norris, II (USA)

H-Art Management

481 8th Avenue, Suite 834

New York, NY 10001 United States

Tel.: +1 212 868 2134 | Fax: +1 212 504 3229

harold@h-artmanagement.com

www.h-artmanagement.com

Paul Tanguay (Europe & Canada)

Tanguay Impresario

10, rue de la Baie, St-Alphonse-Rodriguez

Québec J0K 1W0

Tel : (450) 883-3570

paul.tanguay@sympatico.ca

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