Marie Claire Forté (she/her)

Biography, August 2024

The relational, experiential and experimental potential of dance drives me. I dance, choreograph, write, translate and teach. My child, currently 6.5 years, is a powerful and humbling force. My career has been nourished by long-term creative relationships with artists from different generations and esthetics, all sharing a love of process, rigour and exploration. Notable artistic and pedagogical influences include Peter Boneham, artistic director and master teacher of the now-defunct Le Groupe Dance Lab in Ottawa; Toronto-based choreographer Ame Henderson; Montréal-based choreographer Louise Bédard; multidisciplinary performance group PME-ART; and visual artist Sophie Bélair Clément. I lead my own projects and work with artists I love, most recently Katie Ward, Louise Bédard, Catherine Lalonde, Priscilla Guy and Émilie Morin, Aurélie Pédron and Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep. Projects include the 2022 video installation Mères et mouvements d'enfants presented at the Foreman Gallery in partnership with Sursaut and the Centennial Theatre in Sherbooke, with the curator and artist Camila Vásquez. From 2017 to 2019, I was performer-in-residence at Agora de la danse. In 2016, I produced the bilingual exhibition project and publication - I'd rather something ambiguous. Mais précis à la fois. with my friend Sophie Bélair Clément at Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery. I regularly take on various artistic roles: artistic support/outsider eye, post-performance talk host, writer, editor, translator and interpreter. I am currently working on a book with Peter Boneham about his teaching.